After leaving Magma, saxophonist Richard Raux launched Hamsa, featuring his brother Patrice on electric guitar, Alby Cullaz, and Jean-Lou Besson. Recorded at the legendary Studio d’Hérouville, the band radiated a solar energy that fused spiritual jazz, progressive rock, and African rhythms.

Richard Raux & Hamsa didn’t just play fusion - they ignited it. Explosive, boundary-breaking, unforgettable.

“Nothing grows in the shadow of great trees,” said Constantin Brancusi when leaving Auguste Rodin’s studio. The same holds true in music, as Richard Raux’s journey proves. At the end of 1970, after recording the debut album of the legendary band Magma, which he co-founded, Raux set out to explore new musical horizons. Under the names Faarmadin and later Hamsa, he crafted a sound deeply rooted in jazz and improvisation, yet daringly open to experimentation.

A devoted admirer of Charlie Parker, Raux played bebop alongside René Urtreger and performed with Bernard Lubat’s Percussion Expérience. Jazz is a cornerstone of Hamsa’s iconoclastic approach, blending seamlessly with psychedelic and progressive rock, and the rich musical traditions of Madagascar, where Raux spent his formative years.

Hamsa is as much a personal endeavor as it is a “family affair.” Alongside his brother Patrice on guitar, Raux brought together a circle of friends—Alain Lecointe (double bass), Jean-Lou Besson (drums), John Faure (guitar), and Alain Pistre (percussion)—to record at the iconic Château d'Hérouville, just outside Paris, at the end of 1974. Yet the spirit of Hamsa is deeply Malagasy, rooted in the village of Andranomadio, which gives its name to the album’s opening track: a vibrant explosion of percussion and color. Africa’s presence resonates throughout the record, whether invoking Brotherhood of Breath (Chris McGregor) on “Johanna,” the Malagasy-infused work of Jef Gilson, or paying homage to John Coltrane’s Africa.

Far from being “just another fusion,” Raux’s music dazzles and transports. The saxophone-guitar unison on “Ahiri Lalita” captivates, the vocals of “Fahamadina” sweep you away, and the manifesto of “L’exploité” hits hard—yet with a liberating warmth. Sunshine and joy shine through on the album’s closing track, “Cultivate the Garden of Your Heart” (with Alby Cullaz on double bass and Jean Padovani on drums), capturing the ethos of Richard Raux and Hamsa—and now, ours too.