For 8 days in March, six international bands joined with ten Haitian and Haitian-American bands to bring jazz to thousands at Haiti's First International Jazz Festival of Port-au-Prince.
Tequila Minsky, Heritagekonpa Magazine
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It came about from a lucky collaboration. Last year, an in-residence French woman bass player and a Haitian drummer-extraordinaire with a visiting Mexican jazz guitarist composed music and performed at the French Institutes in Les Cayes, Jacmel and Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The appreciative crowds were wildly enthusiastic; it was obvious that Haitians liked jazz. Here was an international collaboration. The ground was ready for something bigger.
And so, in late October of 2006 planning began for the first and highly successful International Jazz Festival of Port-au-Prince, which took place March 4th through March 11th in three locations in Haiti's capital.
An organizing triumvirate created this Haitian first. For Joel Widmaier, that collaborating drummer, a jazz festival had always been a dream. Enrique Gomez, a diplomat at the Mexican Embassy, teamed up and asked five other embassies to participate-- Brazil, Spain, Canada, France and the United States (not one said no)-- each inviting a band to represent their country. Bringing culture to the people was what Paul Levy, director of the French Institute did; not only did the Festival fit his mission, the Institute was a good venue.
For absolutely free, Monday through Friday, hundreds of music enthusiasts listened to jazz in an intimate outdoor lakou environment at l'Institut Francais D'Haiti (the French Institute) in Port-au-Prince.
The first three Festival days were devoted to the rhythms and melodies of Haitian jazz musicians including the bands Acajou, Badji with saxophonist Turgot Theodat, Claude Carre, and pianist Reginald Policard.
"There are not many venues for performing in Port-au-Prince," commented Institute Director Paul Levy who brings French, Creole and International theatre, poetry and presentations to the Institute, which seats outdoors 500 and has standing room for another 500. "We want to be open to the public, for students, for people who can't pay; it's open to all and we want to mix up the Port-au-Prince population including people from every part of the city from Citi Soleil to other parts."
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Mid-festival, the momentum was growing. The bands from other participating countries international began arriving and captivated those in attendance at the French Institute. The Hand Made Quartet played from the United States.
Ruthe London sang with bossa nova, samba and other Brazilian rhythms to an incredibly responsive crowd of 1000 that actually sang with her during one number. After her finale, they demanded an encore. One Haitian woman seated near the back of the Institute's courtyard smiled in appreciation, "This music is so beautiful."
Francisco Molina with rhythms of bolero, rumba and other Spanish sounds and sights including a Flamenco dancer charmed the Haitian public. "I really liked the dancer," one Haitian man, a twinkle in his eye, was overheard saying.
The Haitian audience was musically introduced to a completely different percussion instrument; the Spanish percussionist with only one set of cymbals sat on a resonating box called a cajon (pronounced cahon). This instrument evolved in Peru and other Latin American countries when colonial masters took away the traditional African drums. Innovatively, they substituted a simple box for the drum. Playing techniques evolved, strips of metal were put inside to rattle and resonate, and the box became an actual instrument that found its way to Spain.
On Friday, March 9th, Champs de Mars, Port-au-Prince's downtown park became the Festival site-- open to the entire city. The crowd of nearly 1500 clustered in front of the Place Occide Jeanty bandshell and spread out, sitting on steps, enjoying the music; vendors wandered through selling soda. Tantra Jazz from Mexico played and now Brazil's singer Ruthe London and musicians played in a larger open venue... . Story continues on page 2
