Chronique no. 41 | Chronique Index

Those who religiously read the Chronique will certainly remember how some time ago I was complaining about the absence of female artists on the musical scene. Well, since then, Emeline Michel and Gina Dupervil have released their CD and this week’s Chronique covers the music of three female artists who should be of interest to you.

It was in the 1920's that a girl by the name of Lumane Casimir was born. She went on to become one of the greatest Haitian female artists and with time, Haitians searchers are discovering more and more information about her. Despite what I suspect must have been an endeavour fraught with difficulties, an artist by the name of Henry Eyma made a film on Lumane Casimir and a friend of mine was kind enough to send me the music of that documentary.

Haitians of an older generation will have great pleasure in reliving those melodies from Lumane Casimir, "the first Haitian female guitarist to be recorded for posterity", according to the liner notes on the CD. The music was entirely arranged by the very prolific Serge Duviella (Synthèses, Aquarelles, Bidjonel etc.) . Along with his fellow musicians on the album, he has managed to do two things: first, his main concern was not to overdo it and succomb to the temptation of modernizing the music so much that it would lose its traditional flavor. He largely succeeded. The melodies are kept simple and thanks to his mastery of the keyboard, he is able to come up with the melodious music sounds which enhanced the simple arrangements. The first tune "Haiti Chérie" will take the fans of Haitian traditional songs back to memory lane. This is followed by a number of classics like Panama’m tombe, Isit an Haïti, Caroline Acaau, and the song that probably most associate Lumane Casimir with: Papa Gede.

Secondly, Duviella and his companions "added some new songs to complete the ambiance of this film…." Believe me, if you do not know, you will indeed think that those songs were also written by Lumane Casimir. They are tunes No. 5,6,7,10,11. Listen to Tune No. 5 written by Duviella and Tune No. 10 written by Duviella and Sidon Joseph and you will hear what I mean. Lumane Casimir’s character in the film is played by Martine Renaud who is also the lead singer on the album. She has a nice, soft voice which seems to be well adapted to the personality of Lumane Casimir.

I suppose that what must have been difficult in such a project is to maintain or rather "to recreate the feeling of that period". The musicians on the CD must have been either very young kids when Lumane was still playing, or not born at all. So, to do that required creativity and sensitivity and not all musicians can do that. That is why my hat is off to Duviella and Henry Eyma and the other members of the crew. I have not seen the film, but I would love to match what I hear with what I imagine. If I have any criticism, it is that in Tune No. 8, "Papa Gede", the background vocals sounds really flat. The singing lacks vigor and life and takes something out of the song. But that should not prevent you from adding this CD to your collection of Haitian traditional songs.



This next artist is of a different generation, style and approach, but no less interesting. Josée is a wonderful young artist who could be classified, I guess, as a member of the so-called New Generation. She has a pretty voice and her album is what you would call a "cross over" type CD. She sings in English, Kreyòl and French. Her music is a blend of hip-hop, soft konpa dirèk and sweet ballads.

I must confess I did not know her before and I followed my instinct and the advice of someone who told me to buy this CD. I am glad I followed the advice because the music is really nice. Josée is a very romantic singer who sings her heart and her pains, who describes the universal feelings of broken relationships in a way that is most lyrical. It is a far cry from some of those groups who talk about the same thing in their songs, but write so badly that it comes out flat. This is not so with Josée and I wonder sometimes if what she talks about is a reflection of her personal experience.

There are many nice tunes on the twelve songs included in the CDs, but my favorite has to be tune No. 6 "Lakay" , a very soft and nostalgic song about Haiti. The arrangements on this tune written by Josée are very nice. The lyrics are exquisite and really bring back such nice memories. I think this tune should become a classic. Another nice tune is No. 7, also written by Josée and played on a nice salsa beat. It is hard to keep still as you listen to it. Another interesting and very entertaining tune is No. 10 written by Claude Desgrottes. It has a kind of haunting quality which I find most attractive. The lyrics are quite meaningful too. And how about the very lyrical tune No. 11. The sax improvisations are excellent. I could go on and on, but suffice it to say that you need to listen to the whole CD to appreciate what I am saying. Take my word for it, you will like this CD. I sure hope to hear more from Josée in the near future.



From Josée, we go now to a very different CD, a totally different genre. Not too long ago, a CD entitled "Si m pa rele" was released by "Gwoup Marasa". Since 1975, this is, in my estimation, the best record of this genre to be released by any artist.

1975 was the year when the group Atis Indepandan released an album entitled "Ki sa pou-n fè". It became a landmark in Haitian revolutionary music and a reference during the struggle against the Duvalier dictatorship. "Si m pa rele" is in the same vein and can be considered a follow-up to that album, 25 years later. In fact, some of the songs from that album have been arranged to be included in this CD.

The lead singer, Lody Auguste, is accompanied by an absolutely impressive array of Haitians musicians: Eddy Prophète, Welmire Jean-Pierre (piano), Turgot Théodat (sax), Jimmy Jean-Félix (guitar) and many others. This gives you an idea of the caliber of musicianship on the CD. Lody Auguste has the perfect voice for this kind of music and you can feel that she is living what she is singing. All the songs on the CD deal with Haiti and its social and political realities. Tune No. 3 made famous by Manno Charlemagne, remains to the point, even though more than 20 years have passed. Listen to Welmire Jean-Pierre's lyrical piano supporting the song. He does such an excellent job. Tune No. 4 is just pretty. Turgot Théodat’s sax opening is just wonderful. You will not hear Eddy Prophète playing an electric piano too often, but when he does, like in here, it's something else. Listen to the haunting saxophone sound of Théodat on Tune No 3 while Eddy Prophète and Sergo Décius provide support on piano and conga. To have Eddy Prophète and Welmire Jean-Pierre on the same CD is quite a treat. Tune No. 4 is played on a nice salsa beat that you will have a hard time to resist.

As you listen to Lody Auguste, not only does she have a nice voice, she also comes from the same line of politically committed female Haitian artists such as Barbara Guillaume, Farah Juste and others. Each one of the songs is in itself a lesson in the socio-political history of Haiti. That is why I say that in a sense, this CD takes over in 2000 where Atis Indepandan left off 25 years ago. It is an absolute joy to listen to it and I hope Lody Auguste and Gwoup Marassa do not stop there.

Serge Bellegarde