Newsletter

Jazz artist and trumpet player, Etienne Charles, is a bright light on the jazz scene. In his 20s, he has already issued three CDs to critical and popular acclaim under his label, Shock Music. His ancestry is a mix of cross-cultural influences that inform his music: French Caribbean, Spanish, African, and Venezuelan.

Charles uses his ethnic origins, blending Caribbean, African, and Haitian styles. He has also been exposed to Motown and R & B music through his parents. His new release, Créole Soul, is a jazz interpretation of all these genres. But at the core of it is a Créole sensibility.

Read more →  

The bank Mozayik, a name that is the Creole spelling for the word mosaic, is as infused and made up of seemingly discordant elements in the Afro-Haitian jazz they perform, as the name would suggest. The band and their sound came into being through regularly held jam sessions where Gashford Guillaume and Eddy Bourjolly took to experimenting with mixing Creole and Haitian sounds with other musical influences. The result was a music that has been described as taking jazz today in the same direction as did Dizzy Gillespie in the '40's.Today, their hard work, and a little bit of fate have propelled them to their most propitious height to date.

Read more →  

Haitian Big Band group, Tropicana d'Haiti, boasts a lineup of 20 ace musicians. Big Band music became popular in the States in the 1940s, and Haiti imported the genre during the 1960s. Of note is the fact TOH was part of the development of Compás that began in the 50s. The instrumentation of the group comprises piano, congas, drums, and guitar. The players are known for their high level of musicianship.

Orchestre tropicana d'haiti - VARIETE - les gens du nord

Tropicana D'Haiti got its name from a popular Cuban night-spot ex-patriates frequented. As such, the music derives from Cuban roots music pachanga, salsa, and meringue.

Read more →  

Forget about President Michel Martelly for a moment. The president of Haiti will be absent this Saturday, August 10, 2013. However, Sweet Micky will be there for one night to celebrate his 25 years as an entertainer.

According to some reliable sources, the Haitian singer turned President is scheduled to perform on the stage Saturday for a rare concert. This is to be done as fundraising with all proceeds for the private show to go to the Rose and White Foundation that the president runs with his wife, Sophia.

Read more →  

Miami native and Haitian-American Cécile Mc Lorin Salvant is a jazz singer, whose emergence onto the music scene has created a stir. Born of French-Haitian parents, she resided in Paris, France, for a period, where she studied jazz improvisation and landed a spot as lead vocalist with her initial band.

Returning to America, she entered the Thelonious Monk jazz-singing competition and won it, creating further buzz about her preternatural vocal talent. Two years later, Salvant has released her first CD, WomanChild.

Cécile Mc Lorin Salvant - Le front caché sur tes genoux

Read more →  

After the success recorded after the release of "Gon jan Pou Ye", "Ou Se Melodo", "Fanm Sa Marew" and Koute Kem", the young musical group Gabel is back with another hit song. This time, it is called: "Li Renmenm". After the long time wait, this new song was presented in a nice, professionally made music video.

Now that it has been released, it is your turn to rate it. Please take the time to watch the new music video from Gabel carefully and share your impression of the song with the rest of the visitors.

Read more →  

Haitian descendants are Cuba's largest ethnic minority. This is exactly what creates the story of The Creole Choir of Cuba. The Creole Choir of Cuba is percussion and vocal group that is known for performing songs related to social change, faith and history in Caribbean. The group consists of four men and six women. The songs sung by this group are in tribute to the migrations made by their ancestors.

The Creole Choir Of Cuba: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

Read more →  

A hybrid of the Symphonia Trio and the Septentrional Quartet, the current Septentrional Orchestra, or Septen, as they are lovingly called by fans, began as a one-off collaboration to create a dance which would generate income. The success of this venture saw the two groups and their two guests permanently joined in July of 1948. Their continued domination of the music scene in Haiti, and its far-reaching Diaspora, makes them one of the most influential musical groups in Haitian music.

Marie jose, Orchestre Septentrional D'haiti:

Read more →  

Arguably one of the most famous mini jazz bands of the 1970's and 1980's, Les Difficiles de Petion-Ville's journey through Haitian music history has been, well, a difficult one. Founded in 1966 by Henry Celestin and Robert Martino, the band took its name from the city and its sound from the streets. Their first album, Ce La Vie was released in the turn of the new decade, and the band experienced a rise in their popularity. At the same time, tensions within the unit began to rise as well.

Read more →  

Jude Jean is the quintessential prince of music who earned himself the reputation of a singer who has mastered the skill of missing the train to fame-boulevard! Yes, that is true! Despite his filtered and imposing voice, this tall, charming and handsome and extremely talented signer never had an upward rising success trajectory. Jude Jean made his first appearance in 2000 in a group called K-Dans.

More music videos from Jude Jean

The group is now defunct but it was the debut platform for Jude along with Carlo Vieux and Richard Cave who later moved to New York and formed CaRiMi. After Carlo and Richard left K-Dans, Jude Jean became the lead singer and K-Dans released a few albums with music that were unmistakably sweet. However, these albums did not really enter the hall of fame but they definitely gave Jude an international recognition.

Read more →