kompa - Haiti Music Video

Les Ambassadeurs (LA) have been among a group of pioneer bands that began the Mini- Jazz music style in Haiti. Mini-Jazz evolved between 1964-1969, basing itself on the simple stylings of rock and roll bands from 1960-1964, before Britain's Beatles revolutionized the genré.

The new-style Kompa bands comprised an electric-lead and -rhythm guitars, electric bass, and polyrhythmic percussion instruments, defining Mini-Jazz. Frequently, the inclusion of a saxophone held down the melodic line. The Mini-Jazz movement took root in Port-au-Prince and its surrounding neighborhoods, led by innovative musician Shleu Shleu. The most noteworthy neighborhood bands, which grew to prominence along with LA, included Les Loups Noirs, Les Fantaisistes de Carrefour, Tabou Combo, Fréres Dé Jean, Les Difficiles, and Bossa Combo. They led the Mini-Jazz movement and other Caribbean countries soon followed suit.

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The Kompa is not merely a Haitian music genre. It serves as hope for many Haitians. Its humble beginning can be traced back about sixty years ago, when legendary saxophonist and guitarist Nemours Jean-Baptiste created a new genre of Haitian music by fusing tradition Haitian meringue with contemporary music elements.

The lively Kompa is unique in its own. Its general sound can be immediately identified from other close genres with its warm and cheerful beat and its strong, heavy guitars, bass, percussion, and keyboards. Kompa lyrics are known for its purity and honesty, as it narrates the hardships and courage of Haitian people.

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Michel Martelly is the most powerful man in Haiti. But before he became president, Martelly was a former musician under the name "Sweet Micky" and was very popular and good at it. His music career spans for about twenty decades where he was able to release more than ten Kompa music albums. Martelly was a vocalist, a drummer, and a keyboardist and also used to own a club before being active in politics and eventually becoming Haiti's head of state

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The music business is a matter of who is in and who is out. That is why being a musician is said to be one of the most unstable careers as there have been thousands of artists that have been pushed into the unknown. In Haiti, legendary pianist Fabrice Rouzier is one of the few that have been successful both inside and outside the music industry for the past thirty years.

Fabrice Rouzier began his love and talent for music at the very young age of four with the help of his aunt Marguerite Borno, who taught him how to play the piano. During his teenage years, he was already playing with legendary Haitian musicians and music producers. After two years, he created the band Mizik Mizik.

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Jean-Robert Hariss of Mini-Jazz group, D.P. Express, lost his life to a long-standing illness in 2008. He began his music career with the group in the latter part of the 60s, known back then as Les Difficiles de Pétion-Ville, part of the exploding Mini-Jazz movement. The movement began in neighborhoods surrounding Port-au-Prince in the mid-sixties.

Known affectionately as Porky to his family, friends, and other musicians, Jean-Robert Hariss earned critical acclaim as an outstanding electric bassist. As a leader at the forefront of Mini-Jazz, he helped to revolutionize the Kompa genre, Haiti's pop-dance music. A talented arranger and song-lyricist, he co-produced the 1980 major-hit single "David".

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Haiti's Kompa is considered to be the country's national music genre and Alex Abellard plays this style of music. Also called Compas, the music genre that is often accompanied by dance has expanded its reach to the rest of the Caribbean, as well as in the United States, Canada, France, and Africa. It gave birth to numerous singers and bands in Haiti that have gained both national and international fame and have performed all around the world.

The band Zin is one of the new generations of Kompas musicians in Haiti. It was founded in the 1980s by musician Alex Abellard. Other Zin members, past and present, are Alan Cave, Carry Legagneur, Daphne Dary, Eddy Saint-Vil, Gaby Catin, Jack Barbot, Patrick Apollon, Romeo DeVolcy, Virginia Mahotiere, and many others. The group has since released about twenty albums and is known for the songs' "Chokola", "Pa Okipi Li", "Falling", "De la tete aux peids", and "Hasta La Vista".

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Nu Look is one of Haiti's most influential and popular Konpa bands to date. But due to the growing conflicts among its members, chances of the band ever playing music again is highly improbable as of the moment. They have been cancelling their gigs and appearances both inside and outside Haiti for the past months.

After the argument between Nu Look's Pipo and Maestro Arly Lariviere during one of their gigs, the two are rumoured to not be in speaking terms with each other. And both are planning on releasing a solo album amidst the controversial conflict within the band.

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Kompa is a genre of music and a dance whose origin is from Haiti. It is usually written differently; compa or Konpa. The music has beats with tempo that is often rated as medium to fast. This kind of music genre is complex as it changes from time to time. It first came to be from a blending of European ballroom dancing and the Haiti culture.

This specific music genre arose in the early 20th century as a result of other genres like salsa and calypso among many others. The style referred to as Kompa direct was invented by a group of famous artists, however with its increasing fame it changed to the Zouk. Unfortunately the group split up and one of them improvised the above mentioned style once again. The two genres can be confused; however the Zouk has a slower tempo than the latter.

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Djakout Mizik is a popular Haitian Compas band. On New year's eve on MTV in 2007, they performed with Wyclef Jean. This was their first appearance on an American network television. In February 2008, they were crowned the best carnival band in Haiti for their energetic performance of Kalòt Marasa (two slaps).

In May 2006, members of Djakout Mizik were shot at while getting out of a van. Thankfully, none of the members were hurt and they had one of their most successful hit about this incident, Eskive.

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Kompa is a genre of music and a dance whose origin is from Haiti. It is usually written differently; compa or Konpa. The music has beats with tempo that is often rated as medium to fast. This kind of music genre is complex as it changes from time to time. It first came to be from a blending of European ballroom dancing and the Haiti culture.

This specific music genre arose in the early 20th century as a result of other genres like salsa and calypso among many others. The style referred to as Kompa direct was invented by a group of famous artists, however with its increasing fame it changed to the Zouk. Unfortunately the group split up and one of them improvised the above mentioned style once again. The two genres can be confused; however the Zouk has a slower tempo than the latter.

Read more →