Compas music

Compas music
Compas (Kompa)
Stylistic origins Haitian Méringue
Cultural origins Haiti
Typical instruments Guitar, Accordion, Saxophone, Tambora (drum), Trumpet, modern Synthesizer
Mainstream popularity Made popular by groups from Haiti, Dominica and the French Antilles (Guadeloupe & Martinique) (considerable popularity in the rest of the Caribbean, South america as well as several major U.S cities), enjoyed highest popularity during the '60s, '70s, 80s and '90s
Derivative forms Cadence rampa
Fusion genres
Cadence-lypso, zouk, zouk-love, Compas-love
Regional scenes
Haiti , French West Indies , France, Africa, Panama, Cape Verde, South America
Other topics
Music of Haiti - Nemours Jean Baptiste - Weber Sicot - Haiti
Music of Haiti
General topics
Related articles
Genres
Media and performance
Music festivals Carnival
National anthem La Dessalinienne
Regional music
v · Haitian Méringue, the national music of Haiti that people have been dancing and playing since the 1800s. written as Compas Direct in French, and Kompa or konpa in Haitian Creole. Worldwide, several festivals annually feature Compas music and other aspects of Haitian culture. Compas is the basic music of many countries in the Caribbean such as the French Antilles of Martinique & Guadeloupe; most of the Lesser Antilles like Dominica, Grenada, Nassau/Bahamas, St. Lucia, etc. known in French Guyana and many African Countries, Meringue-compas is also the basic music of Cape Verde. Whether it is known as zouk where French Antilles artists have taken it or compas in places where Haitian artists have toured, the truth is that this light meringue compas is very influential in the Caribbean, Africa, Cape verde, South and Central America.

Contents

History

Compas direct is a modern Haitian Méringue popularized in the mid-1950s by the sax and guitar player Nemours Jean Baptiste. Compas' popularity took off likely due to the genre's ability to improvise and hold the rhythm section steady. Jean-Baptiste incorporated a lot of brass and easily recognized rhythms. Compás music is typically sung in Haitian Creole, English, Portuguese or Spanish.

In 1954, Nemours worked together with the sax player Webert Sicot in the International Orchestra, where a new sound of Haitian music was born.

Although Nemours Jean-Baptiste founded his orchestra “Ensemble Aux Calebasses” in 1955 (named after the club “Aux Calebasses” located at Carrefour - a western neighborhood of Port au Prince, Haiti's capital - where the band used to perform on weekends), Compas Direct (Kompa) came to the forefront in 1957 with the album containing the popular song De P'ti Piti Kalbass as perhaps the first compas hit. The genre quickly took off. It enjoyed a heyday in the 1960s and 1970s with an assortment of talented musicians performing compás music and building on it to create their own sound. Jean-Baptiste believed compás music was almost like a building block; it could explore in any direction under the right hands, making the genre incredibly diverse.

Some traditionalists criticized the introduction of the electric guitar at the beginning of 1958 and the electric bass a year later in Compas - which was a marked departure from traditional Haitian music. Although Dodophe Legros had already used the electric guitar in urban popular music in Haiti, it was Nemours who introduced it to a wider audience. It is to be noted that Nemours Jean-Baptiste turned out to be an innovator as everybody else soon thereafter followed and the genre probably made traditional Haitian music more prominent, by introducing the sounds of Haiti to a wider audience as the music spread beyond Haiti's shores.

Kompa Direk did not achieve the great success it enjoys today without challenges. In fact, Nemours Jean-Baptiste faced a barrage of criticisms on the part of rival musicians, mainly those who, until his arrival, had relished the adulation of their compatriots. Two groups in particular rose the most effective campaigns against the founder of Kompa Direk: Jazz des Jeunes and Ensemble Webert Sicot. Webert Sicot left Nemours Jean Baptiste Compas band to form a music called Cadence rampa.

From the 1950's to today the Haitian compas or cadence rampa has become the dominant pop sound of the French Antilles, especially Wibert Sicot and Nemour Jean-baptiste. These were followed by the Antillean bands such as Les Gentlemen, Les Leopards, and Les vikings de Guadeloupe, who drew on the sounds of Sicot and Baptiste.

For the past years the congas and the gong patterns still remain the same...it is different for the drums since in the early days of Konpa the cymbals didn't have the same patterns as they do today. Even in the mini-jazz era, many drummers used to play the drums their own magic ways.... If you listen to Les Shleu Shleu/Difficiles/Fantaisistes/Ambassadeurs... you will notice that the drummers/bands had their own respective beat and format. However the template that most drummers are using today is the one left by Smith Jean Baptiste of Les Shleu Shleu.........which is the BOLO BOLO...the tiap ti tiap ti tiap tiap ti tiap ti tiap....a style that was later improved and made popular by his successor Yves Arserne Appolon in both Shleu Shleu and Shah Shah in the early 70's. Smith Jean-Baptiste (Smitty) “kale senbal” style (hitting the crash cymbal in a hot cadence) was an addition to Konpa rhythm.

New generation and digital era

Zekle, a group in 1982, recorded their first album in 1983 blending Kompa with funk, zouk, and American Jazz-rock. Another band Skandal continued the trend set by Zekle. In the late 80's, Top Vice came with his digital kompa by recording predominantly on synthesizers and electronic instruments to reproduce a fuller sound. In the early 90's, bands such as Zin, Lakol, Papash (amongst others) took the New Generation movement to a new standard by using the MIDI technology.

"Compas-love" or zouk love"

Some artists have used the term "Compas-love" or "zouk love" which is nothing but a light and slower tempo traditional compas played with lots of synthesizer and guitar with lovely lyrics in French, Creole, English or other languages. This light compas is more popular in France and the French Antilles of Martinique and Guadeloupe. Compas-love started as a fusion of Zouk-love with Compas, also known as Zouk-Compas "New Generation". It is almost identical to Zouk-love but a bit faster, it features more live instruments, and it relies heavily on the Haitian Compas guitar. This style of zouk is more popular in France, and the Caribbean. Caribbean, Cape Verdean and African zouk artists usually feature each other via compas-love songs. Popular Compas-Love artists includes artists like Jacky Rapon in song like "Mi Amor" , Ludo in song like "Weekend", Jackito in song like "Je l'aime a mourir" and Priscillia in song like "Dis le moi", Ali Angel in song like "Zouk Bordel 2003", and Iron in song like "Mr DJ". These songs are available through youtube.

Etymology and characteristics

The word “Compás” in Spanish means “beat” or “rhythm,” and one of the most distinctive characteristics of Compas music is the consistent pulsating beat (Tambora (drum)), a trait common to many styles of Caribbean music. Compas music is easy and fun to dance to, incorporating musical traditions like Meringue, which propel dancers around the floor with lively, active beats (though Compas has a slower beat and dance than Méringue). You may hear the notes of Compas music in a community of Haitian immigrants anywhere in the world, and where there is Compas, dancers are usually not far behind. Compas / Kompa is a genre of music that is emulated throughout the Caribbean ( in Zouk etc.) and parts of Africa. In North America, compas festivals take place frequently in Montreal, New York, Miami, Boston and Orlando.

Notable artists

New generation

  • CaRiMi (Carlo Vieux, Richard Cavé, and Mickael Guirand)[1]
  • T-Vice
  • Alan Cavé
  • Harmmonik
  • Toxic
  • Kreyol La
  • Relaks
  • Krezi Mizik
  • Zin

See also

References

  • Manuel, Peter (2006). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae (2nd edition). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-59213-463-7. 
  • Experience Haitian music on Mizikpam Internet Radio Accessed May 18th, 2010
  • Gage Averill (1997). Caribbean Current: A day for the hunter. A day for the prey.. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press. 

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