Haitian Beatz

1- Give The People What They Want | 3m59s
My eyes lit right up when I first saw the title; I was expecting a cover of The Kinks’ tune. Not so! Someother version from The O’Jays got the nod instead. On any given day, this track could easily be mistaken for one of the better Magnum Band pieces. I wish Dadou Pasquet’s god would show him the way already and dissuade him from singing in English. Speaking English with a Haitian accent might sound exotic and cool, but singing with it will always be met with a scowl.

2- Rise of The Phoenix | 5m47s
What do you get when you mix Jazz with Haitian Rasin? Voodoo Jazz? Um…I have no idea! I can only tell you this Roland Cameau composition hits the spot, even though the lyrics are replete with clichés. Martine Marseille’s voice, sweet and all, isn’t unique enough to really grab me. What does stand out is the ninety+ second synth solo [@ 3m16s]. I like the choice of sound and the playing style, which probably would sound just as good with a piano.

3- La Vie Musicien | 4m29s
Writing credit is given to Serge Simpson, but I’ve also seen the author as André Romain. It’s been previously recorded by Ibo Combo, as well as Raoul Guillaume et Son Groupe. I’ll leave it up to the Konpa historians out there to debate who’s the real author. The arrangement here is a Jazz instrumental rendition, with guitar and trumpet sharing the main melodies.

4- Beautiful Love | 3m39s
Beautiful vocals from Martine Marseille, beautiful guitars and brass throughout, and beautiful sax solo. Everything culminates beautifully into a beautiful marriage of Pop & Konpa reworking of this 1931 Jazz standard [thanks, Google]. Life is beautiful!

5- Rhum ‘N’ Zouk | 4m44s
On this track, our guitar hero takes a stab at the Jean-Luc Ponty instrumental, a version which I never cared for. However, with minor tweaking of the retro Zouk beat and swapping of Ponty violins with Cameau guitars, synth and some timely nuggets of Kréyòl backing vocals [alo Sandra Jean], this remake is a lot of fun. That one minute djimbe solo makes me want to bang the drum all day.