HAITIAN JAZZ MOVEMENT TAKES SHAPE WITH NEW BROOKLYN YARD ALBUM

A movement is slowly taking shape among a small cast of dedicated musicians heavily influenced by American Jazz and the music of Haitian Vodou. There is a new interest among serious musicians in Haiti, Boston, New York and elsewhere in firmly establishing a Haitian Jazz tradition in the United States. The modern practitioners of the movement include artists like Boston's own Gifrants (whose particular style "Natif" we will discuss in an upcoming issue), and a host of New York-based talent including members of the group Mozayik, saxophonists Buyu Ambroise and Thurgot Theodat and trumpeter Jean Caze among others.

The notion of blending Afro-Haitian and American concepts in music is as old as New Orleans' famous Congo Square. The contributions of the Haitian slaves and freedmen to the American Jazz movement in New Orleans cannot be ignored. Besides the numerous "Creole Jazz" bands that seasoned European songs with a bit of the Caribbean, it was Haitian-American pianist Jelly Roll Morton who first penned the music that became Jazz.

In Haiti, men like Issah El Saieh founded orchestras and used Jazz theory to delve deeper into the mysteries of Haiti's native sounds. Those efforts continued well into the 1980s with the work of groups like Magnum Band, Ibo Combo, Caribbean Sextet, Zekle, Sakad, Tit Pascal and his Ayizan project, Edy Prophete and Azor. Today we find the continuation of those efforts in the work of Mozayik and the reputable solo projects of Boulot Valcourt and Reginald Policard.

The new Haitian Jazz scene has a home in little-known website, Karijazz.com, where artists and fans alike indulge in passionate debates about this music. The movement also has a home in Manhattan's famed club, Sounds of Brazil (SOBs), where for the past three years, Mozayik drummer, Gashford Guillaume, has helped popularize an annual Haitian Jazz festival.

Musican and Mozayik co-founder Markus Swchwartz is among the talented contributors to the Karijazz forum and an active participant in SOB's Haitian Jazz-related events. Recent debates around the meaning and ingredients of Haitian Jazz have led many among the forum's brightest contributors to conclude that the movement needs to expand its cannon of recorded material to truly explore the essential elements that might help establish this new music.

It is in this light that Markus's first solo release, "Tanbou Nan Lakou Brooklyn" (Haitian Drums in The Brooklyn Yark) is of interest to us. "Tanbou" ranks among the releases that may help shape dialogue around the future development of Haitian Jazz. Markus' first effort as a leader in this genre takes the listener through a musical adventure with Haitian rhythms.

"Tanbou Nan Lakou Brooklyn" is not, strictly speaking, a Jazz or Racine (Roots) album. The work showcases Haitian rhythms against a broad array of musical settings, almost making an argument for the many possible uses of the Island's varied rhythmic traditions. The album starts off with a chant to the drum sung by an Ougan (Vodou Priest) named Erol Josue. The traditional "Ounto", a song praising the spirit behind the drum is also a song about the persecution Vodou practitioners experienced at the hands of the Haitian government and Catholic missionaries during the anti-superstition campaigns of the 1940s. Another interesting piece is "Kongo Piga..." where the drum journeys back to Africa and is set to back a modern West African Highlife or Rhumba arrangement.

The astounding "Danbala" brings Haiti's Yanvalou rhythm to America where Coltrane styled phrasings from the horns of Buyu Ambroise and trumpeter Jean Caze embrace Markus' refined technique. The follow up, "Legba" is a tasty salad of Haitian vocals, Petwo drumming and Guadeloupian saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart's heavily American chops. The promise of this particular song is that it could create a path for today's aspiring and established Jazz artists to bring dancers back to Jazz as quickly as the advent of Bebop expelled them.

The song "Cecia" with its Cuban flair nods to a little known chapter in the development of Haiti's African rhythms, when savvy plantation owners transported their Haitian slaves to Cuba at the outset of the Haitian revolution. Markus delivers a spectacular solo as the song winds down, foreshadowing an even more astounding solo performance in "Sol Tanbou Ti Roro" dedicated to the memory of Haitian percussionist, Ti Roro, an iconic figure in the 1950s whose recordings lured the great American Jazz drummer Maz Roach to Haiti to study the technique of the Haitian master.

Another percussive offering is made in "Seremoni Tiga" to the memory of artist Pascal Garoute, who was partially responsible for setting off Haiti's famous "St. Soleil" peasant painters movement. This particular number features the work of Haitian saxophonist, Jowee Omicil (formerly a Boston resident) who brings an element of Nigerian Afro-Beat in the horn arrangements.

We head back to African shores in, "Sam fe moun yo" and here the drums are set to a musical backdrop that recalls the style of Zimbabwe's Oliver Mutukuzi. I could go on and on about the fine musical pairings on this album, but I'll leave a little something for you to discover once you buy your own copy.

The album is scheduled for official release on November 1, 2008 and should be available through iTunes, CDbaby, Rhapsody and other online sources. Markus will be performing to support this release in Cambridge on November 2, 2008, at the 38 Cameron art Gallery & Venue, located at 38 Cameron Street, starting at 4 p.m. For more info, visit www.nasyonsoley.com/. See you all there! And yes, this CD is a must have for any collector!.

For further information about the artis, contact Markus Schwartz at (917) 532 7214, email to lakoubrooklyn@aol.com or visit www.myspace.com/markusschwartz