My name is Randriamananjara Radofa Besata Jean Longin. I was born on Halloween night of 1956 in Antananarivo, the capital city of Madagascar. I am the youngest son in the family and have 3 brothers and two sisters. Two of my brothers and one sister play guitar and my parents were both musicians although they didn't play professionally.

When I was about nine, one of my brothers received a guitar for passing an exam. The instrument really gave him power over me and the only time he allowed me to play it, was after I ran some errands for him or gave him my dessert. I guess that's one of the reasons the guitar became very desirable to me. My brothers played in a local band and they were into one of the most popular styles of dance music of Madagascar called Salegy. Again I was not allowed to be in their rehearsal room but whenever my brother practised on his own I would closely observe his technique and I would try to emulate his playing on his guitar when he was not home. It was not long before I became a fairly decent "Salegy" player.

One day I heard this incredible music on the radio. It was "Hey Joe" played by Jimi Hendrix and it really changed my life and the kind of music I wanted to play then. I literally spent days and nights trying to figure out the chords and especially that fantastic solo part. I couldn't speak a word of English and I did not understand what he was talking about, but the feel of the music somehow really touched something in me. Later when I heard some records by B.B. King, I recognized the same crying solo pattern but in a more direct and simplified form. Those two giants and the local Malagasy music were the biggest influences to my playing.

My parents sent me to Canada in 1979 to further my studies and get a good education, but in my mind the real reason I came over was to learn English so I could sing the kind of songs I had fallen in love with when I was younger. I took English as a second languag eand then finished college. I graduated with honours in the "Accounting and Finance Co-op Program" at Seneca College.

Official site:
www.madagascarslim.ca