Issa El Saieh: Bon vwayaj!

[Serge Bellegarde*]

Issa El Saieh : yon mizisyen ki pat tankou tout lòt

Se nan jounen jodya ke mwen apran Issa el Saieh kraze yon kite sa. Lè nou te ti moun, nou te ka pa konen kilès li te ye, paske sa fè tèlman lontan li sispan jwe mizik, depi 1960 dapre sa mwen apran. Se poutèt sa lè Mini Records, sou direksyon Fred Paul, mete deyò nan lane 1997 yon CD ki te rele : Îssa el Saieh, el Maëstro et son orchestre avec Guy Durosier, se te youn nan pi bèl bagay ki te ka rive mizik ayisyen. Ak CD sa, Fred Paul tap koumanse yon tandans ki vin pran chè tout bon lè nou koumanse wè yon seri ansyen mizik ayisyen kap parèt sou CD. Kisa ki pi bon ki te kap fèt pou fè mizik klasik ayisyen reviv ?

CD Issa El Saieh sa, se yon min lò li te ye e pou moun tankou mwen ki te fou tap chache ansyen mizik sa yo, mwen pat ka mande pip plis pase sa. Yon bagay mwen
toujou swete, se pou tout mizisyen jodya rete chita tande ansyen mizik sa yo pou yo te ka reyalize kouman mizisyen nan lane 40 ak 50 sa yo te vanse anpil anpil nan mizik. Issa El Saieh, se youn nan pakèt mizisyen sa yo ki make tan li, tankou Guy Durosier, Rodolphe Legros, Edner Guignard, Pierre Blain, Felix Guignard, Ferdinand Dor, Raoul Guillaume elatriye. Tèlman ta gen mizisyen pou mwen ta site non yo, map kanpe la paske mwen pè bliye plizyè non.

Issa El Saieh te fèt nan Ti Gwav, nan 22 fevriye 1919. Manman li ak Papa li, se Palestinyen yo te ye e Issa te vin sitwayen ayisyen lè li te gen 21 lane sou tèt li. Galerie Macondo, ki se yon gwo magazen penti nan Leta Pensilvani (Etazini) rapòte kouman Issa El Saieh te non sèlman yon gran mizisyen ak maestro, men li te kolekte tout yon pakèt penti ayisyen. Se te yon gwo galri li te genyen nan Rue du Chili, toupre Hotel Oloffson nan Pòtoprens. Galerie Macondo ap rapouswi
v pou di kouman Issa te kon chita avèk ou, lè li pat gen kliyan, pou li tonbe bay blag epi pou lap fè reminisans lè lap montre foto li te pran ak Charlie Parker nan Klib nan Harlem, Nouyòk. Kididonk, lè nap di Issa El Saieh te kon mizik, se pa ak ti mizisyen wòwòt li te kon jwe non. Nan épòk sa, anpil gwo mizisyen jazz meriken te kon vin Pòtoprens e youn ladan yo ki te gen anpi enflyans sou mizisyen ayisyen, se yon saksofonis meriken yo te rele Budd Johnson. Charles Dessalines, yon lòt gwo saksofonis-istoryen nan mizik ayisyen tap rakonte kouman Issa El Saieh vin nan peyi Etazini epi li menen tounen nan peyi Dayiti « Budd Johnson, yon nan pi gwo saksofonis nan epòk sa….Johnson apran li jwe saksofòn..Apre sa, li vin gen òkès pa li, Òkès Saieh, youn nan pi bon yo..Johnson te kon fè aranjman pou Saieh epi Bobby Alix, yon konpozitè/maestro ki te kon viv nan Pòtorico, te kon fè aranjman pou Saieh tou… »

Budd Johnson, Bobby Alix, Count Basie, Duke Ellington elatriye, se te de m
izisyen total ki te kwè nan « Big Band sound ». Nou konpran poukisa mizik ayisyen nan epòk sa te gen « Big Band sound » sa ki te mak fabrik yo : yon liy van solid ak twonpèt, saksofòn alto, tenò ; twonbòn. E se pa nenpòt kit son non!. Si nou al koute CD Issa el Saieh, ousman òkès Guy Durosier, Jazz des Jeunes elatriye, nap wè si yo pat gen liy van solid, yo patap nan batay. Epi epòk sa, tout mizisyen te kon li ak ekri mizik, tap konpoze bon jan mizik. Se poutèt sa nan jounen jodya, koute mizik sa yo, se yon veritab edikasyon mizikal.

Eske nou sonje epòk lane 70 yo, lè « revolisyon » mini-jazz tabli nan peyi a ? Mizik la te cho, tout moun tap danse D.P Express, les Difficiles elatriye ; Robert Martino, Toto Laraque ak anpil lòt mizisyen tap voye gita monte ale pou vini. Epòk sa bay yon pakèt gwo gitaris nan peyi Dayiti, pa gen dout sou sa. Men, mwen toujou regrèt kouman yo te vin elimine liy van nan mizik ayisyen, sa ki te lakòz mizisyen ayisyen vin neglije enstriman van.
Pat gen fanfa ankò, kididonk, mizisyen tankou Wébert Sicot pat ekziste ankò. Se sa kif è ou te vin gen yon pakèt gitaris epi ou pat jwen anpil nèg ki te jwe ensriman van. Se Jazz des Jeunes, Tropicana ak Septentrional sèl ki pat janm lage liy van an. Apre, tout lòt ti gwoup te sispan sèvi ak enstriman sa yo.

Lè liy van retounen nan lane 80 yo, nou te ka wè pat gen ase ayisyen ki te kon jwe bon jan van. Sèl referans epòk sa, se te Les Frères Déjean ki tap fè yon travay eksepsyonèl ak mizik li. Ala yon diferans ak epòk òkès Issa El Saieh, Guy Durosier, Rodolphe Legros elatriye. Kalite mizisyen sa yo pat manke. Lè wap tande mizik Òkès Issa, kit se moso tankou Yoyo, Peze Kafe , Anana, Banm pam san dous, La Sireine, la Baleine epi plizyè lòt moso anko, ansanm ak Guy Durosier, Pierre Blain kap chante, se pa ti zafè !. Se poutèt sa mwen ta swete anpil pou jen jenerasyon mizisyen nou yo bay tèt yo obligsayon pou koute mi
zik Issa El Saieh pou tande yon seri son ou pap tande oken lòt kote.

Issa El Saieh pati, men nou gen chans eritaj mizik li kite pou nou a, yon eritaj ki pap janm disparèt, menm si pa gen anpil ki sou CD. Malgre tout pwoblèm, anrejistreman yo la e mwen ta swete ke se pa CD Fred Paul la sèlman kap rete sèl referans pou mizik gran mizisyen sa.

Map voye yon mesaj senpati pou fanmi li. Mwen pat janm ge okazyon rankontre li, men koulye a, se yon bagay mwen regrèt, mwen te dwe fè sa. Li toujou enteresan pou pale ak moun nan jenerasyon sa pou konpran kijan yo te wè mizik la, ki kote yo te vle ale ak li, kisa ki tap motive yo. Ke li repoze nan lapè !

Serge Bellegarde
Windows on Haiti, fevriye 2005

[Widy*]

Sèj,

Mwen pral di oun biten ki pa gen anyen a wè epi mizik la men kon ou sav, si fowòm lan se mwen ki ka fè plizoumwen tradiksyoun tèks oriyantal nan kreyòl, mwen te jòs le pòte oun ti kontribisyoun ki pe enterese moun pa si kote zòt e ki an rapò tou epi pati rèlijioun fowòm lan.

Nan lang arab, yo ka rele Jezi, ISSA e non li nan lang tala se ISSA LI YE ki vle di kè boug tala zansèt li se desandan palèstinyen kretyen yo ye, padavwa kè 40 % pèp palèstinyen yo se kretyen yo ye, men kon yo pa òksidanto, tout kretyen lewòp e lamerik pisime fème je si yo pou yo pa wè tribilasyoun yo ka pase.

Men sa vle pa di kè yo ka sibi tribilasyoun pa si kote peyi nou.

[Serge Bellegarde*]

Kanmarad Widy,

Mwen byen kontan gen ti enfòmasyon konsa. Ti detay sa yo, se ou menm ki ka ban nou yo e li toujou bon pou konen yo. Mèsi.

Serge

[T-dodo]

Serge,

First of all, I want to thank you for your reviews and for your analysis and history of the music era in which Saieh thrived. You are enriching us with your wealth of knowledge in haitian music history and appreciation.

You have reiterated once more, how the mini jazz movement affected the big band presence in Haiti. Sometimes, it suggests - and I may be over-reading you here - that the absence of that movement would have been better for haitian music. Every time I got this, it occured to me that perhaps both could have thrived together if it was not for the political and economic environment during Duvalier and after. The reason that I am inclined to think this is because of places like the US where all styles of music seem to be thriving together: rock, pop, hip pop, jazz, country, classical, etc. Was Haiti too small for two different music trends to survive side by side?

Jean-Marie

[Serge Bellegarde*]

Jean-marie,

While I understand what you are saying, I do not think we can talk here of two different music trends, because after all, this is still the same Konpa dirèk we are referrring to, not a totally different music. Now if we are talking about, say, Konpa and Mizik Rasin, then we are dealing with two different things: Rasin being based on Haitian folkloric rythms, and Konpa having a different structure.

What I am talking about reflects the natural evolution of Haitian Konpa, the same way it happened for example with Reggae (which evolved from Ska) or Soca which was before (Calypso, which itself evolved from Kaiso). It is all in the way musicians decided to play the music using different instruments to obtain a particular sound.

The "Mini Jazz" style was a natural evolution of Konpa, a reaction of a new generation of musicians seeking to have the music sound differently, it was not a new beat, or anything like that. T
hose musicians modified the melody, used certain instruments differently, notably the guitar, which became the instrument doing all the solo parts. If you are an avid listener of jazz, you might remember how Jimmy Smith for example revolutionized jazz by introducing the organ as an instrument making all kind of solos.

What I deplore in the Mini jazz style, is that musicians of that era neglected the horn, an instrument which gives so much more versatility in terms of melodic lines, phrasing etc. Yes, we have excellent guitarists who are the product of that era, but the evolution of horn musicians was stiffled because there was a deliberate decision on the part of those musicians to launch a different sound; they showed disdain for those horn musicians who in their eyes, were old folks needing to modernize.

I maintain that in restrospect, this attitude was unfortunate. When you listen to guys like Wébert Sicot (one of our greatest sax players), Guy Durosier, Issa El Saieh, les Frères Déjean etc
. playing their horns, to me, it is a different, richer, more versatile sound. As I said , Tropicana, Septen, les Frères Déjean were among the few who did not to abandon their horn section. The fact that those same mini jazz reinstated the horn in their music in the 80s indicates that they finally realized that something was missing in the sound. Meanwhile, 10 to 12 years had passed before they came to that realization. Tabou Combo, Difficiles, D.P. Express etc, all went back to the horn.

But You know Jean-Marie, curiously enough, there was a positive aspect in that whole situation. Because of the lack of competent Haitian horn players (I am not saying there were none, just that the demand exceeded the availability of good Haitian horn players), many non-Haitian horn players became involved in Haitian Konpa, doing an excellent job too. For a long time, if I remember well, Tabou Combo's horn section was all American. Ska Sha played with American horn player; Canadians became involved. It was after al
l a way to expose Konpa to non-Haitians. I think that was a positive development for the exposure of our music.

So Jean-Marie, I am not looking at this issue as a matter of something good or bad for the music, because I used to enjoy it, but rather as a matter of a natural phase of the evolution of Konpa dirèk, just like the Twoubadou style is yet another of those periodic 12 to 15 year-cycle of internal upheaval in Haitian Konpa. Notice for example how the bass line is played in Twoubadou, or the keyboard or the congas. Even though I love the beat, but I still like to hear my jazz lines in some solid Konpa dirèk, something that is not done in twoubadou mizik.

To conclude, I suppose that politics may have played a role, but I venture to say mostly on the lyrics rather than on the structure of the music. Under Duvalier, the lyrics were just terrible, and we know why.

Anyway, Jean-marie, I did not mean to write so much, but I got carried away. I hope you have the opportunity one of these
days to listen to the sound of guys like Issa El Saieh (See the Music section of Windows on Haiti), the orchestra of Guy Durosier, the music of Rodolphe Legros etc. That will blow your mind as you hear how advanced these musicians were in the 40s. Much more than a lot of these guys in 2005....

See ya!

Serge