CD Review no. 49 | All CD Reviews

I have a special recording to recommend to those who enjoy Haitian folkloric music: an excellent recording of Haitian choir music under the musical direction of Antoine Chéry. What a wonderful job he did on the CD Choeurs, Voix et Tambours d’Haïti! I confess I had not heard of him before, but after listening to this CD, I pay homage to his remarkable musical background.

Mr. Chéry manages to make those traditional songs sound fresh and alive with an extremely competent choir of eight sopranos, four altos, four tenors and six bass voices, supported by six musicians (drums, pianos, flute etc. ). Listen to the arrangements on some of those immortal tunes like "Latibonit, Panama-m tonbe, Konplent peyizan , Atibon Legba" etc. As you listen, you are literally transported into the realm of Haiti’s folklore and peasant lifestyle. I cannot really tell you which one of the tunes I like best. I had tremendous enjoyment listening to all of them: Boat people, Nan jaden Lwa, Bel peyizan, Viv Nwèl, fourteen songs in all for your listening pleasure. The voices are accurate, multiple layers of sophisticated harmony, in short, an outstanding job all-around.

In trying not to appear too biased in favor of this CD, I have been looking for some criticism and the only thing I can say is this: in the liner notes, I find that besides the names of the musicians, it should have been indicated who plays what instrument, because those musicians did such a good job supporting the choir. From my perspective, this is the only negative thing on the CD, if you can qualify that as such.

I believe you will derive tremendous enjoyment from this CD, just like I did, I guarantee it. I may sound like I am exaggerating, but this CD is really one of the best to come out recently in this kind of music, a thoroughly enjoyable collection of traditional Haitian music. I do not hesitate do say that this is an indispensable addition to your Haitian folkloric music collection.

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Changing gear, we move now to Ricardo Frank "Ti Plume" and his new CD entitled Meli Melo. There are quite a number of things to be said about this CD.

First of all, this is quite different from his previous CD: A Touch of class he released about two years ago, sort of. You will see later why I say "sort of". Secondly, this CD is a tribute to the tremendous versality of Ti Plume, thus the CD title "Meli Melo". Indeed, he has released a CD you can dance to or you can listen to. It is comprised of Konpa dirèk, slow tunes, Brazilian Samba and ballads, classical guitar, Haitian ballads, fifteen tunes in all, of which ten were written and arranged by Ricardo Frank. He is proven to be a talented and prolific composer. Thirdly, this CD is a personal album, in the sense that Ti Plume expresses his deep concern about the situation in Haiti and the need for Haitians to change so that things can get better. Listen for example to Tunes No. 2 (Problem idantite) No. 6 (Reconciliation), No. 8 (Imploration), No. 11 (Potfolio bluffolio). Those who know him have seen how jovial Ti Plume is and this also is evident in Tunes No. 3 (Plumomania). I was laughing while listening to it.

In tune No. 6, "Réconciliation", Ti Plume exposes his vision of all Haitians, even former enemies, sitting around a table to discuss the problems of Haiti, put aside their differences and work together for a better tomorrow. In a strongly worded warning, he says the following: "If you do not pay attention and look after Haiti, then it is Haiti which will shut you out…" This warning should resonate in every quarter. Listen to the poignancy of these passages in tune 11"Portfolio bluffolio": For Haiti to change, Haitians have to change. Only then will we have a country to live in….This may sound like a dream…If it is,I do not want to wake up…".A cry which finds echo in the heart of every Haitian, whatever his political affiliation. This is powerful and thoughtful writing by Ti Plume. In tune No. 11, listen also to the powerful and emotional plea written by Carline Keil, with Ti Plume’s classical guitar in the background.

All this music is ably supported by an excellent cast of musicians put together by Ti Plume: Claude Ménélas, Laurent Cicéron, Claude Pasquet, Serge Décius, Sue Terry, Jocel Alméus, to name but a few. The sophisticated and subtle arrangements do not overwhelm the song. Ricardo Frank’s love for Brazilian music is evident with the inclusion in the CD of tunes No. 7,12,13,14 "Choro e Samba, Corcovado, Suite populaire brésilienne and Choro# 1". I thoroughly enjoyed them. Coincidentally, it happens that "Choro", or "Chorinho" as it is called in Brazil, is an old kind of music in Brazil which is presently making a strong comeback on the Brazilian music scene. So Ti Plume’s choice is right on the money.

The classical section on this CD is exquisite. Tunes No. 9, 13 and 14 find Ricardo Frank returning to the style of his "Touch of class" album. He shows the mastery of his instrument by playing the music of the famous Brazilian classical composer Heitor Villa-Lobos. And folks, that is no small feat, yet he makes it sound so easy.

If there is a strong recommendation I would like to make, based on my own experience, it is that you will appreciate this CD best by listening to it more than once. It has so many layers that I found it useful to do so to be able to better understand the many subtleties and the very nice arrangements you hear. The cast of musicians supporting Ricardo Frank did an excellent job. I only wish that Frank’s guitar was better mixed. On some songs, the sound of the guitar is too muffled and prevents us from hearing those nice melodic lines that he is known for. While his "Touch of class" CD was a classical one, this CD is obviously more commercial, and for a good reason. There are very few Haitian guitarists who are able to live only from playing classical music. However, while going commercial, Ti Plume has managed to put out a quality product incorporating still classical elements. That is quite remarkable, considering that he is still playing guitar with "Les Ambassadeurs". It has been a while since I had announced that Ti Plume was working on a new CD, but the wait was worthwhile. This is quite a sophisticated and thoughtful album and I do not hesitate a minute to recommend for addition to your collection of Haitian guitar music. You will be quite satisfied.

Serge Bellegarde
For Windows on Haiti