Erick Manana is an acoustic guitarist, singer and songwriter from

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

. He often performs in a duo or as a solo artist, singing in accompaniment to his acoustic guitar in the ''ba-gasy'' genre that gained prominence in the central highlands of Madagascar in the 1930s. He began to learn to play guitar and sing in the ba-gasy style from his grandfather at the age of five. In 1979 he left Madagascar to settle in France and currently lives in Bordeaux. His professional career as a musician began in 1982 as a member of Lolo sy ny Tariny. He recorded his first solo album in 1996. He was a member of the group Feo-Gasy alongside the celebrated

sodina A sodina is a woodwind instrument commonly played in Malagasy music and a member of the aerophone family of instruments. Similar in structure and sound to a flute, the sodina is usually made out of bamboo, lightwood, plastic, or reed and vari ...

player

Rakoto Frah Philibert Rabezoza (1923 – 29 September 2001), better known by the name Rakoto Frah, was a flautist and composer of traditional music of the central highlands of Madagascar. Born in 1923 near the capital city of Antananarivo to a poor rural f ...

, and together the group toured Europe several times, promoting the traditional music of the central highlands of Madagascar. He has worked on a variety of collaborative projects, recording singles and performing with established artists such as Regis Gizavo and

Solorazaf Solo Razafindrakoto known as Solorazaf is a Malagasy guitarist born in France. His roots are both situated in Madagascar. His musical style is very much influenced by these two different cultures and he then created a very personal musical style b ...

, and young breakthrough stars like Aina Quash. Most recently, Manana formed a group with

valiha The valiha is a tube zither from Madagascar made from a species of Valiha diffusa, local bamboo; it is considered the "List of national instruments (music), national instrument" of Madagascar. The term is also used to describe a number of re ...

player Justin Vali and other prominent Malagasy artists in the Malagasy All Stars. The album was conceived as a way to unite the many different groups of Madagascar, and the collaboration acts as "an olive branch to its countryfolk who sometimes are divided by these differences rather than celebrating them." In January 2013, Manana performed at the historic Olympia venue in Paris to celebrate the 35th year of his career. At the close of the event, he was awarded the prestigious ''Commandeur de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres'' ("Commander of Liberal and Fine Arts") medal by the representative of the Republic of Madagascar to UNESCO. Rootsworld described Manana as the "Bob Dylan of Madagascar". Manana has received several awards, including the 1994 Prix Media Adami Découvertes at the annual

Radio France International Radio France Internationale, usually referred to as RFI, is the State media, state-owned international radio news network of France. With 59.5 million listeners in 2022, it is one of the most-listened-to international radio stations in the world ...

global musical competition and the Grand Prix du disque de l'académie Charles Cros in 1997 for his album ''Vakoka''.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Manana, Eric 20th-century Malagasy male singers Living people Malagasy guitarists Malagasy emigrants to France 21st-century Malagasy male singers 1959 births

See also

Notes