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 The
50th Anniversary Of Haitian Music: Konpa Direk By
Rene Devis, Heritagkeonpa Magazine July
26, 2005 marked the 50 Anniversary of Konpa Direk. To celebrate this unique milestone
in the history of Haitian music, Heritagekonpa Magazine will publish a series
of articles, some of which have been previous released on the web site, to pay
tribute to konpa's and Haitian music pioneers. Compas
Direk History and Development Compas
Direct (Konpa), the progeny of a successful marriage of Haitian folklore, Tipico,
Cuban and African rhythms, was born in July 26, 1955 under the direction of Maestro
Nemours Jean Baptistes.
Port-au- Prince, particular Club Aux Callabase, was at the red-hot center of konpa
Direk movement during those early years. Nemours Jean Baptiste, a virtuous saxophonist,
arranger and composer, is considered as the founder of Konpa Direk, the infectious
music of Haiti. The names of might not be as familiar, but as members of the group
"Ensemble Aux Calebasses", sax master Weber Sicot, singer and vocalists
Julien Paul and Louis Lahens, Jean Claude Felix, the Dureosseau Brothers ( particularly
accordion master Richard Durosseau), and many others, also deserve recognition
as konpa pioneers. Before
the creation of Compas, Jazz Des Jeunes was the most recognized name in Haitian
folklore music in 1940's . Des Jeunes played a blend of traditional Haitian ethnic
( voodoo/Racine music) and European (France) music. Jazz Des Jeunes has had an
indelible influence on the evolution of Haitian music .Their music served as the
foundation for much of Haiti's popular music. In
the 1950s Haiti saw the rise of great musical talents and national icons like
Lumane Casimir,
Edner Guillaird, Toto Bissainte, Gerald Dupervil, Issa El Saieh, Ti Roro (Haiti's
greatest drummer), Ti Paris and Althery Dorival ( two banjo-playing farmer introduced
Haitian Troubadour), orchestre Atomic, Rodolphe Legros, Guy Durosier, Joe Jack,
Joe Trovillog, Raoul Guillaume, Yvon Louissaint, Marta Jean Claude, Leon Dimanche,
Yves Mardice, Ansy Derose and Orchestre Citadel, and Septentrional and Tropicana
in the North. Those musicians and orchestra incorporated their own personal styles
and influences in Haitian folk and Latin music, resulting in original style and
exciting music.
The 40s and 50s were known as the "Bel Epok" in Haiti. Haiti was also
known as the Pearl of the Antilles for its beauty, music, and rich culture. Port-
au- Prince, the capital, was a city of perpetual movement, commerce, tourism,
sounds and energy, and cultural development. The different rhythms of Haitian
Roots- Racine, Petro, Yanvalou, Ibo, Afro, Rada, Comgo, Gedew, Comgo, Djadvaudor,
Troubadour - flourished durig the "Bel Epoch" period. Together they
added up to the rich diversity of Haitian Music. However,
it wasn't long before a group young man, including Nemours Jean Baptiste and Weber
Sicot came to Port- Au- prince from the provinces of Haiti and set Haitian music
in a brand new direction. Nemours and his associates invented Compas Direct in
July 26, 1955. As a band leader of the first Compas Band, "Orchestre AU Callabesse",
Nemours incorporated electrical instruments into Compas to add more power and
strength to his style of music. By 1956 Compas Direct was in direct competition
with Jazz Des Jeunes, the king of Haitian Roots Music. Despite all resistance
by Haiti's conservative sector, Compas became the musical medium of the younger
generation of the 50's and 60s and so on. Compas
exploded in the mid-60s and 70s, the music became Haiti's national treasure. Konpa
Direct proliferated in Port-au-Prince and throughout Haiti with the introduction
of cheap transistor radio. Konpa music took another extension in the mid 1960's
and 1970's with emergence of mini jazz: Ibo Combo, les Shleu Shleu, Les Lourdes
Noirs, Les Gypsies and Difficille De Petion Ville, Trio Select De Coupe Cloue,
Meridional Des Cayes, Shak Shah, Tabou Combo, Accolade, DP Express, Scorpio, Les
Freres Dejean, and Magnum band. Those mini jazz attempted to simplify and commercialize
Konpa by making it more danceable. As the popularity of those mizi jazz reached
their peak, Nemours Jean Baptistes and other authentic konpa band slowly faded
away. In
the early history of Compas Direct, the music was characterized with heavy emphasis
on rhythm, accent, melody, and improvisation. Today, the music itself has mutated,
and fragmented, and contiguously evolving. Its effects are manifested in
every aspect of Haitian culture. Nemours
died on May 18, 1985, Haitian music, would not be the same without him and the
contribution of his colleagues. Five decades later, konpa remains the heart and
soul of Haitian musi (
Click here to read more about Nemours Jean Baptistes. Today
Konpa continues to evolve, but less and less emphasis is placed on real instruments.
With the exception of few konpa bands which still utilize live instruments in
their recordings, the younger generation prefer to program and sequence all instruments
into a drum machine. The guitar and keyboard have now become the dominant factor
in Konpa, the horn and rhythmic sections have almost become a lost art...
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