Les fantaisistes de carrefour biography
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Compas
Music genre of Haiti
This article is about the Haitian musical genre. For other uses, see Konpa and Compas (disambiguation).
Compas (French pronunciation:[kɔ̃pa]; Haitian Creole: konpa dirèk;[2]French: compas direct), also known as konpa or kompa, is a modern méringuedance music genre of Haiti.[1] The genre was popularized by Nemours Jean-Baptiste following the creation of Ensemble Aux Callebasses in 1955, which became Ensemble Nemours Jean-Baptiste in 1957. The frequent tours of the many Haitian bands have cemented the style in all the Caribbean. Therefore, compas is the main music of several countries such as Dominica and the French Antilles.[3] Whether it is called zouk, where French Antilles artists of Martinique and Guadeloupe have taken it, or konpa in places where Haitian artists have toured, this méringue style is influential in part of[4] the Caribbean, Portugal, Cape Verde, France, part of Canada, and South and North America.[5][6][7]
Nemours Jean-Baptiste (1918–1985) was an important figure in the creation and popularization of konpa dirèk. Born in Port-au-Prince, Jean-Baptiste grew up in a musically inclined family, and his early exposure to various forms of mus
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Mini-jazz
Music genre
Mini-jazz (Haitian Creole: mini-djaz) is a reduced méringue-compas band format of the mid-1960s characterized by the rock band formula of two guitars, one bass, and drum-conga-cowbell; some use an alto sax or a full horn section, while others use a keyboard, accordion or lead guitar.
Origin
[edit]The 1915-34 US occupation introduced jazz music to Haiti. Local music bands were sometimes called jazz in comparison to the American big band jazz. The word "jazz" has become the equivalent of band or orchestra. The mini-jazz movement started in the mid-1960s, when small bands called mini-djaz (which grew out of Haiti's light rock and roll bands of the early 1960s that were called yeye bands) played compas featuring paired electric guitars, electric bass, drumset and other percussion, often with a saxophone. This trend, launched by Shleu-Shleu after 1965, came to include a number of groups from Port-au-Prince neighbourhoods, especially the suburb of Pétion-Ville. Tabou Combo, Les Difficiles, Les Loups Noirs, Les Frères Déjean, Les Fantaisistes de Carrefour, Bossa Combo and Les Ambassadeurs (among others) formed the core of this middle-class popular music movement. In the early 1970s, The full-horn section kadans band Exile One led by the talented G