CD Review no. 58 | All CD Reviews

There are some groups whose Cds I never hesitate to buy whenever they are released, because I appreciate so much the hard work and the sense of creativity which goes into their music. In my own personal perspective, I rank very high such groups as Les Ambassadeurs, Magnum Band, Caribbean Sextet, and Mizik Mizik. So when " Haïti Twoubadou, Vol I and II " released earlier this year and I saw the names of the producers, I knew I would thoroughly enjoyed them. Indeed Fabrice Rouzier and Clément Bélizaire, the producers and members of Mizik Mizik, have done a masterful job with those 2 Cds. Their work has always been characterized by this sense of creativity which is so lacking these days in some Konpa groups. In retrospect, Rouzier and Bélizaire were already pointing the way with their Blackawout CD that was so well received.

Haïti Twoubadou, Vol. I and II is a wonderful set of Konpa dirèk that maintains you in the modern sound and at the same time, transports you back to the old and the traditional sound. Modern, because of the wonderful, intricate, sensitive and sophisticated arrangements; traditional, because of how F. Rouzier and C. Belizaire seek to recreate the acoustic, unaltered sound of Troubadour's music in Haiti: the accordion sound, the acoustic guitar, the percussion. They even managed to recreate the sound of that typically traditional bass sound of the " Manoumba ", a resonance box that you find in troubadour's music.

From personal experience, I can tell you that you will never tire of listening to those 2 Cds. The mixing is excellent, the beat is infectious and with this soft sound, it can be played as background music; and besides, it is excellent dancing music. Both Cds are comprised of some of best Konpa hits arranged by Rouzier and Bélizaire. I have many favorites, but let me insist on tune No. 3 (Vol. I) " Anne ". It is hilarious and serious at the same time, a masterpiece. But again, tunes No. 4, 5, 6 are out of this world. The arrangements are just excellent. Listen to the lyricism of Belizaire's guitar on tunes no. 4 (Vol. I ) and No 6 (Vol. II); the cello sound in the introduction of tune No. 2 (Vol.II); the gentle and sensitive touch of Rouzier's sound on the keyboard throughout the Cds; the voices in the introduction of tune No. 4 (Vol. II) ; the flute and sax arrangements. I could go on and on, but telling you will not be enough. You need to listen to the music. As I look for some criticism, the only thing I can come up with is that in the title of the CD, the name of the country should have been written in Haitian Kreyòl spelling, so as to match the word " Twoubadou " which is correctly spelled in Kreyòl.

So far this year, I think this is the most imaginative Konpa album to have been released in a long time. I already placed them on my list of " Best Konpa Cds for 2002 ". If you have not gotten your copies already , you are way behind, believe me. So rush to your record store to get your copy, you will love Haïti Twoubadou.

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Staying in the " Twoubadou " mode, another Cd was released earlier this year and I do not think it got as much notice. Eksperyans Akoustic- Wowoli is another very good album that I enjoyed thoroughly. And for a good reason. It is lead by an excellent musician, bassist Laurent Cicéron formerly with Magnum Band.

Cicéron and his group also seek to recreate that traditional " twoubadou " sound by using acoustic guitars, the bass and percussion, just like you would find in the countryside. There is no keyboard, just a lot of acoustic guitar, two of them as a matter of fact. The guitarists are excellent, and the soloist reminds a lot of the late jazz guitarist Charlie Byrd. In that respect, his style of music is quite different from " Haiti Twoubadou ", but as enjoyable. I must admit that was my first encounter with his guitarist and he sounds pretty good.

Cicéron's CD will take you back memory lane with tunes from Coupé Cloué, Assad Francoeur, Ibo Lele, Ti Paris. In fact, this Cd's style of music is most reminiscent of the famous Ti Paris. A very competent team of musicians who were able to capture that Ti Paris'sound surrounds Cicéron. I particularly like tune No. 5, " Ti Razè ", in which the guitarist does an excellent job walking along the melody. Tune No. 7 is a tune I had not heard in so long that is a joy to hear again. Other classic tunes like No. 8 " Roze jaden " bring also a lot of memories. A nice surprise on the CD is an interpretation of the Brazilian artist Luiz Bonfa's " Samba de Orpheu ", in which the band does a good job at interpretating this everlasting song.

I am not sure if this CD ; along with " Haiti Twoubadou ", suggests one of those periodic upheavals inside Konpa dirèk, but I like this CD for its simplicity, its throw-back to Haitian traditional " twoubadou " music, under the very competent direction of Laurent Cicéron whose obvious aim is to revive this aspect of our musical heritage. This is a CD that should definitely be added to your collection.

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Continuing with the series " Konpa Gold ", the third volume was released recently by Antilles Mizik. As usual, this is a nice compilation of some of the best Konpa groups around: Mizik Mizik, T-Vice, Zenglen, New York All Stars, Alan Cavé, Carimi, Kdans, Robert Charlot, Konpa Kreyòl, Dzine and more. Thirteen tunes in all for your enjoyment. Some of these tunes are featured on the " Haïti Twoubadou " Cds and that could be an opportunity for you to listen to the originals and compare them with the arrangements by Haïti Twoubadou. This is a real treat. Once more, the guys from Antilles Mizik did a pretty good job of choosing some of the best tunes to include them in Konpa Gold III. I am sure it must have been an arduous task to come up with those choices. But in the end, there is something for everyone.

If you have not bought the 2 previous volumes, I suggest you buy all three; otherwise, run to your CD supplier and get Konpa Gold , Vol. III, it is well worth it.

Serge Bellegarde
For Windows on Haiti