The island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean archipelago has a colourful and rich musical history. There are two countries on the island -- Haiti and the Dominican Republic -- the former has its compass, mini jazz and twoubadou popular musical genres, while the latter boasts merengue.
Haiti, still recovering from a 2010 earthquake and years of social unrest, is usually only in the news when tragedy occurs. Yet, as the first country in the Western Hemisphere to successfully rebel against colonialism, it has a fascinating history, which sadly is often overlooked.
Many people are not aware that Haitian culture and music has had a great influence on the development of New Orleans' unique musical culture. Researchers suggest that food and religion were passed from Africa via Hispaniola. Voodoo, the syncretic religion found in New Orleans certainly originated in West Africa, probably in Benin, but arrived in New Orleans via Haiti.
One of New Orleans' best loved bands, the Neville Brothers' recorded a bi-lingual (English and French creole) version of their song My Blood, called San Nous Ki La, with the Haitian band Les Freres Parents, which celebrates these links with lines like: "Jah, please go down to Haiti/Hear my brother's freedom song." The song was used in the soundtrack to Jonathan Demme's documentary on Haitian music.
Most of us know that the Caribbean basin has produced some of the most popular styles of music in the world; consider Jamaica and its genres from ska to reggae or Cuba with its mambo, rumba and son styles. You could also add earlier hit styles like calypso and later soca or the cadence-inspired zouk of bands like Kassav from the Antilles to the list. These styles are known globally.
In the late 1950s, a new style was developed in Port au Prince by bandleader Nemours Jean-Baptiste, which was called compass direct. The style quickly spread across the Caribbean, influencing musicians in the Antilles (you can hear similar rhythms in cadence, zouk and compass direct).
Much of this rich musical history is explained in the liner notes to a fantastic compilation of Haitian music, Haiti Direct – Big Band, Mini Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds, 1960-1978 (Strut, USA). The album was compiled by Hugo Mendez, who has done a wonderful job of covering what was the most creative period in Haitian musical history.
The liner notes explain how compass direct was forged out a band line-up that included two guitars, killer drums, hard percussion and hot brass. Elements of Cuban son and charanga were blended with Dominican merengue and American big band jazz. The result became the quintessential Haitian sound. You can hear Baptiste's magnificent sound on Ti Carole, one of the compilation's standout tracks (complete with a break provided by an accordion quoting from a Russian song).
In the early 60s the sound was further developed with Cuban son and US jazz into cadence rampas, which sounds much more Cuban on tracks like Homenaje A Los Embassadores.
At the same time these urban genres were being developed in Port au Prince's nightclubs, a lilting, rotsy folk style called twoubadou was being created; check out the catchy Cochon St. Antoine by Ti Paris for an example of this style.
Mini-jazz came about in the late 60s/early 70s when the big compass bands downsized to smaller, more mobile (and cheaper to run) units (the same downsizing happened elsewhere such as in the Congo and West Africa, even here in Thailand when molam sing replaced the bigger molam troupes in the mid-80s).
Tabou Combo are perhaps the best known mini-jazz band. The band has just one track, Ce Pas, which was recorded in Haiti before the band moved to the US in the 70s (the liner notes tell the story of the music's history set against the backdrop of the Duvalier family's despotic grip on the country). They were certainly the biggest band to emerge from Haiti and enjoyed crossover hits playing both Haitian mini-jazz and compass direct and also funk and R&B. Along with Coupe Cloue, Tabou Combo rode the first World Music boom in the mid-80s.
What stands out from this compilation is just how varied the music was during this golden era of Haitian music. There are dance floor sizzlers like Ti Machine by Les Animatuers, which sounds uncannily like a West African dance band (think of Orchestra Baobab or Bembeya Jazz) and traditional old-style rara music from Ra Ra de Leogane (on Gade Moune Yo) and one track I will certainly play at my next DJ night, Ti Lu Lipe by little-known Scorpio Universel; the latter tracks has everything, from funky rhythm breaks, hot brass (killer trombone solo), call and response vocals and irresistible intertwining guitars. Breathtaking. Highly recommended.
For more information, check out the Strut website www.strut-records.com.
