CD Review no. 48 | All CD Reviews

From time to time, you listen to a singer who, you will say has a nice voice. Other times, you will hear a singer who brings out all kind of emotions inside of you and that does not happen often. This is what you will experience with Herby Widmaier on his recently released CD En plein coeur…Herby Widmaier has seen many generations of musicians and he has contributed to the formation of some of our best artists. In fact, on this album he plays with his sons, themselves excellent musicians in their own rights.

If I were to describe Widmaier's voice, I would use words like mellow, accurate, soulful, full of feelings, moving, lyrical, serene, perfect and so on. And I am not exaggerating. His music is absolutely exquisite. His voice evokes the same kind of smoothness as an African American singer called Johnny Hartman. Widmaier's music is strongly enhanced by the lyrics of the songs. Many of the tunes are written by him and when they are not, he is the arranger along with another musician. Widmaier is also supported by an impressive array of Haitian artists such as his son Mushi Widmaier (an excellent pianist , arranger, guitarist), Gaguy Dépestre (sax, flute) André Déjean, Eddy Brisseaux(trumpets), Lionel Volèl (sax), Frantz Courtois (guitar), Joel Widmaier (drums), Joe Charles (bass) and others. No wonder then that the orchestration is so rich and ably executed. Listen to the first tune and you will "hear" what I mean. The introduction to tune No. 2 or No. 3 are so nice. Tune no. 4 "Manouie" is a special treat. The arrangements are high class. Tune No. 4 is played on a light Konpa beat and sung by Herby and his son Joël. This is some sophisticated melody full of nuances. I cannot believe that with this kind of voice, it took Widmaier nearly 25 years to release this album. Indeed, you will see in the liner notes that some of those songs were recorded as long ago as 1977, the most recent being in January 2001. Even though the music spans such a long period of time, it remains as fresh as if recorded yesterday.

You are in for a special treat with this album, one of the best for 2001. This is music of a higher plane. The mixing is excellent, the arrangements are superb and the musicians among the best. If you want highly sophisticated music , this CD is for you. If you want to feel mellow, dim the lights and put on Herby Widmaier's CD and it will not be long before you feel as lyrical as his voice suggests. An excellent addition to your CD collection.

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Speaking of mellow moods, another CD which was recently released was that of Pascal Albert, the well-known singer from "Les Ambassadeurs". Pascal takes you back on memory lane with the many ballads written by Les Ambassadeurs, the group's trademark. His voice is unmistakable and he does an excellent job. With the exception of tune No. 6, the composer of these romantic ballads, Ernst Menelas , had a knack for those unforgettable melodies every young lover fans of Les Ambassadeurs would know by heart. And he also knew how to write good lyrics too. The music was arranged by a well-known musician, Michel Laraque, an excellent guitarist in his own right. I like the fact that the arrangements are just what they should be. The singer is not overwhelmed by the instruments. The pianist does a very good job accompanying Pascal every step of the way. The brass and string sections are arranged by another excellent guitarist, Frantz Courtois.

I do not think these songs would sound the same if sung by someone else, but even though he is not accompanied by Les Ambassadeurs, Pascal Albert maintains their identity. Just listen to tune no. 2, or 3 or 8 or 9 , to name only those and you will feel transported back to 1980, when Les Ambassadeurs were in full swing. Incidentally, the group has started playing again and whenever they do, Pascal comes up from Haiti.

So, if you want to relive an era, add this an album to add to your collection of sweet ballads, you will like it.

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While we are on memory lane, let me bring to your attention the CD recently released by Skah Shah No.1 entitled "La belle époque". Indeed, it was a nice and memorable era when this group was having a good time giving us good fun. Unfortunately, a multiple break-up came and it becomes confusing at times to know who is the real Skah Shah. In any case, you get the real deal on this album with Loubert Chancy, Jean-Michel St. Victor, Leslie Lavelanet, Rodrigue Gauthier, Ernst Ramponneau and so on. The real nucleus is there to take you back to memory lane with tunes like St. Valentin, Angelina, Tête chauve, Assez frappé etc. Any Skah Shah fans would recognize those tunes. Loubert Chancy is the only brass player on the album, just like the original Skah Sha used to sound and it did a real nice job, with Chancy and his distinctive style on the saxophone. Efforts were made so that the arrangements do not obscure the recognizable melodies.

The mixing is very good. All instruments come out very clearly and this is a nice dancing album which you should have at your next party. If you are a Skah Shah fan, you definitely should include this CD in your collection.

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Other news For those who follow "Les Ambassadeurs", it definitely looks like the group is on its way back. It has been playing here and there in Boston, New Jersey and Next July 14, it is scheduled to play in Canada. I understand that a CD should be coming out hopefully in the not too distant future.

Eddy Prophète and Fred Paul are also working on "Haitiando III". I suppose we can expect it for Christmas, as in previous years. It promises to be another treat. I understand that Eddy is also working on two other very interesting projects which should be quite enjoyable. We will keep you posted.

Serge Bellegarde
For Windows on Haiti