Twa Fey and Haitian SWIKs

2010 continued to be a rough start for me. Most recently, the hard drive in my relatively new iMac went down. After an hour or so on the phone with tech support last week, I was told to take my computer to an Apple store for repair. Living without a car in NYC, this means lugging a large 24” iMac on the subway or paying for a taxi. Hence, the delayed post. The iMac is still at the Apple store and nothing can be retrieved. The Apple Geniuses are installing a new hard drive. In reality, this and most of my personal problems or challenges are small and mere inconveniences. They, and even the heartbreak mentioned last week, can be overcome. In light of the recent devastating earthquake in Haiti, the trivialities of one’s daily life seem even less significant. I am reminded to be grateful. Losing everything on my computer is nothing compared to losing a home and family members. I feel compelled to do my part to raise awareness and funds for Haiti. SWIK Music provides the perfect outlet. Before writing this post, I knew little about Haitian musicians, other than the country’s most famous immigrant, Wyclef Jean of the hip-hop group, the Fugee’s. While I am only slightly more informed, I want to dedicate this post to the women of Haiti. The music and traditions of this island go much deeper than what I can cover here, but I hope that you’ll find something new and appreciate the widespread influence of Haitian music.


First, a brief history and basic information to provide some context: The Republic of Haiti is the second oldest republic in the Western Hemisphere, following only the United States. Haiti was the first post colonial independent black nation in the world, and (from what I’ve read) the only one to gain that independence through an initial slave rebellion. French is the official language, but Haitian Creole and other Caribbean languages are also spoken in Haiti. Creole, or kreyol, is derived from French and mixes African languages with Portuguese and Spanish.

Christopher Columbus arrived on what became the island of Hispaniola in 1492. The Spanish settled half of the island, which became the Dominican Republic. Later the French arrived and settled on the other half of the island, eventually called Haiti. Shortly thereafter, the Taino and Arawakan people who lived on the island were entirely wiped out by European settlers and their new diseases. The land proved fertile for growing tobacco, cotton, and cocoa. With few native people left to enslave, the French imported labor from Africa. Simultaneously while the French brought Roman Catholicism to Haiti, religious traditions also arrived with people from Africa, including West African Vodun. Vodou, as it is called in Haiti (Voodoo in the U.S.), has much in common with Catholicism. Vodou is not the dark, scary cult that many movies have made it out to be, but that is a topic for another post. Vodou certainly brings some amazing musical traditions.

The music of Haiti is diverse and fascinating. Naturally with the ties to former French colonies in West Africa, you can hear the similarities in their musical traditions. Rara is music closely associated with Vodou processions and rituals, often involving call and response. Kompa, or compas, music is modern meringue and similar to the Latin music of the same name. Mizik rasin or “roots music” mixes American rock n roll with Vodou and reggae. From what I’ve read mizik raisin evolved as a reaction to the oppressive Duvalier regime in the 1970’s. Of course there are also Haitian rappers as well as classical performers.

Toto Bisssainthe

There are several web sites dedicated to Haitian music and last year a 10 disk box set called Alan Lomax in Haiti was released. Ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax went to Haiti for the Library of Congress in the 1930’s to record and film the music and culture of Haitian people. If you are interested in learning more this would be a great place to begin. At the time of the recording, there was a great deal of Haitian jazz influenced by the music brought by American GIs stationed in Haiti. The box set includes both jazz of the era as well as the more traditional songs. Haitian music then went back to the U.S. with the GIs and you can hear it's influence on jazz coming out of New Orleans at the time as well. In my brief investigation of Haitian music over the past few weeks, I discovered some amazing artists. Yet there seem to be very few Haitian women in music. I did find two women in particular, who I’m embarrassed to realize it took me this long to discover. Unfortunately, only one song is available on Grooveshark (nothing on other free sites like Pandora either). So be sure to check out the video links and samples on Amazon or iTunes.

Marie Clotilde "Toto" Bissainthe was a Haitian singer-songwriter who combined traditional music with contemporary arrangements. Although she was born in Haiti in 1934, Bissainthe spent most of her life in France. An actress as well as a singer, she was a founding member of Griots, the first African theater company in Paris. One of her most famous roles was in the film L’homme sur le quais (The Man by the Shore) about the brutal rule of Francois “Papa Doc” Duvalier. While leading one of the most repressive and brutal regimes of the modern era, Papa Doc mixed violence with the mysteries of the Vodou religion to terrorize the nation. The movie provides a dark look at the sadness and sorrow of the era through the eyes of a young girl.

Bissainthe has a deep and raspy voice; reminiscent of French singer Edith Piaf and at times Nina Simone. Her music, in the rara and Vodou traditions, is mainly bass and percussion with some piano. Her ballads are haunting and beautiful, but she also mixes relentless grooves that capture the Caribbean sound. Pick up her wonderful Retrospective, although you may feel more like you’re in a smokey café in Paris's Marias district rather than in Haiti. Papa Loko is a wonderful example.

Emeline Michel

Currently, the most famous Haitian SWIK is the “Queen of Haitian Song,” Emeline Michel. You may have seen her during last Friday’s benefit for Haiti. She sang a heartbreaking version of Many Rivers to Cross. Although she is affectionately called “The Joni Mitchell of Haiti,” she sounds absolutely nothing like Joni Mitchell. Why the Joni Mitchell comparison? Who knows? Yes, Emeline Michel is a phenomenal singer-songwriter as is Joni Mitchell, but really? Who comes up with this stuff? Michel is known for combining traditional rhythms with contemporary social and political themes. She sings in French and Haitian Creole and combines many of the above mentioned musical traditions including kompa and rara.

I checked out Michel’s most recent album Reine de Coeur (Queen of the Heart) and have no idea what took me so long to listen to her music. She is well known around the world and has been writing music and performing for more than 20 years. She sounds like a velvety jazz singer with a bossa nova sound that weaves in upbeat African rhythms. This genre gets several names including the generic “World Music” or “World Jazz” and “Afropop.” These titles all seem uninspiring and inaccurate, one of the many reasons I get so frustrated with musical genre labeling (see related SWIK post). Michel’s music is beautiful. Reine de Couer was recorded in Haiti and Burkina Faso (West Africa) as well as in the U.S. (New York) and Canada (Montreal). You can hear sounds from all these locations intertwined on this magical album. Some songs make you want to get up and dance or at least motivate to mop the floor a little faster. But she also has some stunning mellow songs that almost brought me to tears. She covers “Twa Fey,” a traditional song of Vodou chant and drumming that is intended to bring a communal consciousness. “Twa Fey” or the three leaves, is about exile, survival, and remembrance. Sentiments the people of Haiti are in great need of right now.

Twa fey, twa rasin,
O Jete bliye, ramase sonje
Mwen gen basin mwen
Twa fey tombe ladan’n
Jete bliye, ramase sonje

Three leaves, three roots,
Oh To throw down (is to) forget, to gather up (is to) remember,
I have my basin,
Three leaves fall in,
Throw down (and) forget, gather up (and) remember

How You Can Help Haiti
It is estimated that nearly 200,000 people have died as a result of the earthquake in Haiti and a million people have been displaced. When disasters of this magnitude strike, it is often difficult to know what to do. For many of us donating money is the quickest and easiest way to help. Yet this can be complicated. How do you know where your cash is headed and if it’s been put to good use? For some useful guidelines on donating check out Charity Navigator and their list of organizations doing work specifically for Haiti.

One reminder: there is less overhead (read administrative fees) when you donate via txt message on your phone or over the internet. In addition, you can be more effective giving to just one or two organizations, rather than several. Every donation requires essentially the same administrative costs, so the more you give to one place the less is spent to process the donation. I generally focus all of my giving on YouthAssets, a non-profit of which I am a board member. As a new organization, I feel strongly that I should focus my energies and financial giving there. That said, when a crisis hits, I do want to help in a specific area. YouthAssets does not do work in Haiti so I chose to donate to Yele Haiti, an organization founded by musician Wyclef Jean in 2005. (Text Haiti to 501501 to donate $10.) They have several grassroots programs in education, sports, the arts and the environment. Since Yele has been in Haiti for almost five years now, and Jean has been going back to do charitable work for more than 10 years, I anticipate that the organization will be there long after the immediate disaster relief is needed. Yele Haiti came under fire recently for tax returns of a few years ago. From what I’ve read, the allegations were debunked by tax experts who said that the problems were from some sloppy accounting and have since been fixed.

Once I do some additional investigation, in addition to Yele Haiti, I will likely donate to a women's organization with a base in Haiti such as Dwa Fanm ("women's rights" in Creole) or a microfinance organization like FINCA, which will give much needed loans to low-income entrepreneurs. But that's just me. Many organizations can effectively and efficiently do the immediate work needed right now such as the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, Americares, Oxfam, or Save The Children. Every little bit helps and don't forget that there will still be work to do six months, and even years down the road. Be sure to listen to some Haitian music while you're making your donation.