Kayenn Jazz Festival - Friday Evening
Photos and text by William Farrington |
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Acantha |
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The band started the intro of “I Am
Woman” in the shadows of a darkened stage, and Acantha’s vocals came
from somewhere off stage, She strode directly to the front of the
stage, hanging over the edge, looked directly into the audience
belting out “I Am Woman”. It bore no resemblance to the Helen Reddy
song. Tall, thin and nymph-like in a short skirt and high heels she
sang in a powerful voice like a woman possessed. The strength and
vulnerability of the young blues woman’s performance that made it so
fascinating to watch, One sensed immediately that this young woman
from the 9th ward of New Orleans knew about about Desire and had
the strength to fight off those who would want to possess her.
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She drew on classic rock, r&b, and
blues and transforming standards through a sense of urgency. This is
not toe tapping blues, what she is feeling is what you get as you
are listening not only to a top notch singer but to an artist
tapping into a what was in side of herself and expressing it in the
most direct manner. you to feel the music., you feel the desire,
and that she told us later is what she wants her audience to get
from her performance. It was like watching a woman balancing on a
high wire as she expressed her soul.
She was backed by a hard rocking
band. Rolling On The River followed “I am Woman”, then a blues that
she reduced to the lyrics to rhythmic phasing of the word oh over
and over as if words weren’t expressive enough to convey the depth
when words seemed to restrict the passion she was bringing to the
music. another slow blues followed that built into a rocker. “You
put a spell on Me” put an exclamation point on the performance as
she fell to her knees possessed by an electrifying guitar solo.
Again, the song bore no resemblance to the Screaming Jay Hawkins
version, but the music she chose to perform is in a sense a tribute
to her mentors.
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“Music was not a part of my early
life” she told Africasounds. “but I always new I had a voice. It
wasn’t until I arrived in New York and with encouragement of a
friend overcame my insecurity about performing.” Acantha is
currently working on recording some original material and performing
in New York before touring again later in the year.
Band:
Trevor Holder- Drums
Calvin Jones-Bass
Shelton Garner-Guitar
Nick Rolfe-Keys
www.acanthaonline.com
Acantha named after a greek nymph that scratched the god Apollo’s
eyes as he was trying tpo rape her and she was turned into a tree
because he was not used to being turned away.
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Béli-Haut!
is an accurate description of the music of Djmso and Klack Son. Djimso,
Daniel Vincent, bandleader and front man played very impressively
on Saxophone and flute work that floated melodies over a rich tapestry
of sound tethered to their signature rhythm the beli haut (derived from
traditional rhythms such as Bélia and Débot) laid out in staccato drum
beats and pulsating bass that recalled the energetic creole dance steps.
At times I found myself mesmerized by the incredible variety of sounds
produced by percussionist Antoine Villagois imagining they were sounds
of the rain forest; falling rain, wind in the trees, buzzing insects or
bird calls. When the music was working at its best you were
listening to the various rhythms of the different players and how they
filled the empty spaces between each other so to my ears the sound kind
of pulsated. IT was this rich variety of almost endless sounds
that almost seemed to juxtapose against each other. I remember my
reaction being incredulous as to how they were getting this depth of
sound out of so few players. There is something really different
going on here. |
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| AfricaSounds was fortunate enough
to catch up with the group after the show, and were able to follow up
with Daniel Vincent, band leader, for his perspectives on his music more
recently. His thoughts are below:
"Guyane is a country rich with rhythms. First of
all are those of the amérindiens the first habitants from here, next
those of the black Marroons known here as the “Bushe- Nenge” and finally
the wealth of creole rhythms that are often a mélange/mix of strong
Caribbean influences. One can observe in the creole mélange the rhythms
from the grand Antilles: Cuba, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Saint- Dominque and
the French Antilles and other Creole islands of the Pacific including
Reunion, Sechelles and Maurice. We call this a "trécilla" of the people
certainly because for all of these regions and people Africa is basis
from the legacy of slavery.
Being in an area
where cultural mix is omnipresent: The Brazilian music, North American
and also those of neighboring countries have always had priority
unfortunately on local creativity. And as an artist, I am committed for
over 25 years to exist on the musical, among other things, seeking
relate to my native culture and express the environment through my music
such as the sounds of nature that I knew growing up. The sound universe
has always been a source of inexhaustible curiosity for me. Thus, today,
we find this music certainly sounds of birds, insects, animals are
typical of this region who are sample but also imitated vocally for
some, because at my young age, we doing in the district competitions
imitation in which I defend well. In my musical structure,
these noises and sounds used punctuation, ornaments to create tension or
desired climates. |
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My musical
repertoire can be about 2 ½ hours and represents a musical cannon since
the 1980s. The relationship that could be seen from the "hot-béli"
(derived from traditional beliya Guyanese, knowing that there is a bélia
Martinique signature rhythmic different) is for me a simple way to
conotate these traditional rhythms exploit ways today. For this, it took
me to find a formula rhythm (for drums_ completing this bélia without
distorting it. Improvisation also has its share and it is important to
me that musicians who are with me today have also their say.
Regarding the influence jazz that can be observed, it is merely due to
the fact that these musicians are jazz aficionados for all and to a
certain level it becomes for all of us a choice hardly avoidable. For my
part, I teach saxophone at the music school from Kourou in recent years
and jazz in general teaching is my favorite.
DJMSO
The name was chosen simply for its phonetics. A fantasy has been made by
removing the "E" DJEMSO because it adds nothing to her."
DJMSO is currently working on a promotional DVD as
well as a new album slated for later this year. They have been
unable to perform in the US thus far but they do look forward to their
inaugeral performance one day soon. They would also like to record
their music here - one of the reason they have not put much of their
work on CD thus far is that the music studios in Guyana are not up to
their level of professionalism.
Djmso includes:
Percussion: Antoine Villageous
Djimso (Daniel Vincent): Sax, flute
Keys: Michel Macaire
Bass: Guy Robert
Guitar: Patrick Plenet
vocals, percussion: Maryloo Coopen
Drums: Arsene PoPo |
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| I have to admit that I knew
nothing about Russell Gunn before witnessing his set. When the set
launched with "War Pigs" by Black Sabbath, loud and hard, played by the
band in white robes, the impact hard and loud and unexpected.... but not
unpleasant. I was expecting something that was more along the
lines of traditional jazz but was pleasantly surprised by the set.
It was a looseness and freedom in the playing style that seemed at home
in an urban downtown club scene sense. |
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| Gunn is known for his Crunk Jazz
and is quoted as saying his first love is hip hop. He layers his
hard bop trumpet playing above it while expanding the music into many
additional influences.
Elektric Butterfly is perhaps Gunn's favorite
project focusing on improvisation at the highest level. According
to Russell Gunn, in the Elektric Butterfly project "any member of the
ensemble may determine the direction of the group at any given moment.
Similar to the approach of a new Orleans brass band. Russell's favorite
group to perform with. The freedom to explore rhythm, space, time,
melody, harmony, and vibration. All comes together with the ensemble
miraculously becoming one entity to create musical structure out of thin
air. Wowing audiences for over a year." |
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| The sources of the compositions
ranged from Hip Hop to Heavy Metal to Reggae to Classic Jazz.
Following "War Pigs" the group played Bill Evans "Nardis" then Cee-Lo's
"Bass Head Jazz" followed by Marley's "I Shot The Sherriff", followed by
"Neo-So" and "Jean Paul". The encore was "Blues in E Flat" and
"The Critics Song". From all the various sources that he drew from
the sound reflected the contemporary generation of jazz musicians and
their musical tastes which are far ranging.
Russell Gunn and Electric Butterfly: www.russellgunn.com
Drums: Che Guevara
Bass: Joel Powell
guitar: Ed Wright
Trumpet: russell |
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Ronald Tulle |
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| Outside of the French West Indies
Ronald Tulle is relatively unheard of but he is cherished by his peers
and music lovers closer to home which is Martinque. He plays
Beguine Jazz which he explained the relationship between Creole music
and American Jazz in a few short syllables "Di-Don, Di-Don" and says the
rhythm of bee-bop and beguine is the same there its effortless to move
between the two which he did during his set. His piano playing was
along the lines of afro-cuban music - chunky, thick rhythmic chords were
emphasized over melody and Beguine, Zouk and traditional Jazz rhythms.
The performance consisted of a trio of drums (Jozé Zebina)
and bass (David Chantalou). The set list included: Cloudy
Waltz, Eyes of the Beholder, Kintari Bigin, Famm Ki Douss, Metheny, Mwen
Komtan, Rouen '86, Blues for Jenny, Africa and Yamousa. |
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Ronald Tulle is also one of the
most sought after names by his fellow Creole musicians to produce and
play with. As producer and pianist he has been at forefront of
contemporary Creole music having collaborated with the following
artists: Jocelyne Berouard, Kassav, Tanya St Val, Ralph Thamar, Patrick
St Eloi.
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Ronald Tulle's first solo album "F.W.I"
received the album of the year award in 2005 within Martinque.
His next album is due out soon and will feature as a guest artist Guinean kora master Djeli Moussa Diawara. |
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Photos and text by William Farrington |
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