Zenglen

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************************************************************ ***********(Written by the "Konpa Ambassador" for HNR)One of the bands that basically tried hard to change the course of Konpa history will definitely be the band known as Zenglen. As the members were getting ready to create a band by practicing the songs of Zèklè, Kassav, playing rock and other form of music while looking for their own identity, some glasses on top of a dining room set broke from the vibration of the sound of the loud speakers. The next day as the members returned to practice they found that the homeowner wrote the word Zenglen on the floor with the broken pieces. From that day on the band is known as Zenglen (which basically mean pieces of broken glasses). Amazingly at the early day of the Kreyòl movement the band the guys decided to write their band's name with the new formula of the Kreyol grammar using the EN like in the pronunciation of the French word "EXAMEN" unlike the predecessor ZIN that used the IN like pronunciation of the French word "FIN".The band became one of the wonders of the early 1990’s as they released the songs FIDEL on the album An Nou Alèz. In the song the band said that “change” is never easy and always faces obstacles, and resistance, but that they pledge to remain faithful (Fidel) to their mission which is to improve and modernize the Konpa rhythm. The Konpa world was introduced to their new found stars like the guitarist and singer Brutus Derissaint and the lead singer Gary Didier Perez among others. In the song FIDEL the band said: Sé konsa se konsa se konsa la vi ya ye lè ou vle met chanjman reziztans tèt chaje... Unfortunately after a U.S tour most of the band’s members abandoned ship and the band broke up into pieces like a real Zenglen.In Miami Brutus never stop caressing the dream of keeping some of the pieces alive and had moved on with some attempts like the Zenglen Plus and a few solo albums in the 1990’s. Many musicians tried to help him to collect the pieces, but they often moved with their own projects like the creation of the band D-Zine. Nevertheless Brutus never loose faith and still remained fidèl (Faithful) to his mission by hiring more talented musicians each and every time. At the end of the century the acquisition of the drummer Richard Herard (Ritchy) and the singer Gracia Delva took Zenglen to the level of a very competitive Konpa band in the demanding market as they released the album Easy Konpa with nothing but major hits song that were going to move the band to the front burner of the industry and ever since that time Zenglen haven’t look back despite the so many changes of personnel that continues to occurred. The album Easy Konpa was introduced to the public with the release of the video of the song 5 Dwèt which helped discovered the singing talent of Gracia Delva and the many skills of Ritchy not only as a high class drummer but also as a song writer. The song B.S Productions got the attention of the public as the song talk about unqualified show producers damaging the reputation of the bands. On that same album the band touched some subjects until then taboo as they talked about lesbians in the society in the song Flannè Femèl and drug used in the song Ti Poud. In the following years Zenglen continued to amaze the Konpa fans all over the world with the releases of the albums Let It Groove and Do It Right. In 2002 while the band was returning from a tour in Europe the singer Gracia Delva was sent back to Haiti by the U.S Immigration Services and the band had to deal with damage control as the management quickly brought Emmanuel Obas the ex singer of Mizik Mizik and the band Lov to the team. When that attempt failed they moved on by hiring Reginald Cangé and Edouard Jean Baptiste (Fréro) two new singers to replace their charismatic front man. Reginald and Fréro, two young men fresh out of Haiti, tried their very best but were unsuccessful at making the public forget about Gracia despite their tremendous effort and the good job they both delivered in the album 5 Etoiles that also include the songs Child Support and F.K.D. However the band internal problem always seems to take precedent, and at the end of the year 2006 both singers decided to boycott the band’s next show in N.J. The word got out and the band leader Brutus called on the singer Kenny Desmangle to the rescue. Kenny put on such a good show that he was by the beginning of the year 2007 the new singer of Zenglen. By the month of March 2007, the band released the single Ou Fè Fot (O.F.F) with the voice of Kenny Desmangle on lead. Over the years the Konpa observers have seen broken pieces that continued to brake in even more pieces, but the band remains solid and true to their mission: Zenglen don’t change…Zenglen improve…like they often say in their songs “Sé pa changé nou change se pi bon’n vin’n pi bon.”ZENGLEN 4 EVER!