#HAITIAN MUSIC

[haitilegends]

À la Mémoire de JEAN BENJAMIN

Repose en Paix

Nous adressons nos plus sincères condoléances à la famille, aux amis et aux admirateurs de Jean Jacques Benjamin, un musicien de l'ombre dont la lumière a brillé intensément dans les domaines de la musique et de la culture haïtienne. Né le 14 septembre 1931, Jean Benjamin n'était pas seulement un chanteur, mais aussi un pianiste et compositeur profond. Son décès le 2 mai 2024 nous a laissé un vide qui ne pourra jamais être comblé, mais son héritage résonnera à jamais à travers sa musique et les vies qu'il a touchées.

La voix de Jean était un phare d'inspiration et de joie pour un groupe élite de mélomanes, portant la riche histoire et l'esprit vibrant d'Haïti à travers les générations et les frontières. En tant que chanteur principal pour l'Orchestre Riviera Hotel sous la direction du Maestro Edner Guignard dans les années 1950, aux côtés de légendes telles que le regretté Guy Durosier, Jean Benjamin a mis en avant l'essence de la musique Big Band haïtienne, captivant les cœurs et les âmes avec des standards de Boléro haïtien jazzy et des compositions originales.

Ses mélodies, de la poignante: "Gisèle" dédiée à sa première épouse à l'émouvante: "L'amour", sont des trésors intemporels qui continuent d'inspirer et d'élever. L'art de Jean était un pont, reliant le passé au présent, la tradition à l'innovation. Sa musique, immortalisée par des enregistrements et des performances, reste un témoignage de son talent extraordinaire et de sa passion inébranlable pour son art.

Nous sommes reconnaissants pour les souvenirs, la musique et l'héritage que Jean Jacques Benjamin laisse derrière lui.

À son frère—Dr Rodrigue Benjamin et Famille

À ses enfants—Ylder Benjamin, Esmeralda Benjamin Laraque, Claudette Benjamin, Jean Jacques junior Benjamin, Grevy Benjamin, Esther Benjamin.

Aux petits-enfants—Marcus Benjamin, Laurent Laraque, Sebastian Laraque, Christopher C. Raymonvil ; et un arrière-petit-fils ;

À ses neveux et nièces—Jean René Foureau et famile; Hervé et Ketly Foureau Dorsinville; Marlene Benjamin et famille; Caroline Benjamin Fleurimont et famille;

Franklyn Benjamin Jr et famille; Frankline Benjamin et famille; Nadine Benjamin et famille; Gregoire Benjamin et famille; Sandra Benjamin et famille; Patrice Benjamin et famille

À — Gilbert Laraque, Robert-Charlot Raymonvil et toute la famille élargie

Aux amis proches —Serge Morel, Leopold Molière aka Yoyo,

nos pensées vous accompagnent en cette période difficile. Puissiez-vous trouver du réconfort dans le fait que l'esprit de Jean continue de vivre à travers sa musique et les innombrables vies qu'il a touchées. Sa vie a été bien vécue, et ses contributions à la musique et à la culture continueront d'être célébrées pour les générations à venir.

Repose en paix, Jean Benjamin, une véritable légende dont les mélodies résonneront à jamais dans le cœur de ceux qui ont eu le privilège de vivre votre art.

#SGLmt

#Haitilegends

__________________

In Loving Memory of JEAN BENJAMIN

Rest in Peace

We extend our deepest condolences to the family, friends, and admirers of Jean Jacques Benjamin, an unsung music man whose light shone brightly in the realms of Haitian music and culture. Born on September 14, 1931, Jean Benjamin was not just a singer, but a profound pianist and composer. His passing on May 2, 2024, has left us with a void that can never be filled, but his legacy will forever resonate through his music and the lives he touched.

Jean's voice was a beacon of inspiration and joy for an elite group of melomanes, carrying the rich history and vibrant spirit of Haiti across generations and borders. As a premier vocalist for Orchestra Riviera Hotel under the direction of Maestro Edner Guignard in the 1950s, alongside legends like the late Guy Durosier, Jean Benjamin brought the essence of Haitian Big Band music to the forefront, captivating hearts and souls with jazzy Haitian Bolero Standards and original compositions.

His melodies, from the poignant "Gisèle" dedicated to his first wife to the stirring "L'amour," are timeless treasures that continue to inspire and uplift. Jean's artistry was a bridge, connecting the past with the present, tradition with innovation. His music, immortalized by recordings and performances, remains a testament to his extraordinary talent and his unwavering passion for his craft.

We are grateful for the memories, the music, and the legacy Jean Jacques Benjamin leaves behind.

To his brother—Dr Rodrigue Benjamin et Famille

To his children—Ylder Benjamin, Esmeralda Benjamin Laraque, Claudette Benjamin, Jean Jacques junior Benjamin, Grevy Benjamin, Esther Benjamin.

His grandchildren—Marcus Benjamin, Laurent Laraque, Sebastian Laraque, Christopher C. Raymonvil; and one great-grandchild.

To his nephews and nieces—Jean René Foureau et famile; Hervé et Ketly Foureau Dorsinville; Marlene Benjamin et famille; Caroline Benjamin Fleurimont et famille;

Franklyn Benjamin Jr et famille; Frankline Benjamin et famille; Nadine Benjamin et famille; Gregoire Benjamin et famille; Sandra Benjamin et famille; Patrice Benjamin et famille

To —Gilbert Laraque, Robert-Charlot Raymonvil and the entire extended family.

To his close friends:—Serge Morel, Leopold Molière aka Yoyo,

our thoughts are with you during this difficult time. May you find comfort in the knowledge that Jean's spirit lives on through his music and the countless lives he touched. His was a life well-lived, and his contributions to music and culture will continue to be celebrated for generations to come.

Rest in peace, Jean Benjamin, a true legend whose melodies will forever echo in the hearts of those who had the privilege to experience your artistry.

Sandra Gabriel Lmt

#SGLmt

#Haitilegends

__________________

From Jean Benjamin with Love!

https://on.soundcloud.com/iTeJGcL9F1EzMMS16

Voici quelques musiques supplémentaires.

Grevy Newton Benjamin

______________

Explore # 👈🏾

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#JeanJacquesBenjamin

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#Vocalist #HaitianPianist

#Chanteur #PianisteHaïtien #Compositeur #auteurcompositeurinterprète

#OrchestreRivieraHotel

#EdnerGuignard #Gisèle

#PaixÀSonÂme

#LégendesHaïtiennes

#Composer #singersongwriter

#OrchestraRivieraHotelDHaïti

#EdnerGuignard #Gisèle

#HaitilegendsRestInPeace

#Paixasonâme

#RobertCharlotRaymonvil

#GrevyNewtonBenjamin

#Haītilegends #SGLmt #collage by Sandra Gabriel Haitilegends

[mywifeleftme]

316: Toto Bissainthe // Chante Haïti

Chante Haïti Toto Bissainthe 1977, Arion

“These songs are mostly slave songs taken from the Vodou cult. They speak of the quotidian, of the suffering of exile, and the desire of Africa, not as a geographical place but as a mythical land of freedom. They express their resistance and their refusal: resistance to the colonizer, refusal of his politics, of his religion, of his culture, of his language.”

So begins Toto Bissainthe’s statement on the rear of Chante Haïti, her 1977 collaboration with a small combo of Antillean folk and French jazz musicians: vocalists Marie-Claude Benoît and Mariann Mathéus; percussionists Akonio Dolo and Mino Cinélu (Miles Davis, Weather Report, Gong); Patrice Cinélu on acoustic guitar; and Beb Guérin on the double bass. The songs indeed fuse the Vodou ritual of her native Haiti with the European avant garde sounds of her adopted milieu of Paris, where she had moved to pursue acting and found herself a de facto exile due to the political situation back home. Bissainthe had become a prominent figure in the French theatre, performing in new plays by Beckett and Genet and co-founding Les Griots, France’s first Black theatre company; by the late ‘70s, she was an acclaimed recording artist to boot. Her accomplishments made her a prominent figure in the Haitian diaspora and her activist streak is apparent throughout Chante Haïti, explicitly linking the grief and yearning for liberation in these traditional ceremonials with the country’s contemporary struggles.

Like many songs on the album, the Creole words of opener “Soley danmbalab” mourn the people's estrangement from Mother Africa, a crossing which can neither be reversed or repeated. It begins like a field recording, Bissainthe’s soulful, Miriam Makeba-esque voice set to a chorus of rattles and bells and gurgling masculine whispers. As the song develops, her melody wends like a stream through the dense jungle of percussion, dissonant bass, and counterpoint chanting. Eventually, Mino Cinélu’s arrangement becomes more free, the male chorus imploring the Oungan (a male Vodou priest) to intercede with the creator on the people’s behalf as the tune breaks down into an increasingly abstract bass and drum interplay, while the three female singers exchange birdlike vocal improvisations.

“Ibo Ogoun (Variations)” is even wilder, evoking a trance ritual, the spirits speaking in many tongues through the celebrants as they seek to summon Ogun, God of Iron and War, to lead the battle of liberation. One of the male percussionists times his tanbou beat so that it hits just as he sings certain notes, creating the illusion that he voice has suddenly lurched down an octave for a moment, almost like a DJ freaking a vocal sample. Bissainthe, Mathéus, and Benoît match the intense drumming with some crazy syncopations, sometimes talking, sometimes hissing and whispering, sometimes wailing and ululating.

Most of the album takes on a more meditative tact, anchored by Guérin’s plangent double bass. On the smoky “Papadanbalab,” an entreaty to the serpent creator Damballa to bear witness to the penury of his people, Bissainthe sways over a slinky jazz bass line, Patrice Cinélu adding mellow acoustic fusion licks. The song seems like a brief stopover in a Parisian club. But even the less overtly intense tracks pack plenty of musical interest. “Lamize pa dous” has this hypnotic rhythm that sounds exactly like a micro house beat—in fact, the first thing it made me think of was Ricardo Villalobos’ Alcachofa, or Animal Collective at their campfire ravingest. The song is about the moment of surrender to death, the winnowing of time represented by water encroaching on all sides, the realization too late that “we spend our lives trying to fill the sea with stones.”

Listening to a record like this, especially in light of Bissainthe’s note on the back excoriating the colonialist ethnographer who reduces Haitian folklore to “excitement and violence,” requires at least a smidgen of awareness from the white listener that Chante Haïti is not intended for them. The traditions it engages with are of deep spiritual significance to many Haitians, both in the ‘70s and today. But for those inside and outside the culture who are willing to approach it with respect, Chante Haïti is a fascinating fusion of Antillean and European musics, and a peek into a profound and secret history.

316/365

[blk-ink-pen]

Is It Real? by Arly Larivière

[nofatclips-home]

Eya hé Rara by Wesli, live on KEXP

[philameangrey]

[pixoplanet]

It's January 1st, ⛓️ Haitian Independence Day. France had ruled the colony of Saint-Domingue as part of its worldwide empire since 1659. However, in 1791, a group of enslaved Africans, inspired by the American and French Revolutions, began an epic struggle for freedom that culminated in victory and a declaration of independence on this day in 1804. The declaration proclaimed that the new republic would forever after be known by the same name it was known as before the Europeans had arrived – "Haiti," which means "High Land" in the Native American Taino language. 

The Haitian Revolution is Haiti's defining moment. It was the largest slave uprising since Spartacus' unsuccessful revolt against the Romans in 72 BCE. Haiti's victory came as a total surprise and shock to the rest of the world and inspired countless other slave revolts throughout the Western Hemisphere. It also paved the way for the termination of the transatlantic slave trade. This victory was also the final nail in the coffin of Napoleon Bonaparte’s ambitions for a New World French Empire. He’d sold the Louisiana Territory to the United States the previous year in part to pay for the defeat of the revolt in Saint-Domingue. That was not to be. Haiti became the first independent state in Latin America and the first in the New World to be led by a person of color. 

The victory over France put an end to Haiti's military fight for freedom, but not its political fight. The US and most European nations, including France, didn't immediately recognize Haiti's independence. France didn't officially do so until 1825. The US didn't do so until 1862. That doesn’t matter, though. All that matters is Haiti. The Haitians recognized their own independence on this day in 1804 and have continued to do so every day since. ☮️ Peace… Jamiese of Pixoplanet

[purplealbumoftheday]

today's purple album of the day is: Haitian Folk Songs by Lolita Cuevas and Frantz Casseus!

[beauclesca]

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[haitilegends]

Watch Now: [YouTube Link] ()

🎥 NEW VIDEO RELEASE | Paul Beaubrun - "PA KRIYE" ft. Anie Alerte (2024) 🇭🇹

Feel the depth of emotion in Paul Beaubrun's latest video for "PA KRIYE," featuring the soulful voice of Anie Alerte.

Share/ repost 🇭🇹💙❤️🙏🏾

[deadassdiaspore]

[zamarhaitichristianmusic]

SHEDLY ABRAHAM LE SECOURS FT. THIERRY CHAM AND LEICKA PAUL

[philameangrey]

[anbatonelfans]

Drum roll... the track Autobus Nord (instrumental version) from my 1st album Anba Tonèl has been selected for the release of the new album by the legendary U.S. label Putumayo, on Caribbean Celebration, out today! A fine selection of 10 artists from Haiti, Martinique, Trinidad and elsewhere, available for download on iTunes and Bandcamp and streaming on Apple, Spotify, Pandora and other major platforms.

Thanks to the staff of the Putumayo team for this great opportunity!

Bandcamp: https://putumayo.bandcamp.com/album/caribbean-celebration

Website: https://www.putumayo.com/caribbean-celebration

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1bfMdCE2xh7ZAEwODmwYvi...

Apple: https://music.apple.com/.../caribbean.../1733945013

[honeyricemagic]