One of the representatives of African Rhythms from Réunion: Zizkakan

 

Founded as early as 1979, Ziskakan is a leading band from the French oversea department Réunion Island. During its long history, reformation of group members happens from time to time, but it keeps on pioneering on the basis of inheriting local cultures, singing traditional Maloya in the Creole language. As one of the two major genres of Réunionnais music, Maloya was inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of UNESCO for France in 2009. This type of music characterized by its percussion part is a hybrid born out of different ethnicities on Réunion Island including Madagascar, Africa, India and Indonesia. Due to the close relationship between Maloya and the local slavery culture under colonial rule, it is often regarded as “the Blues from the Indian Ocean”.

 

The core of the band Gilbert Pounia is a musician and poet who never stops exploring. Under his leadership, Ziskakan has been a dynamic group throughout three decades and published series of recordings.