Chronique no. 42 | Chronique Index

With the holiday season upon us, the usual cornucopia of new Haitians releases offers quite a few choices in a variety of sounds. You may have a hard time choosing.

It seems that the guitar is definitely becoming the choice instrument of Haitians involved in soft jazz. After Mozayik, Kilti Chòk, Harold Faustin and others, comes Bémol Jean Telfort and his new realease: The good news is the bad news was wrong. As you listen to him, two key guitarists come to mind: Wes Montgomery and to a lesser extent George Benson. It is obvious in my opinion that Bémol Jean Telfort has been influenced by them and I think he is the one Haitian guitarist who most closely has this Wes Montgomery sound, doubled with that of George Benson. He has obviously studied the Wes Montgomery phrasing and patterns and sometimes, if you don't know, you might not hear the difference. I do not have any problem with that though. I love Wes Montgomery and I love Telfort's style and touch on the guitar. He plays with feeling, sensitivity and creativity. You are taken with this album right from the first tune, an adaptation of the Haitian traditional song "Soley". Tune No. 3 is a sensitive melody with beautiful lines by Telfort. The notes flow in cascade, creating beautiful chords on a nice melody.

What is fast becoming a standard with Haitian guitarists though is the use of Haitian Rasin music as background for their foray into jazz. This is a great tribute to the versatility of our native music while this reflects the many links between Haitian Rasin music and American jazz. Listen for example to the title tune "The good news is the bad news was wrong". It starts like a regular "be bop" tune with the percussions going strong. And suddenly, you take note of the conga superbly played by Alix Nozile on a rara beat. Listen to the interplay of the cymbal, the bass and the conga. It's out of this world!. The sax solo by Didier Labossière is excellent and it is immediately followed by a wonderful conga improvisation by Alix Nozile. This is Rasin Jazz in its purest form, all of this capped by Telfort's guitar sounding like Wes Montgomery. This tune ends on a fiery interplay between the sax, the guitar, the drum and the conga. Tune No. 5 is a wonderful tribute by Telfort to his mother Rosélie who passed away recently. Sensitively sung by Linda Estimé, it shows the versatility and the soulful play of Didier Labossière on the saxophone.

Tune No. 8 is a tribute to George Benson which shows how fast Telfort can be on the guitar. Tune No. 12 is an interpretation of Wes Montgomery's famous "Road song". You will hear how Telfort has incorporated the rara beat in this song with the conga. Of interest also is Tune No. 11 "The contrary fact of T.F". If this title sounds strange, that is probably because it is a most interesting off-beat tune which shows that Telfort must have been an avid listener of Dave Brubeck's music.

Bémol Jean Telfort proves to be quite a composer. In fact , eleven of the 13 tunes were written by him. He is supported by an excellent cast of musicians; the mixing is very good, the music is just nice. I have quite a few favorites on the CD, but the truth is whatever song you pick, you can't go wrong. In other words, if you are a guitar lover, this CD is for you. If you like soft jazz, you want this CD in your collection.; it will make an excellent Christmas gift. I would strongly advise that you run, not walk, to your closest record store and add Bémol Telfort 's CD to your collection.

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I got my hand on a brand new CD which I find so original and so nice that I have to include it right away: Edy Brisseaux's most recent release, "The Christmas show" comes out right on time . Brisseaux does not limit himself to playing the usual classic Christmas songs, he goes much further.

One thing I notice in his music is that his melodies are never a straight line. Indeed the singer does not only sing. Each word uttered by him is like a musical improvisation on an instrument and believe me, it is not easy to sing like this. You just listen to Tunes No. 1, or 3, 5 for that matter. If one were to transcribe the melody, it would be amazing to see the amount of words grafted on each note . I love Brisseaux's sound on the trumpet. He has this kind of soft touch that is always pleasant to hear. He does not make a lot of noise with his instrument. His phrasing is exquisite. This is the kind of music that will fit in any setting.

Three of the CDs 7 tunes were written by Brisseaux. The others are well known tunes, but what is absolutely new is the treatment of theses songs by Brisseaux. My jaws dropped as I listened to his interpretation of Shubert's Ave Maria. Remember how the original sounds and listen to Brisseaux's version: Ave Maria on a rara beat. This is most original and the beat is infectious. The trumpet solo is out of this world. The notes blurt out of Brisseaux's trumpet in burst, in a manner reminiscent of the great Dizzy Gillespie. Some notes seem to come out hesitantly, much like Miles Davis would play. He demonstrates a great control of his instrument.

Tune No. 4 , the classic "Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas", is so nicely interpreted by Brisseaux and the able musicians backing him: Yves Abel on the bass, Shedly Abraham on the drums, two of my favorite Konpa musicians, and a host of others. This is just nice music. One of my favorites on this CD is Tune No. 5, "Tonton Nwèl Gran mangeur". The lyrics are quite meaningful, to the point and humorous. I like the way the organ provide support in the background. There are also some pointed criticism at the elitist nature of Tonton Nwèl in Haiti: Tonton Nwèl remains in Pétion-Ville and does not go downtown (among the poor people). The way he distributes his goodies is wholly inadequate and unfair. The image could not be more compelling. Listen to the way the notes flows in the trumpet solo. Brisseaux shows a sense of creativity and boldness which is actually quite refreshing in Konpa Dirèk. And speaking of boldness, Brisseaux decided not to include a guitar on this CD. As far as I can remember, I had never heard before a modern Konpa Dirèk tune without the ever present strumming guitar. That is exactly what Brisseaux does: play without a guitar and guess what! You hardly miss it; the other instruments largely compensate for that.

If there is any drawback on this CD, it is that the mixing could have been better. Some of the instruments do not come out clearly enough. I would have liked to hear the singer better ; his voice is sometimes muffled when he sings low notes. Otherwise, this is a wonderful CD with beautiful music, excellent musicianship, originality, creativity, and excellent trumpet work. One more for your collection for Christmas!

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This next CD is of a different style, yet quite entertaining also. Mizik Mizik's latest CD "Blakawout" was released recently after a fairly long hiatus. But I think the wait was worthwhile.

I always liked Mizik Mizik's style of Konpa and on this CD they continue their efforts to innovate. Indeed, it plays a much slower brand of Konpa in general than the other bands. But, this time, it tried something which I had never heard in modern Konpa Dirèk. On some of the songs, Mizik Mizik incorporated in its music this most traditional Haitian instruments: the manoumba, which is not known as a Konpa Dirèk instrument. The result is most enjoyable. The manoumba provides a rich and deep bass sound which enhances the song. This CD is also strongly reinforced by well-known musicians like Toto Laraque, Kéké Bélizaire, Eric Charles and many more. This is a solid cast. On the keyboard, Fabrice Rouzier does a wonderful job of coming up with some pretty melodies and mixing up the different program sounds.

If I were to describe in one word the brand of Konpa that Mizik Mizik plays, I would say: relaxing. Right from the first tune, you hear it. The title tune "Blakawout" is a very nice tune in many respects. The manoumba sounds so nice, as well as the accordion. The beat is so infectious you will not be able to stay still. The group added also bells to enhance the sound. As far as the lyrics, they are full of meaning, as they translate a reality in the country which threatens to become ingrained in our psyche. Reading between the lines, in essence, the lyrics tell us that the lack of electricity has become so pervasive and is such a normal occurrence, that we are have become accustomed to being in the dark. When electricity is restored, it disturbs us from a series of activity we are used to doing without electricity. The question is: how true is this state of mind?

This CD is quite enjoyable. The mixing is pretty good, the lyrics are good and meaningful - a lesson for other groups - and most important, Mizik Mizik shows creativity in its brand of Konpa. It may have taken the group sometime before it produced this CD, but its fans will not be disappointed. This should make a good addition to your collection. So don't wait , call your CD supplier as soon as you can.

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In other news

By the time you read this Chronique, "Haitiando-Vol. II" will probably have been released. In fact, I understand that on December 18, they will have and official CD release party in Haiti. I am looking forward to getting my copy soon.

Strings is also scheduled to release its third CD very soon. After a very successful performance in Washington D.C. about two months ago, it is scheduled to return on January 13 for another appearance. So stay tune for further news in the future.

Serge Bellegarde