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Compas (alternatively konpa or kompa) is a modern méringue, the national music genre of Haiti that people have been dancing and singing since the 1800s. Popularized by Haitian sax and guitar player Nemours Jean-Baptiste in 1955, compas is the main music of many countries such as Dominica and the French Antilles, etc. Whether it is incorrectly called zouk where French Antilles artists of Martinique and Guadeloupe have taken it or compas in places where Haitian artists have toured, this méringue style is very influential in the Caribbean, Africa, Cape Verde, Portugal, France, part of Canada, South and North America.

Etymology and characteristics

Compas is short for compas direct in French. In Creole, it is spelled as konpa direk or simply konpa. It is often incorrectly spelled as kompa when translating from French to Haitian Creole, as there is no m in front of a b or p like in French and some other languages and therefore an n is used instead.

The word “compás” in Spanish means “beat” or “rhythm,” and one of the most distinctive characteristics of compas is the consistent pulsating beat tanbou, a trait common to many styles of Caribbean music. Compas is easy and fun to dance to, incorporating musical traditions like méringue, 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 in a community of Haitian immigrants anywhere in the world, and where there is compas, dancers are usually not far behind. Compas / Konpa is a genre of music that is emulated throughout the Caribbean and parts of Africa. In North America, compas festivals take place frequently in Montreal, New York, Miami, Boston and Orlando.

History

Compas direct is a modern méringue popularized in 1955 by the Nemours Jean-Baptiste, a Haitian sax and guitar player. Nemours Jean-Baptiste presented 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 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. Compas is sung in Creole, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, etc. Nemours' popularity grew in and out of the country. Its clean horn section was remarkable and the band featured méringue tunes that gained instant popularity.

Cadence rampa is also known as kadans ranpa. As early as the late 50s Nemours and the Sicot Brothers from Haiti would frequently tour the Caribbean, especially Dominica and the French Islands of Martinique & Guadeloupe to spread the seed of the méringue-cadence.

Webert Sicot, the originator of cadence recorded three LPs albums with French Antilles producers: two with "Celini disques" in Guadeloupe and one with "Balthazar" in Martinique. In addition to the Sicot brothers, almost all existing Haitian compas bands have toured these Islands that have since adopted the music and the dance of the méringue. For example, in Martinique, several music groups: Ensemble Abricot (bienvenue, festival compas), les djoubap's (Isabelle), combo jazz (electronique compas, pa gadem sou cote), Georges Plonquitte (vini dance compas direct), etc. have all within a year conquered the public with the many tunes or compositions of Nemours. Haitian compas and cadence bands were asked to integrate Antillean musicians.

Dance style

The dance-style that accompanied konpa dirèk in the 1950s, was a two step dance called kare (square). As a méringue, a ballroom dance, compas is danced in pair. Sometimes partners dance holding each other tightly and romantically; in this case often most of the moves are made at the hips.

Mini-jazz

Mini-jazz is a reduced méringue-compas band of the mid-60s characterized by the rock bands formula of two guitars, one bass, drum-conga-cowbell, some use an alto sax or a full horn section, others use a keyboard, accordion or lead guitar.

The Mini-jazz movement started in the mid-1960s, small bands called mini-djaz (which grew out of Haiti’s light rock and roll bands that were called yeye bands of the early 1960s) played konpa featuring paired electric guitars, electric bass, drum set, other percussion, often with a saxophone, trombone; some had a keyboard. This trend, launched by Shleu Shleu after 1965, came to include a number of groups from Port-au-Prince neighbourhoods, especially the suburb of Pétionville. Tabou Combo, Les Difficiles, Les Loups Noirs, Frères DéJean, Les Fantaisistes de Carrefour, Bossa Combo and Les Ambassadeurs (among others) formed the core of this middle-class popular music movement.

From 1968 to the 1970s prominent bands like Bossa Combo, Les Shleu Shleu, Les Ambassadeurs, Les Vickings, Les Fantaisistes, Les Loups Noirs, Les Freres Dejean, Les Difficiles, Les Gypsies and mostly the majestic Tabou Combo have exerted a dominance on the Caribbean and many places in Europe and South America musical scene. For example, Tabou Combo has remained on the Paris hit parade for weeks with its "New York City" hit. Tabou did filled New York Central park in the same period. Guitar based mini-jazz like Les Difficiles and Gypsies influenced many flamenco artists. The guitar was the king instrument.

These young (Haitian mini-jazz) musicians were critical in the creation of new technics that contribute to the fanciness of the style. Although Raymond Guaspard (Nemours) had already started it in the 50s, however, guitar players such as Corvington (Les Corvington), Serge Rosenthal (Shleu Shleu), Ricardo/Tiplum (Les Ambassadeurs), Robert Martineau (Les Difficiles/Gypsies/Scorpio/Topvice...), Dadou Pasket (Tabou combo/Magnum Band), Jean Claude Jean (Tabou Combo/Super Star...), Claude Marcellin (Les Difficiles/D.P. Express/Zèklè...), Police Nozile (Les Frères Déjean/D.P. Express...) and many more have created intricate mostly rhythmic guitar styles that constitute a strong distinguishable feature of the méringue.

Les Aiglons was a classic Guadeloupean band of the '70s cadence era who, like nearly all bands of the period, were heavily influenced by the Haitian music that overwhelmed the Antilles from the late '50s' to the early 80s. They were the best selling Antillean band with their record Cuisse-La, until the release of Kassav's Zouk-La Se Sel Medikamen Nou Ni (1985). It is the band the forced Haitian bands to comform away from the Mini-jazz to a full band format. It is the band that brought the synthesizer sound to compas. It is the band that brought the full horn arrengment into the Combo format. It was the band that forced Dificilles and Gypsies to changed to DP and Scorpio. Les Aiglons owns the record for best selling album of any Antilles band. The album is cuise la.

Cuise La was a new style of compas that was played by Les Aiglons with a heavy synthesizer fusion. Exile One started the whole Antilles Compas, les Aiglons took it to another level. The full-horn section kadans band Exile One led by Gordon Henderson was the first to introduce the newly arrived synthesizers to their music that other young cadence or compas bands from the french Antilles emulated in the 1970s. In the mid 70's, when the sounds of the Antillian bands such as Exile One, Grammacks, les Aiglons, etc. started hitting the airwave and the haitian youth loved it. It was a serious call for the Haitian mini-jazz bands. As a result, Many mini-jazz from Haiti and the French Antilles started to do a make-over by adding full-horn section and synthesizers.

Méringue-compas and its derivatives

Today the méringue-compas, deeply rooted in many countries, has influenced many music styles and been called other names:

Cadence-lypso

Cadence-lypso is the Dominican kadans of the 1970s. The leading figure in the promotion of the Cadence-lypso was the Dominican group Exile One (based on the island of Guadeloupe) and Grammacks that featured the Haitian Cadence rampa or compas with the Trinidadian calypso, hence the name cadence-lypso; however, most of the bands repertoire was kadans

This fusion of kadans and calypso accounts only for a small percentage of the band's repertoire: Exile One like all Dominica kadans bands featured reggae, calypso and mostly kadans or compas music.

The Dominican kadans has evolved under the influence of Dominican and Caribbean/Latin rhythms, as well as rock guitars, soul-style vocals and funk bass and horn styles - music from the United States. By the end of the 1970s, Gordon Henderson defined Cadence-lypso as "a synthesis of Caribbean and African musical patterns fusing the traditional with the contemporary". It was pushed in the 1970s by groups from Dominica, and was the first style of Dominican music to find international acclaim.

The full-horn section kadans band Exile One led by the talented Gordon Henderson introduced the newly arrived synthesizers to their music that other young cadence or compas bands from Haiti (mini-jazz) and the French Antilles emulated in the 1970s. Their music and style was copied by bands from all over and most of all from the island of Dominica and were the first kadans band to sign a production contract with a major label called Barclay Records. They were the first to export cadans music to the four corners of the globe: Japan, the Indian Ocean, Africa, North America, Europe and The Cape Verde islands.

Soca

The calypsonian Lord Shorty of Trinidad was the first to really define his music and with "Indrani" in 1973 and "Endless Vibration" (not just the song but the entire album) in 1975, calypso music really took off in another direction. Later in 1975 Lord Shorty visited his good friend Maestro in Dominica where he stayed (at Maestro's house) for a month while they visited and worked with local kadans artists. You had Maestro experimenting with calypso and cadence ("cadence-lypso"). Sadly a year later Maestro would die in an accident in Dominica and his loss was palpably felt by Shorty, who penned "Higher World" as a tribute.

In Dominica, Shorty had attended an Exile One performance of cadence-lypso, and collaborated with Dominica's 1969 Calypso King, Lord Tokyo and two calypso lyricists, Chris Seraphine and Pat Aaron in the early 1970s, who wrote him some kwéyòl lyrics. Soon after Shorty released a song, "Ou Petit", with words like "Ou dee moin ou petit Shorty" (meaning "you told me you are small Shorty"), a combination of calypso, cadence and kwéyòl.

Soca's development includes its fusion of calypso, cadence, and Indian musical instruments—particularly the dholak, tabla and dhantal—as demonstrated in Shorty's classic compositions "Ïndrani" and "Shanti Om".

Zouk

The inspiration for Zouk's style of rhythmic music comes from the Haitian compas, as well as music called cadence-lypso - Dominica cadence popularized by Grammacks and Exile One. Elements of gwo ka, tambour, ti bwa and biguine vidé are prominent in zouk. Though there are many diverse styles of zouk, some commonalities exist. The French Creole tongue of Martinique and Guadeloupe is an important element, and are a distinctive part of the music. Generally, zouk is based around star singers, with little attention given to instrumentalists, and is based almost entirely around studio recordings. The French Antilles' Kassav' was the first to apply the MIDI technology to compas "digital compas". In the 1980s they took Caribbean music to another level by recording in the new digital format.

Ethnomusicologist Jocelyn Guilbault believes zouk's evolution was influenced by other Caribbean styles especially Dominica cadence-lypso, Haitian cadence and Guadeloupean biguine. Zouk arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s, using elements of previous styles of antillean music, as well as importing other genres.

Kizomba

Kizomba music was born in Angola (in Luanda) in the 80’s following the influences of traditional semba and zouk music from the French Caribbean islands. On this basis, Kizomba music emerged as a more modern music genre with a sensual touch mixed with African rhythm. Unlike Semba, Kizomba music is characterised by a slower and usually very romantic rhythm. Given that Angola is a former Portuguese colony, Portuguese is the principal language spoken in Angola and thus, also most Kizomba songs are sung in Portuguese. However, Kizomba songs of the very beginning were song in Kimbundu and in other national languages of Angola.

Today, Cape Verdean singers have gained a wide popularity with many famous Kizomba compilations, including singers such as Suzanna Lubrano, Johnny Ramos, Nelson Freitas. As a matter of course, a lot of people are confused about the origins of Kizomba music and wrongly believe it comes from Cape Verde because of their important role in Kizomba music production today. Typical music styles from Cape Verde are funana, morna, coladeira and batuque. Thanks to the zouk music from the French Antilles and the strong influence of Kizomba (from Angola), Cape Verdian singers could develop their own version of zouk-love (mixing it with coladeira) known as cabo love, cola-dance, cola-zouk, cabo-swing and ghetto zouk. Moreover, every lusophone country has developed its own Kizomba music flavour.

Coladeira

There is a strong compas influence in Cape Verdean music. During the 60s-80s Haitian artists and bands such as Claudette & Ti Pierre, Tabou Combo and mostly Gesner Henry alias Coupe Cloue and the Dominican group Exile One were very popular in Africa. Exile One were the first to export kadans music to the Cape Verde islands. In addition, the French Antilles kassav and other French Antillean musicians, which main music is compas toured Cabo island in various occasions. Many Cape Verdean artists feature compas. Talented Tito Paris "dança mami Criola" 1994, is a good example; this CD featured music close to Haiti Tabou Combo, Caribbean Sextet, Tropicana and French Antilles Kassav, etc. Cape Verdeans artists have been exposed to konpa in the USA and France. Today the new generation of Cape Verdean artists features a light compas close to Haitian and French Antillean.

MIDI technology: new generation or light compas

The new generation was a moment of experiment with the MIDI technology. In the mid 80s French Antilles Kassav', whose music repertoire is 90% compas, was the first in the Caribbean to apply the MIDI technology, already in use in pop and rock bands, to compas "digital compas". In the late 80's, After pianist/keyboard wizard Robert Charlot Raymonvil came out with Top Vice, young Haitian music groups applied the MIDI technology that reduced the band's size and offered a variety of new sounds. They were called compas nouvelle génération; however, most of them later, along with many other musicians in the world, went back to a full band with live instruments. The new generation was a moment of experiment with the MIDI technology. Popular new generation bands were Zin, Phantom, Lakole, Papash, and a few more. Phantom was the first to return to a full band in less than two years while Zin, Lakol and Papash have continued with the MIDI without a live horn section.

In the early 2000, several compas bands such as Carimi, T-Vice, Top Vice, and Zeglen toured the French Antilles. The singer Vro who sang in duet with Robert Charlot on her album Softcore and many other Antillean artists have adopted this light compas style, which is more popular in France and the Caribbean. The compas' fine guitar lines with the chorus and other synthesizer effects is being heard now in zouk, the French Antilles compas music. For example, French Antilles singer Tanya St. Val who has collaborated with many great Haitian compas artists like Alan Cavé, Dadou Pasket from the great Magnum Band, etc. is very close to this style. The beauty of this is that these compas lands influence one another with nice chorus, guitar lines, female voices...within the team up of the conga-drum-cowbell.

Cape Verdean, Caribbean and African artists usually feature one another via compas songs. A review of several CDs from African, Cape Verdean, French Antilles and Haitian artists shows many similarities.

Notable compas or méringue artists

• Nemours Jean-Baptiste
• Ensemble Webert Sicot
• D.P. Express
• Exile One
• Grammacks
• Kassav'
• La Perfecta
• Les Difficiles de Pétionville
• Les Frères Déjean
• Les Gypsies de Pétionville
• Les Leopards
• Les Loups Noirs
• Les Scorpio
• Les Shleu Shleu*
• Magnum Band
• Scorpio Universel
• Skah-Shah#1
• T-Vice
• Tabou Combo

See also

• Cadence rampa
• Cadence-lypso
• Caribbean music
• Haitian Carnival
• Méringue
• Zouk

References

1. Manuel, Peter (2006). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae (2nd edition). Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 1-59213-463-7.
2. Gage Averill (1997). Caribbean Current: A day for the hunter. A day for the prey. Chicago and London: The University of Chicago Press.
3. Peter Manuel, Musics of the Non-Western World, University Press 1988, p72-74
4. "Haitian Creole-English Dictionary with Basic English-Haitian Creole Appendix" (PDF). Retrieved 6 March 2014.
5. Haitian, French Antilles, Cape Verde
6. Manuel, Peter with Kenneth Bilby, Michael Largey (2006). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. p. 161. Retrieved 8 March 2014.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
7. Guilbault, Jocelyne (1993). Zouk: World Music in the West Indies. p. 111. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
8. Dominique Janvier, introduction in Nemours' Album cover 1980, long vie to Nemours
9. Dominique Janvier, introduction on Nemour' album cover 1980, long vie to Nemours
10. A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey: Popular Music and Power in Haiti. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
11. Peter Manuel, Popular Musics of the Non-Western World, Oxford University Press 1988: (Nemours Jean-Bapstiste adapted the méringue to mambo-style big band instrumentation and rhythmic patterns, coining the term compas direct for his innovation. For his part, Webert Sicot is credited with popularizing the rubric cadence for his similarly modernized meringue)
12. Mini-jazz albums review from 1968 to 1974 (Gypsies, Difficiles, Ambassadeurs, shleu shleu, tabou combo, les loups noirs, bossa combo, vickings, etc)
13. kompamagazine. popular-haitian-music. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
14. Caribbean and Latin America. Introduction of digital technology. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
15. ^ Funkyorgan. Cadence Lypso and the organ. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
16. kompamagazine. popular-haitian-music. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
17. ^ Bloomsburry Encyclopedia Popular music of the world. Exile One and Cadence-lypso. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
18. By Paul Crask. "Zouk -Dominica". The Dominican. Reprinted from National Geographic. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
19. Grammacks: mediba (kadans), banana (sweet kadans), ou pa bon, (kadans), ou pitit (kadans), reggae down, disco live (kadans) this same tune is categorized as zouk retro by Deejay Zak (midlay kadans 11/24/2011) Exile one: akiyaka, gade deye...(Midnight) get ready 1997, etc.
20. "Cadence-lypso". Adventure guide. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
21. haitianmusic.net. popular-haitian-music. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
22. Caribbean and Latin America. Introduction of digital technology. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
23. "Origin of Soca Music". socawarriors. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
24. ^ Jocelyne Guilbault. Zouk: world music in the West Indies. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
25. Kuss, Malena. Music in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Encyclopedic History REANNOUNCE/F05: Volume 2: Performing the Caribbean Experience. University of Texas Press. p. 302. ISBN 0292784988. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
26. Guilbault, Jocelyne (1993). Zouk: World Music in the West Indies. p. 111. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
27. Jocelyne Guilbault. Zouk: world music in the West Indies. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
28. "Origin of kizomba". www.kizombalove.com. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
29. "Cabo zouk". cape+verde+zouk+history&source. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
30. In the 1960s the coladeira emerged as a more lively, upbeat counter-part to the morna The coladeira is performed in fast duple meter, accompanying informal pop-style couple dancing. its primary influences appear to be an obscure folk processional music by the same name, Afro-American commercial music, the morna, and most important, modern French Caribbean pop...more often it is played by a modern dance band, that is, with drums, bass, electric guitars, and the like. Peter Manuel, Popular Musics of the Non-Western World,p95. Oxford University Press 1988
31. ...Aculturation has been further promoted by the growth of overseas communities (especially in New England) whose population now exceeds that of Cape Verde itself (around 300,000).Peter Manuel, Popular Musics of the Non-Western World,p95. Oxford University Press 1988

External links

• Experience Haitian music on Mizikpam Internet Radio

• Haitian music
• Caribbean music genres