Festival Mizik Jakmel: The First International Music Festival in Haiti
Jacmelians are treated to a musical feast.
By Tequila Minsky, Heritagekonpa Magazine
The
first Jacmel international music festival, set on the picturesque Jacmel beachfront,
offered participants a truly memorable music experience in Haiti. The 2-day festival
of diverse music styles attracted more than 90,000 music fans.
It took big ideas and unimaginable logistics to pull this event off. Visiting bands traveled from Sweden, Canada, the United States, and Jamaica; three containers of all the sound and lighting equipment were shipped by boat from Miami. Nothing of this scope and caliber has ever been produced before in Haiti.
Not only was the intent of the festival to provide enrichment and education through music but also to contribute to changing the image of Haiti, encourage a global dialogue, stimulate the local economy, and be an object lesson in what can be successfully organized there.
Festival Mizik Jakmel showcased twelve bands from around the world including, Stephen and Damian "Junior Gong" Marley, Simbi, a Swedish Vodou band, Les Nubians, Tabou Combo and Emeline Michel. Twelve Haitian groups from Haiti also became part of music history in Jacmel performing for and delighting the culturally receptive crowds.
The series opened on May 25 with a performance by the homegrown brass orchestra from the Jacmel Music School playing a variety of classical, jazz and pop tunes. Following were five more groups, a mélange of music and styles-- the familiar, often with a twist. Reggae Cowboys, most from Dominica-now living in Toronto, played reggae and rock, singing in English and Creole.
The first night of the festival, thousands of music fans assembled on Congo Plage (Congo Beach) in front of the stage; two huge projection screens displayed close-up video of the stage for those far from the front so they could still enjoy the action on stage.
Bruce "Sunpie" Barnes and the Sunspots from New Orleans, attired in all black with a top hat, akin to Vodou god Baron Samedi, played jazz, blues, zydeco and New Orleans Voodoo- one of the song is about a loup garou (werewolf). His powerful singing was accompanied by his African djembe drum or accordion. He also strutted and postured on the catwalk playing his legendary harmonica. Next, Canadian and multicultural MCRed1 rapped the assembled in hip-hop.
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The beloved Boukman Eksperyans followed, opening first with lanky and shorter dredlocked son Paul who sang his own and younger style music (from Zing Eksperyans). Then, the crowd went wild when Lolo danced onto the stage; a brass section from the Swedish Vodou band Simbi added to the Boukman mix. A participating audience was elated.
Following Boukman, singing songwriting sisters Les Nubians began singing from off-stage. The sisters of French/Cameroonian heritage were dressed exotic and hip; their tee shirts with bright orange letters read, "Africa is the future,"which is their philosophy. Musicians/poets Helene and Celia sang in French, jazz, funk, soul, their mix of original African-influenced music and sometimes performed melodic spoken words.
Mizik Mizik changed the tone with their modern new twist on traditional troubadour and Konpa music to close the night.
Master of Ceremonies Luck Mervil, Haitian actor/singer-songwriter-now living in Montreal, walked the length of the catwalk, entertained the audience during act changes, and grooved in the wings to the music. Sometimes, he sang alongside the performing musicians. Mervil was the perfect bridge between acts.
The professional sound quality, lighting and stage management-on a stadium size stage-and the quick change between performances was an absolute pleasure for musicians and audience alike.
Intermittent rain became more intense the first night halting temporarily the music; then the great vibes continued. No hiccups with stage production, musical acts quickly following one another. The evening filled with fun, the crowd receptive, the music-all, world music cultural cousins-warmed up Jacmel for the days to follow.
The second evening of the festival almost started on time, all the better for the rich number of acts on the schedule. N'Digenous, a local haitian band, was followed by racine band RAM that rocked the beach as the crowd swelled to 60,000.
Then musicians from abroad began performing. Haitian diva Emeline Michel crooned with an audience who knew the words and accompanied her four renditions. What a trooper! She moved beyond the sheltered roof of the stage onto the catwalk, subjecting herself to a continuous rain shower during the entire performance. Emeline was accompanied by guest percussionist Paul from Boukman.
The next to perform was the legendary Tabou Combo, the fourteen-piece konpa band. . It rained during most of their hour and ten minute set and as Fan Fan remembers, "Everyone stayed to hear us-it was a great thing! And this was a level we never saw in Haiti. The professionalism of the stage and lighting was at an international level. All the bands sounded great."
Headliners the Marley brothers followed. Stephen started and Damian "Junior Gong" Marley joined him with reggae standards such as No Women, No Cry, Get Up Stand Up, and Jammin, adding other reggae songs to their well received repertoire.
In an unusual display of showmanship, the singers walked and sang the catwalk getting closer to the attentive audience--some familiar with reggae, others not--who endured constant rain, as did the Marley's, during the two-part show. This performance, sharing the cultural legacy of Haiti's, neighbor, was an example of how this event's intent was to help bring Haiti out of its geo/cultural isolation.
There was still an act to follow! Late into the long night, the crowd thinned when Swedish band Simbi, filled with energy and as Boukman's Lolo joined them, performed to the dawning of the day. Can Swedes really play racine? Yes!
The band's founder, Stan, lived and studied in Haiti decades ago. Similiar to other musical collaborations during the Festival, Stan and his brass instruments played with Boukman whose Lead singers Lolo and Manze sang with Simbi.
The devoted danced to Simbi's music as if they were part of a ceremony until the sound system, at 5:10 AM, was turned off. The incredible evening of music, rain and all, stretched into the light of day.
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Jacmelians were lucky that the second evening of performances was so packed; a relentless rain with strong winds forced organizers to cancel the Sunday show. Nonetheless, the two full nights of music shared a diversity of musical traditions never seen in Haiti. And over 90,000 music lovers experienced music production values never realized in Jacmel.
Festival Mizik organizers, Jacmelians Patrick Bouchard and Jeremie Sterlin and Kate Tarratt Cross recognized how appreciative and receptive townsfolk were to connecting with the outside world from experience by organizing the international film festival in Jacmel.
Their concept to "bring international bands--including Haitian bands--to Jacmel, 24 bands in 24 hours", was one of a wild abandoned vision. Scheduling it over the 3-day Memorial Day weekend took the Diaspora into consideration, that way, visiting Diaspora wouldn't have to take too many days off work to attend.
As the event took shape, they realized that there weren't enough hotel rooms to accommodate a big influx of outsiders. Diaspora did attend though, many Jacmelians, most who heard about it from family or friends and stayed with family.
Commuter planes and mini-buses transported musicians, media and staff to Jacmel. The bands, technical crews, and staff were spread out among four Jacmel hotels, the occasional guesthouses, and the hotels outside the city. This writer stayed at a new, very clean hotel with air-conditioning, in the middle of a cornfield outside of town.
The Festival was an outgrowth of the work of the art and cultural institution FOSAJ (Fondation Sant D'A Jakmel) and the Festival Film Jakmel. Free to the public, there was a special paid VIP section, a percentage of the revenues to benefit a homeless youth foundation, a handicap center, the Jacmel Music School, and a project with the municipality of Jacmel to maintain the beachfront.
A cross section of government ministries, institutions, private corporations and individuals sponsored the event and collaborated with the organizers.
