Ralph Condé Caribbean's Most Versatile Musical Collaborator

Updated December 27, 2012 11:04 AM

Ralph Condé, a Haitian-American musician, was born in New York in 1969. He is a self-taught guitarist, who began playing at seven years of age. He broke into the music scene at age 16, and soon became a success playing and singing in the group Papash, who topped the charts with several smash albums.

As a singer-songwriter- arranger and head of his own record company, Condé has played with many Haitian and Caribbean musicians, with his gypsy lifestyle sending him to perform for audiences, in concert venues, over all Latin America, Africa, and Europe.

Originally a member of Papash, who later morphed into Vag, Condé has teamed up with other groups over the years, performing with Tabou Combo, in the late 90s, and Nu Look, in the early 2000s. He has provided Tabou Combo with musical arrangements on their albums Sans Limites, 360 Degre, and 30 Ans au Zenith de Tabou.

Ever the peripatetic collaborator, Condé has also contributed music to the just-released Nu Look M'anvi Pranw album; Banjo's Si Tu T'en Vas album, a group that he founded; and Top-Vice's Nou Nan Zone La single. Condé is also a solo performer, having released Akoustikreyol, an acoustic-only album of smooth jazz tracks, such as "Sa Pa Komplike", as well a project scoring the Haitian film Oasis.

Lately Condé lives and works in Miami, Florida, operating his new recording studio and welcoming musicians of all levels and abilities, to learn from his knowledge and experience.

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