About Me
I was born and raised in Paris France. It all started with my grandmother who owned an upright piano and played it occasionally; this instrument always fascinated me when I was a child.
Then an uncle who played Boogie Woogie tunes unknowingly set out a direction for me. That stuff was so infectious I went on a mission to play these Boogie tunes myself.
My parents listened to classical music and some prebop jazz (people like Louis Armstrong, Sidney Bechet and Fats Waller). I enjoyed it all but Ray Charles somehow really stood out. I can remember standing in front of the record player, staring at the Atlantic label spinning around (and likely getting hypnotized by its spiral shape in the process) as "What'd I say" was playing.
In an attempt to read the liner notes on the back of the album (I had a rather crude command of English back then), I gathered Ray was playing an electric piano. That really intrigued me.
Since my grandmother had generously given me her piano, I proceeded to turn it into an electric one by cutting off a lamp wire and hooking the wire up to the piano strings. Much to my dismay, it didn't quite sound like Ray's electric piano, but the explosion was heard within a 3 miles radius and the Foreign legion swiftly cordoned off the neighborhood. Wait, I'm kidding: I merely managed to blow the house fuses (and a more fateful outcome was thus averted; it should be noted though that I was only about 10 years old).
Fastforward to my teen years. I joined a progressive rock band with my cousin who played guitar (I finally owned a legit electric piano by then). It felt good to be in a band, however, keyboards were confined to a secondary role and I was yearning for more. That lasted until a good friend turned me on to Jazz fusion: Weather Report, Head Hunters, Return to Forever and the likes. This was a turning point.
Our progressive rock band changed gears as we started incorporating more and more fusion tunes in the repertoire. We were rehearsing in an interesting spot around which a lot of good players gravitated. Many of these musicians were from Africa and the West Indies, and that's how I came to be exposed to music from these places. There was an open door policy in place so one could always jam with pretty much anybody. Different ideas were being exchanged and a lot of musical styles were thrown together: fusion, funk, biguine, soukous, makossa, high-life, reggae, blues...It all grew on me, especially the funky stuff. I religiously listened to Earth Wind and Fire and Stevie Wonder.
I was simultaneously pursuing another track around that time: law school. After 4 years and a degree, it became clear to me something had to give. So I followed my heart and chose music; the French legal establishment never quite recovered from my defection (not to worry, they're just fine, I'm only kidding).
But I needed to come to the U.S, where most of the music I liked was being made.
A chance encounter with the Yarbrough brothers in Paris made it possible. They were looking for a keyboard player to come to New York and play with them. That's how I landed at JFK airport on a hot summer day with a suitcase, a keyboard and all of $150 in my pocket. The next day, I was rehearsing with their band and what a band that was! Jocelyn Brown (remember her hit "Somebody else's guy") was singing background vocals with her cousin LaRita Gaskins. Drummer Richie Harrison (Black rock coalition, Defunkt, Rita Mitsouko) and bassist Kim Yarbrough (Bernard Allison, Salif Keita, Miriam Makeba) were dishing out some tight, solid funk. (You can find Kim at www.myspace.com/kim4ya). Singer/rythm guitarist Krishna Yarbrough had a rock star quality to him. We played clubs in New York and Montreal and worked with producer Patrick Adams (Push push in the bush, Fonda Rae, Sister Sledge) on a recording. Watching Patrick at work would prove invaluable in learning how to produce. I was also spending a lot of time hanging out in clubs, soaking up dance music. That's where I met producer/artist/remixer Jephte Guillaume (http://myspace.com/jephteguillaume). He is a wizard, mixing Haitian roots music with electronic dance. Jephte opened a lot of doors for me, especially in the Haitian community, and I've been working with him ever since. Listen to his track "Gine tet red" here, I improvised a synth solo on it. One thing leading to another, I started playing with Haitian Konpa bands. I got my feet wet with Dadou and Tico Pasquet's Magnum Band, then formed a band called U-Turn with Alix Jacques, Edouard Richard and Viviane Rangon. A typical Konpa band would be a large ensemble, but U-Turn was a quartet and we deliberately chose a different approach. Actually, we were not only playing Konpa, but also Zouk, Merengue, Cumbia as well as some pop tunes. By the way, listen to Viviane right here on one of the tracks I featured; it's a song I wrote with her for her CD Coups de coeurs. I arranged it too and had the good fortune of getting some of the finest Konpa musicians to play on it: Yves Abel, Tifre, Shedley Abraham, Jericho Boura, Branley Midouin, Tom Mitchell, Andre Atkins and Curtis Eby. D.T Richard (Zèklè) produced it. After my tenure with U-Turn, I worked with Skah Shah and then joined Tabou Combo (http://myspace.com/taboucombo). I traveled around the world with Tabou. We played major venues in Japan, Mexico, Panama, the Caribbean, Europe and the U.S. At times double bills with acts like Oscar De Leon, Celia Cruz, Willie Colon, Kassav...Not only was it thrilling to play these venues, but I gained some insight into the associated cultures. It reinforced my belief that an understanding of the culture goes a long way towards playing a particular style of music convincingly enough. Just in case you're not already acquainted with Konpa and Tabou Combo, you should know that Carlos Santana recorded their hit Mabouya under the name Foo Foo. He also performed it live at the Superbowl. While playing Konpa, I didn't give up on Fusion Jazz. I had met with drummer John Favicchia (www.myspace.com/dharmaallstars) and played with his band. Along with Favicchia himself, the band featured musicians with serious chops too such as saxophonist John Scarpulla (Tower of power, Willie Colon), they kept me on my toes. I had written a tune long ago called General Alcazar that John Favicchia liked, so we arranged it together to better suit his band. John recorded it on his CD "World Time" under the name Kukuc. You can hear this recording here. I didn't actually play piano on the recording but I wanted to feature it here anyway since it showcases my writing and arranging (so if the Clave Police come around looking, it wasn't me playing).
After Tabou, I worked with Papa Jube and the Jubelations. Jube was rapping over a mix of Reggae, Raggamufin and Haitian music. Jepthe Guillaume played bass and other talented musicians were on board: percussionist master of vodou drums Bonga (Grace Jones), trombonist Clark Gayton (The Skatalites, Steel Pulse, Sting), the amazing Peck Allmond (James Brown, Lenny Kravitz, Me'Shell NdegeOcello, Oliver Lake) who plays every wind instrument ever created and guitarist Rick Sabo, all under the musical direction of drummer Robbie Hewitt (Shaggy). Robbie, a Jamaican musician, is the real thing as far as Reggae drumming goes. I got an education on Reggae while working with this band.
Around that time, I was also backing up singer Emeline Michel (and actually still am to this day). Her songs feature different flavors of Haitian music: roots, carnival, some konpa and even some jazz and pop. I arranged her song Pe Letenel on the album Cordes et ames; this song got quite a lot of airplay and she received an award for it. (Under construction and to be continued)...
