Music of Haiti

Impoverished Haiti didn't have any recorded music until 1937 (see 1937 in music) when Jazz Guignard[?] was recorded noncommercially.

Meringue The meringue is a form of syncretic music that mixes Spanish, French and African forms; it is an ancestor of the Dominican merengue (note the spelling difference).

Compas[?] Compas direct[?] was invented in the mid-1950s by a group of artists, already then famous, called Coronto International[?]; it soon became popular throughout the Antilles, especially in Martinique and Guadeloupe, where it evolved into zouk[?]. Webert Sicot[?] and Nemours Jean Baptiste[?] became the two major powers in the group. Sicot left and formed a new group and an intense rivalry developed between the two, though they remained good friends. Nemours played a popular, improvised style, compas direct, while Sicot's sophisticated "cadence rampa[?]" was inaccessible to mainstream listeners.

Vodou percussion The religion of most Haitians is vodou[?] (voodoo) and highly formalized percussion is used in spiritual music. Vodou includes two different kinds of deities (Lwa): rada[?] and petwo[?]. Ceremonies may include either Rada drums ("Tanbou Rada" in Haitian Creole[?]) with cowhide covers attached with wooden pegs, or Petwo drums (Tanbou Petwo), which have a goatskin covers attached with cords and a more aggressive sound. Additionally there are many many Haitian rhythms played in Vodou which vary greatly with geography. For example, some of the most popular Rada rhthyms from Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas include Yanvalou, Mayi, Zepol and Dawomen, while in Gonaives, Rada takes such names as Wanjale, Akbadja, and Kavalye Hounto.

In the Petwo family one can find: Petwo Makaya, Fran Petwo, Petwo Doki, Makandal, Bumba and Kita.

There are many other Vodou rhythms as well: Djoumba, Kongo, Ibo, Tchika, Raboday, Banda, Nago, Maskawon etc etc.