Music of Seychelles

The Seychelles, which is an independent island chain in the Indian Ocean, formerly a colony of both Britain and France has a distinct kind of music. Folk music incorporates multiple influences in a syncretic fashion, including English contredanse, polka and mazurka, French folk and pop, sega from Mauritius and Réunion, taarab, soukous moutya and other pan-African genres of and Polynesian, Indian and Arcadian music. A complex form of percussion music called contombley is popular, along with combinations of Sega and Reggae called Seggae and combinations of Moutya and Reggae called Mouggae, as is montea, a fusion of native folk rhythms with Kenyan benga developed by Patrick Victor. Jean Marc Volcy is another famous Seychellois musician who has brought a modern touch to traditional music. He has several albums including Sove Lavi.

References

• Ewens, Graeme and Werner Graebner. "A Lightness of Touch". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 1: Africa, Europe and the Middle East, pp 505-508. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0

External links

• Seynews (registration may be required)