Like their homeland, renowned for its cultural and geographical diversity, the five members of the Madagascar All Stars have followed very different musical paths to date. Marius Fenoamby hails from Diego Suarez, on the northernmost tip of Madagascar, and has made a name for himself on the isle of Reunion with his salegy-influenced group Fenoamby. Meanwhile, Justin Vali has been busy doing his bit defending Madagascar's national instrument, the valiha (a bamboo tube zither from the highlands.) Vali has worked with major international stars such as Peter Gabriel and Paddy Bush while the Madagascar All Stars' guitarist Erick Manana (who formed the group Lolo sy ny Tariny then Feo Gasy) has spent years accompanying Graeme Allwright.

Meanwhile, Dama and his group Mahaleo have devoted their career to preserving their island's traditional folk heritage. Mahaleo have now become an across-the-generations phenomenon in Madagascar - over the past 35 years, it is impossible to imagine anyone sitting around a campfire on the island without breaking into one of the group's folk classics at some point! The accordion virtuoso Régis Gizavo, who hails from Tuléar in southern Madagascar, needs little in the way of introduction here. He is one of the island's most popular international exports and has worked with a broad range of music stars from I Muvrini, Mano Solo and Cesaria Evora to the new French singing sensation Christophe Maé.

Putting personal egos and individual playing styles on temporary hold, the fivesome faced the challenge of creating a coherent musical whole out of their various parts. Gizavo, Fenoamby, Manana, Vali and Dama managed to do just that, honing a collective sound they were all comfortable with. And, judging by the success of their debut album, the musicians' collaboration in the studio was absolutely genuine. All five musicians play their chosen instruments throughout the album and all five step in to perform vocals and backing vocals - indeed, voices come to the fore on most tracks!

The majority of material featured on this debut album comes from the musicians' individual repertoires, but the songs have all been specially rearranged for the occasion. On the new version of Halako, for instance, bass, drums and harmonica have been dropped to make way for accordion and valiha. Other musical compromises were doubtless made along the way, but what shines through most on this debut album is an amazing collective harmony - a harmony that sounds so natural it is hard to believe the musicians scarcely rehearsed together at all before going into the studio. The Madagascar All Stars' musical alchemy, genuine spontaneity and the superb quality of the final mix makes this an album worth listening to time and time again!