Haitian Beatz

Over the last year and half, I have had the pleasure of being at almost all of Emeline’s performances, and right about now I would think an Emeline Michel performance would be about routine. Refreshingly enough, with each and every performance, I grow fonder of the powerhouse that is Emeline Michel. This

Saturday night, as I looked at the Joes pub audience, I could not help wonder, how does she do it? How is it that this 5’3”(perhaps on a good day, 5’5”) woman, manage to have everyone eating out of her hands at every performance? The crowd was so diverse. I saw those barely legal to hold a drink and others who could perhaps be Emeline’s grandparents. White, black, and Asian, all were drawn in. Again I pondered, how does she do it?

She opened the evening soft. With Dominic Kanza on guitar, Emeline stepped on the Joes Pub stage giving the audience, Beni Yo. Wearing all white, with an orange scarf for color, Emeline looked the epitome of spring in bloom. She followed suit with Maricela. Afterwards, her remaining band members, bassist Adrien Legagneur, French pianist Frederic Las Fargeas, Carol Hodge from Anguilla on drums, and master Haitian percussionists Serge Decius, all joined to transform the night from soft to a downright party. With songs such as Non’m sa, Banm la Joie, and AKIKO. Everyone was screaming. When she played Domi Kole, one of the few Kompa songs in her repertoire, everyone stood up to dance. Even I could not help it.