Ron Mellow, our guide in Dominica

Landscape from the interior

Country road

Playing hoops in Grand Bay, hometown of Papa Chubby

The sound of tree frogs pulsated, mingling with shouts from the dock workers, and passengers hurriedly gathering their belongings in anticipation of the long customs line and the night of music ahead. Our surroundings, enveloped in the darkness enhanced the mysteriousness of our destination, Dominica. The further we moved down the landing the more mysterious the Dominican night felt. The air was cooler here and less humid, the lightest of rain falling, so light that it seemed to evaporate instantly on contact with the skin. Lights twinkled from the steep surrounding mountains. My colleague first noticed the rich smell of nature, omnipresent in the air, which warmly recalled the thick earthy atmosphere of Cameroon where he had spent so much time.

Many fellow passengers weren't preoccupied with their sensory experience, however there was a shared excitement and anticipation as we were all here to take in the nightlife, the World Creole Music Festival. The three nights of music and festivities were about to start at the nearby festival grounds.  

From the moment we had cleared inspection and stepped out of the dockside customs house, we saw our guide Ron Mellow eagerly waiting.  From that moment onwards, we were to see Dominica through Ron Mellow's eyes.  Ron had graciously agreed to be our guide for this cultural music trip, and because he knows almost every square inch of his country, he was able to personify the island and share it with us.  Moments after hopping into his jeep from the customs queue, Ron whisked us down the road to the nearest bake shop in Roseau, where we mingled with others around the counter and filled our bellies with bakes and salt fish with a cold Kubuli beer. 

Ron next drove us to the festival grounds which are at Pottersville Savannah, a large square field surrounded by a perimeter wall made up of large metal shipping containers, stacked 3 high, which later in the evening would act as a perch for hundreds of onlookers who probably could not afford the price of admission and who probably get one of the better views in the house.  Imagine a warm evening under the stars, the interplay between the Caribbean sea and a wall of mountain peaks creating a cooling breeze that wafts the smell of food on the fire, mix in the rhythms of Cadence-Lypso, Bouyon, Zouk, Konpa and you are either in heaven or at the World Creole Music Festival, three nights of unforettable music that unifies people who share this far-flung culture.

Night One

Our first night's impressions, including extensive photos, additional band information and commentary can be viewed at the Creole Fest Day One Link

LINK To Day One Performances

Royalty Band - US based Dominica Band, identified itself to the audience with a bold brash energy and played a hard, driving soca influenced music backed by a tight rhythm unit.  Their singers paced and alternated across the front of the stage in non-stop energy.  They kept a solid momentum particularly given their challenging slot of first performer, as many in the crowd were still filing into the festival grounds.  The band, which has cut their teeth in New York and New Jersey (with its competitive and tough crowds), was loving their opportunity to be back on a stage in Dominica and several fans from the US in the crowd gave them additional inspiration. 

Next we were treated to Traditional Dance Troupes whose movement, artistry and dress highlighted Creole traditions from Dominica.

Shaggy is well known for his energetic mix of dancehall and pop and drew a huge crowd of adoring women and youths to the stadium grounds.  His rough growl and energetic pelvic thrusts were at times more entertaining than the music itself.  Shaggy was joined by Rayvon, a long-time collaborator on many of his biggest hits, whose silky R&B style contrasts with Shaggy and ads a counterpoint.  This is party music, meant to get you up and moving, with a lot of comedic boasts about his personal prowess, utilizing sounds and gestures that found a hit with many of the women but also could have been considered rude and crude except for his mischievous good nature.  His energy was hampered by Cloudburst that lasted for a good part of his set making it very slippery and not as spontaneous
as it may have been otherwise.

Guadeloupe Zouk Flam - all stars revue of Guadeloupe Zouk singers backed by a tight band of veteran musicians.  The music was tight and spanned the entire breadth of Zouk rhythms, melding a variety of local stylings set to traditional arrangements of the musicians.  The live format created harder zouk sound that what one typically hears on record, with arrangements that featured two drummers (one of whom was the band leader).  The revue rotated singers - all of them veterans within the Zouk scene and intimately familiar with each other's repertoires.  Vocal styles varied significnatly from singer to singer, as did each artist's stage presence.  The result was one of the most diverse and satisfying performances of the festival.

Haitian konpa group T-Vice showcased their latest line-up which included Rivenson Louissant (aka Sun Sun) on drums, to our recollection this was the first time we had seen the band with a live drummer.  Olivier Duret was added to the line-up as an additional vocalist.  The new members seemed relaxed, the sound was harder than in the past with the added percussion which propping up the distinctive guitar solos of Roberto Martino.  T-Vice's music can be characterized by a layering of Konpa rhythms and harmonizing vocals. The songs often start out smooth with lush harmonies, and then gently building up the level of tension, at first emphasizing circular rhythms of keyboards and drums.  The songs continue by building up tension until they hit a musical crescendo - it is at this point that lead guitarist Roberto Martinez brings his solo guitar riffs out to the front, kicking it up a notch with his trademark leads - always haunting melodies that are repeated in circular riffs, hypnotic and encouraging frenzied dancing in front of the stage.  The chorus is referenced throughout the song with the audience was singing along at the vocal refrain.  With T-Vice it is one big party.

WCK stands for Windward Caribbean Kulture and are one of the longer running bands still active in Dominica.  According to their biography, they formed to "fill a void left by several of Dominica's most internationally recognized bands such as EXILE ONE and GRAMMACKS. These bands were solely responsible for the Cadance-Lypso phenomenon during then 1970s."  By the late 1980s the band began to experiment with fusion music - mixing Jing Ping and Cadence-Lypso.  Their music strayed from the traditional use acoustic drums by adapting keyboard rhythmic patterns, technology and street patois of the youths.  At this point, after long day of traveling since 5am, close to 24 hours earlier, we didn't stick around for the whole set.  Apologies!

Night Two:

Our second night's impressions, including extensive photos, additional band information and commentary can be viewed at the Creole Fest Day Two Link

LINK To Day Two Performances

Venezualan Army Band - Featured two male and two female vocalists - focus brass heavy salsa and merengue.  They were a surprise act after Djakout Mizik canceled at the last minute.  They played their hearts out for a generous set - it seemed at least 2.5 hours long - and won the crowd over by their energy, talent and the depth of their sound. 

The Swinging Stars of Dominca have been around since 1961, they were first called the Swinging Teens, and later graduated into the Swinging Stars adding members into the group.  Original band member Norman Letang still leads the band today and his nephew is Daddy Chess (Chester Letang), the lead singer and a dominant front man.  Their sound focuses strictly on traditional Calypso with an incredibly strong and veteran horn section.  The first album was recorded in 1969 in Trinidad and was called "In Orbit".  Former members include Irvine Phillip who is now with WCK.  Several of the original members still remain including Philip Hosford on vocals, Bingsworth Casimir on Trumpet, Norman Letang (leader and Saxophone) and Marcel Cruickshank (former drummer and now the band sound engineer).  In the tradition of Calypso, several of the bands songs (such as the Puppet Master) were dramatized with play actors on stage acting out the lyrrics and musical message.  During the Puppet Master skit, a woman was lead around on stage by puppet strings to emphasize the lyrics.  Later on in the set King Dice and Hunter also joined the Swinging Stars making this an all-star Calypso reunion.

Wyclef Jean -  Verbally his message was consciously Pan-Carribean, and he focused on the English, Creole and Spanish, messages of Carribean pride and unity.  He flattered the Dominica crowd and held Shakira dance competition for the best and sexiest woman in the Dominican crowd - women filed up on-stage and were voted by the crowds applause (or lack there-of).  Was preaching about the different Caribbean rhythms and sampled a lot but never actually stuck to one song.  He would break off into speaches and commentary.  Melded hip-hop and Konpa and then jumped into the crowd and proceed to surf it for an extended period of time.  He climbed to the top of the recording tower in the middle of the festival grounds, about 50 feet in the air (he had crowd surfed all the way there).  Wyclef next hung over the edge looking down with all eyes in the stadium upon him and sung another hit.  About this time the festival promoters tried to get Wyclef to end his set but he would have none of it - he asked the crowd "do you want me to stop" and the crowd said no so Wyclef proceed to keep the set going for another half hour or so despite the wishes of the promoters.  He ended up finishing his set inside the VIP Party Room at the other side of he field.

Sakis - Although Soukous music has long been overshadowed in France and in Congolese music circles by modern Congolese rumba by the likes of Werrason, JB Mpiana, Fally Ipupa, etc. it still has a strong following in the Caribbean and each year a Soukous act is showcased at the World Creole Music Fest.  This year brought Sakis, a veteran soukous star from the Paris scene.  The Congolese performer Sakis and his backup singer was outrageously dressed in flamboyant outfits and matching canes, which he changed throughout the set.  To the thrill of the audience, Sakis brought eight female dancers with him, split into two troupes of four dancers each.  This allowed each troupe to perform one song in a sexy outfit, and then change outfits during the next song while the other troupe performed.  The band was small and tight, with one lead guitarist, one bass guitarist, one drumset and one keyboardist.  The lead guitarist actually did a very solid job - and played some of the more modern sebenes heard these days - this was a bit of a feat given that there was no rhythm guitarist (an oversight as Congolese music almost always has at least one lead and one rhythm, and often times a third mi-soloist).  But the band was able to keep a solid momentum going aided by the visual flare of the female dancers.  The singers, including Sakis, were the weakest link and the result were songs that exhibited lots of energy but did not really hold up from a vocal perspective which detracted a bit from the performance. That said, it was an outlandish visual spectacle that thrilled the eyes and Sakis did a good job as a front man and in keeping the audience entertained. 

Flamboyant Dancers presented formal dances in uniform focusing on the traditions of dance in Dominica.

Triple Kay - Triple Kay band made their mark playing  fastest hardest set of the festival and proved themselves on the big stage in their second WCMF appearance to be the equal or better of the artists that preceded them saturday night. The set included material from their four CDs "Big Ting" , "Fanatik", "Sewo" and the latest "All Out"It was easy to see why the outfit from Laudet were honored Dominica band of the year in 2004. They invigorate the Cadence beat with with straight ahead uncontainable energy. Drums and drum programming, bass, and keyboards weave a driving beat over which the lead vocalists Wayne Benjamin and David George challenged the crowd to get motivated. The youthful fans unleashed a booming chanted response, waving their hands above their heads. Triple Kay's anthemic songs and high energy performance ended the night of pan Caribbean rhythms with an exclamation point.
 

Night Three:

Our third and final night's impressions, including extensive photos, additional band information and commentary can be viewed at the Creole Fest Day Three Link

LINK To Day Three Performances

The third night continued with a very full line-up of top acts.  The evening started with a long set by the Impromptu Band featuring a crowd pleasing, high energy set of Pan Caribbean rhythms.  Impromptu's self styled party music includes a blend of Reggae, Calypso, R&B, Soca, Zouk, Konpa, Cadence, and Bouyon.  The band is renowned for its attractive lead singer, Lexxus, who features prominently in their live set.  The band has released many albums including the 2006 release "Slide" which they were promoting during this tour.

Admiral T, a well-known and multi-dimensional artist within the French Caribbean music circles is from Guadeloupe, French West Indies.  Although billed as a Creole dancehall artist at the festival, we were so pleasantly surprised by the depth of Admiral T's live performance that he stood out as one of the festival highlights.  Admiral T does take influence in dancehall, via his vocal lyrics, however his live band created a sound meshed in pan-Caribbean melodies including reggae, zouk, salsa and elements of traditional African music.  He also had superb stage presence (as witnessed in the photo gallery shots) and kept the crowd enthralled and motivated throughout the long and diverse set of music.  The entire energy around his delivery and set was jaw dropping and stood out among all the acts.  In hindsight, it is difficult to pinpoint just what set him apart except that we feel that his performance took the music to another dimension by expanding upon the vocal delivery of dancehall and combining it with roots and swing of Creole and Caribbean music styles.  Every song was distinct and has a lilting swing.  It's our impression that Admiral T has not gotten as much exposure outside of the Francophone and Creole music circles, but we would urge music fans to seek out his records and by all means catch Admiral T live if he plays near you.  

Byron Lee & The Dragonaires is one of Jamaica's best loved non-reggae bands.  The big band was formed by Byron Lee in 1956, initially performed a big-band Ska sound, and later added classic Calypso, R&B and Soca to his repertoire.  His Dynamic Sound studio has been legendary in the production of Caribbean artists particularly in the late 1960s and 1970s.  Byron Lee's performance is a full musical Revue, the big band sound is tight extremely syncopated, and includes members who add both an acrobatic and comedic flair to the performance (see photos in feature). 

The veteran Haitian Konpa group Tabou Combo predictably wowed and pleased the capacity crowd as Creole Fest continued its momentum towards the final closing act, which would be Carimi.  Playing many of its classics,

Speaking to Yves, veteran of Tabou Combo, we reminisced about one of their first continental hits - the all-time dance floor classic  "8th Sacrement."  Yves smiled and shed light on the parralels to that classic recording’s success and their more recent work." "8eme Sacrement," explaining that this was basically a live and spontaneous band recording. That was our first number one hit. You see, every successful album that Tabou Combo has made has not been premeditated... its like we [just] did something and then [the public’s] response was great." Urging Yves to elaborate and explain a bit more about the timing and group dynamics behind "8th Sacrement," and the group’s early years. Yves continued, "we are talking about 1974, and we had just arrived in the United States beginning in 1970. We were all young and just playing music... whatever we felt like saying we just said it in the music... there was no real construction of songs, we just got on stage and started singing." But what was it about "8th Sacrement" that made it a hit and a million copy seller?

Yves: "This is basically what 8eme Sacrement is, [a youthful statement from a group having just migrated to the U.S.], and the song, "New York City," that made a number one hit, was [really] a nostalgic song... we had just left Haiti and come to New York City where people have no feeling for each other... everyone is doing their own business, and we just wanted to go back [home] to Haiti. New York was a hard place for us, we weren’t used to that type of atmosphere, and so that’s what we sang in the song. It all fell into a Disco rhythm that was in style at that time, and a big French label, Barclay, in Paris... they loved it, and they [decided] "New York City " this will be a hit for the Summer of 1974, and they made a hit out of it." Surprisingly, the song was only a huge hit in throughout Europe, and made few inroads into the United States. According to Yves, "T.C. has never had a hit in the United States... well, locally [in Brooklyn and the Caribbean communities] we have... we are known in small pockets everywhere, we’ve been around for 30 years, so I think everyone who is into the music business, especially into the world music, has heard once of Tabou Combo."

The unique this about Tabou Combo is that the band pushes the boundaries and continues to be innovative despite its veteran status. But in Haiti, there has been competition from the "nouvelle generation," or the younger generation Haitian bands. Yves believes that "They are just translating our ideas in a more modern way, putting their two cents into it, but these are basically our ideas, and when its been carried on by newer, fresher musicians, it tends to attract a younger crowd than if we were doing it by ourselves, but these are basically our ideas that they translate. We don’t get too far behind them, you know, in fact, we feel a little bit ahead, because we listen to whatever modern music is out there.

Fittingly, one of the nouvelle generation groups was scheduled to close the festival - the crowd pleasing Carimi who we had witnessed many times in both nightclub and festival performances in New York City.  Since their "Ayiti Bang Bang" album of 2001, the band has one of the first younger generation digital bands to discuss the political and security concerns that they had witnessed in Haiti via their music.  Their style can best be described as a lovers Konpa sound, with smooth harmonies and a steady groove that builds and then crescendos as with the best of its genre.  At Creole Fest, the band was clearly in its element and seemed more photogenic than usual, having improved upon their stage show since their last appearances in New York.  They played a full set of their hits, which the crowd full of female admirers sang along to almost every word.  Couples in the crowd swayed to Carimi's lilting Konpa music, and the finale was a fitting end to a packed long-weekend of live Creole and Pan-Caribbean music.