7939: Re: 7935: Re: 7870: Meringue (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Gage Averill <gage.averill@nyu.edu>

Just a couple of responses to JR Auguste's comments on konpa.  

The music of Jazz des Jeunes was most often dubbed 'voodoo jazz' (vodou 
djaz -- spell it as you will), and one of the rhythms that the group's 
arranger Antal Murat used most often was 'Petwo' (as JR Auguste writes).  

Well established by the end of the Bicentenaire of PaP in 1949-50, the 
music of Jazz des Jeunes was indeed seen as something different from the 
compas direct of Nemours, which issued from the summer of 1955.  By 1958, 
Sicot had developed his counterpat rhythm/style (cadence rempas) and the 
polemic was underway.

At the isk of sounding self-serving or promotional, there's a lot of this 
in my book (A Day for the Hunter, A Day for the Prey: Popular Music and 
Power in Haiti.  U. Chicago '97), which covers popular music in Haiti 
throughout most of the 20th century.    

Gage Averill

----- Original Message -----
From: Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>
Date: Thursday, May 17, 2001 6:23 pm
Subject: 7935: Re: 7870:  Meringue (fwd)

> 
> From: JRAuguste1@aol.com
> 
> Keywords: Music, Compas Direct, Cadence Rampa, Nemours, Sicot, 
> Meringue. 
> 
> I would like to add a "parenthese" of sort to the note from Patrick 
> Sylvain 
> about meringue/compas. 
> 
> Weber Sicot did not play any Compas, direct or otherwise. He 
> baptized his 
> melodious music and rhythm Cadence Rampa. 
> 
> Jazz Des Jeunes' music did not sound at all like any compas and was 
> never 
> called  nor confused with Compas Direct. It was called Petro or 
> something 
> like that. Ask some of the older Haitians at any Haitian barber 
> shop for the 
> correct name of the sound of Jazz Des Jeunes' music; I guarantee 
> you it will 
> not be Compas Direct. 
> 
> I had to smile while reading Patrick's claim that "Compas came of 
> age in the 
> late 60s/early 70s with Tabou Combo, Difficile de Pétion-Ville, Les 
> Gypsies, 
> Les Shleu-Shleu and others." 
> 
> While those listed musical groups have their merit none can give 
> life to 
> Compas (much less helping compas to come of age)  as "The Super 
> Ensemble 
> Nemours Jean-Baptiste" did with compositions like Boule Malatchon, 
> Les Trois 
> Dangers, Rouge et blanc, Sainte Cecile, Ti Jocelyne, Mireille, Ti 
> Carole, 
> Reskyer, Immortel Compas, Kanaval Energetic, La Joie De Vivre, etc, 
> etc.. 
> (not to forget "8 Avril" composed by Nemours to celebrate the 
> soccer match 
> between Compas Direct and Cadence Rampa; score 1-1; game adjourned 
> due to 
> rain)  
> 
> In my opinion, Compas Direct reached its highest peak when during 
> the '60s, 
> Weber Sicot came up with his Cadence Rampa and the polemic between 
> Cadence 
> and Compas was on with each of those two groups trying to surpass 
> the other 
> with practically a new composition seemingly each week.  
> 
> 
>