Haitian Beatz

Magnum is celebrating its 33rd Anniversary, HaitianBeatz.Com, had the opportunity to speak with, founder, legendary guitar player, Dadou Pasquet.

Dadou Pasquet was born in Haiti to a family of musicians. Early in his life, his family moved to New York where he found his place in the New York based Haitian Kompa movement of the 60’s. Barely a teenager at the time, Dadou started playing with Tropical (Historic Haitian band) when he was only 13 years old. Word of the boy wonder guitar player spread quickly throughout the Haitian music community. Soon Dadou found himself playing alongside artist like Richard Duroseau, Raymond Cicot , and Raul Guillaume. His path brought him to Tabou Combo in the 70’s during which 15 year old Dadou established himself as one of the greatest guitarists in Haitian music history.

Dadou remained with Tabou Combo for 6 years before he decided to branch off and create Magnum Band with the slogan “La Seule Difference”, which means “the only difference”. Magnum stood out because of their unique sound and continues to wow audiences to this very day. His favorite bands at the time were EARTH,WIND and FIRE, TOWER OF POWER, CHICAGO, and BLOOD SWEAT and TEARS. This musical influence is apparent in all of Magnum Band’s music. Dadou’s amazing guitar playing along with hit songs from Magnum Band earned him the admiration of fans throughout several parts of the world. It also earned him the right to represent Haiti and the Caribbean musically in the 1996 Olympic Games in Georgia. He was later featured in Guitar Player Magazine as “Haiti’s Six String Ambassador”.
Today Dadou continues to be a musical power house and is hailed as a legend in the Haitian and Antillean community. Most recently Dadou has created some time for his solo career and has recently released his newest project , “Evolution”. This project is a reflection of Dadou’s new musical direction. If you haven’t already done so, please purchase a copy from our “Store” page.

When did you start playing guitar?

I started when I was only 12 years old.

Who were some of your early guitar influences?

Toto Duval and Dormelas Phillip initially. Then later on Chet Atkins, Wes Montgomery, George Benson, and BB King.

Were there bands playing in your town that you could go and see live?