Chronique no. 40 | Chronique Index

Since her last CD, the public has been waiting for her next one and it was finally released recently. Gina Dupervil is back on the musical scene with a nice CD entitled "Qui es-tu ?". She has a solid cast of musicians supporting her : Boulo Valcourt, Eddy Prophète, Alix Nozile and a wonderful saxophone player whom I did not know before : Didier Labossière. There are also some Cuban musicians who do a magnificent job.

I would say that the CD is divided into three different movements. The first three songs can be considered the Brazilian movement, in which you hear some nice Brazilian samba beat. The CD opens with "Lumane Casimir", a melody made famous by Carole Maroulé and written by Jean-Claude Martineau many years ago. Ms. Dupervil has a very accurate and harmonious voice which is enhanced by some excellent arrangements. Pay attention to the lyrics of the second tune "Pa fèm-sa", written by Max Piquion. It is as imaginative as you can get in rhyming in Haitian Kreyòl. The fourth song "Lanmou sa-a" can be considered a transition to the Haitian movement. Written by Boulo Valcourt, this is a very nice romantic melody sung with soul by Ms. Dupervil. Didier Labossière has a very nice touch on the saxophone. With the title tune "Qui es- tu ?", a duet by Ms. Dupervil and Boulo Valcourt, we are fully in the Haitian movement. This tune contains some konpa beat and some folkloric rhythm. The sixth tune "Dayiva" written by Jean-Claude Martineau, is in my opinion a masterpiece. The rhythm is nice and the lyrics are so meaningful!

The seventh tune "Yo" was first made famous by Tabou Combo and I find this interpretation most ingenuous. As you listen carefully to the rythmic section , you will here three different movements in one. In the beginning , the conga plays on a Congo beat, in the second part of the song, the cowbell introduces a calypso beat and you have a general samba beat, all of this in one song. And the lyrics of course are of such poignancy that you never tire of listening to the song over and over.

With the eighth song, comes the third movement, a series of wonderful, immortal Latin ballads which bring back a lot of memories. Sandwiched in between, Ms. Dupervil pays hommage to her father by singing one of his famous compositions "Merci".. Of particular notice is the arrangement made by Eddy Prophète of this classic Latin tune "Besame mucho".

While the songs on this CD are not new, I find it enjoyable. It is one of those CDs that you get to fully appreciate after you have listened to it carefully a second and third time. The mixing is excellent, the arrangements are tastefully made. I think it will be a good addition to your collection of CD's from Haitian women artists.

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Another very nice CD has been recently released by an artist whom I had not heard from in a while. Eddy François, formerly from Boukman Eksperyans and Boukan Guinen, is a very committed musician and his most recent release "Zinga" sends a powerful message that he is back. Although he is known as a Rasin musician, Eddy Francois shows a great amount of versality on this CD which contains not only Rasin music, but also some funk, some reggae and some hip hop music. He refuses to be locked in any one musical genre.

Eddy François is an angry, hungry and fiercely proud young Haitian artist. He is angry at what he sees that should not be, and he is hungry for serious changes to occur that are urgently needed. Listen for example to tune No. 5 "Mizè Pèp sa". He rises up against the misery of his people and lashes out at those who want to keep them in those conditions. He makes an appeal to the main pillars of the civil society: the Church, the intellectuals, the students, the houngans, etc. "This wind of division is killing us…" He anxiously asks "Why us, what did we do to them ?

He is also fiercely proud to be a Haitian. Listen to tune No. 7 "Jeune Jan", a very interesting tune which starts with a few lines from the Haitian National anthem. Then he goes on to a nice reggae beat which provides him with the backdrop for some meaningful lyrics about how proud we should be of being Haitian "gentlemen". "We are Haitian gentlemen, we should be respected, even if we do not have money….We are gentlemen, we do not smoke crack…" If you want to hear some uplifting lyrics, this is it.

Tune No. 8 "Lanmou nan ti godet" is a pretty love song with such beautiful images of innocent and naïve love. You wonder why some of the other Haitian bands cannot write love songs like that.

The more you listen to this CD, the more you will like it. Eddy François is supported by a very good cast of musicians, some of my favorites : Makarios Césaire (Ska Sha) on the guitar, Bonga Jean-Baptiste (Culture shock) and Rapper Papa Jube, among others. They do a wonderful job.

I find the mixing more or less adequate, but it could be better on some songs. However, this should not keep you from running to your record store and buy your copy. This is a CD that you should add to your collection.

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Are you looking for some relaxing sound, some background music with some beautiful arrangements? Then I have the right CD for you. Bidjonel, Vol. 1 is all of the above. You can feel the love with which the music was arranged. Right from the first tune, "Shada", you are just transported by Rommel Joseph’s violin and Dukens Guillaume’s saxophone. Serge Duviella’s arrangements are just superb. You would not expect a song by Coupé Cloué to sound that way, but what a wonderful job. As you go on to "Pourquoi", the harmonious and mature voice of Maniolita Audain Daphnis sends you dreaming.

Serge Duviella proves to be quite masterful at programming those keyboards. Listen for example to tune No. 5 "Voyage". The music is full and it reminds me of Yanni’s orchestra. This is a wonderful sound. Tune No. 6 "L’amour" sang by Jean-Francois Azor accompanied at the piano by Philippe Pierre is just pretty. The variety of composers on this CD makes it quite interesting too: Coupé Cloupé, Gérard Dupervil, Alex Abellard, Sidon Joseph and many more.

I was particularly taken by tune No. 12 "Maeva", a classic by well-known composer-singer Sidon Joseph. He does a magnificent job with Assel Jean-Pierre on the piano. The lyrics evoked some wonderfully poetic images which are enhanced by Sidon Joseph’s voice.

You just cannot help but relax when you hear this CD. I will never stop marvelling at what one can do these days with those keyboards which come with all kinds of sounds. But the challenge is to be able to program them the way you want and make it sound like you have a whole orchestra in front of you. This is what Duviella does. His arrangements are full, precise and he makes full use of the potential of the keyboard. Listen for example to tunes No. 7, 9, 11 and 13.

Instead of listing eleven of the fifteen tunes on this CD as my favorites , I’d rather tell you to go buy it and add it to your collection of easy listening music guaranteed to put you in the mood if you want to feel mellow. The mixing is excellent and the sound is crisp. I hope to hear Volume 2 soon.

In other news

On November 19, those of you who live in the Washington D.C. area will be happy to learn that "Strings" will be appearing on November 19 at the No. 1 entertainment site in Washington, D.C. : The Zanzibar Restaurant on the waterfront. Opening the show will be none other than Ricardo Frank, better known as "Ti Plume", the guitarist extraordinaire of Les Ambassadeurs. So make sure you mark that date in your your calendar.

I understand that Tabou Combo’s latest CD will be released in November. We’ll see how accurate this report is in two months.

I understand that "Ti Plume" is also working on another album which should be out soon. We’ll keep you posted on all of this.

Serge Bellegarde