Seven-and-a-half thousand kilometers of cold ocean separate
West Africa from Haiti. But music can cover that distance in a heartbeat,
crossing the Atlantic to reunite the rhythms and religion of people torn from
their homes to be sold into slavery on the Caribbean island. And on its
self-titled album, the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra honours those ghosts
of the past even as it walks steadfastly and hopefully into the future.
Experimental by name, the band was definitely experimental
by nature. The concept started with Corinne Micaelli, the director of the
French Institute in Haiti. She wanted to bring drummer Tony Allen, the power
behind Afrobeat and one of modern music’s towering figures, to the island. A
performance with Haitian musicians at a major public concert would be perfect.
Allen agreed, and Erol Josué, a singer, dancer, voodoo priest, and director of
the Haitian National Bureau of Ethnology, helped to recruit local
percussionists and singers. They decided, in order for different strands of Haitian
music to be represented, that the musicians would be drawn from a cross-section
of the country’s foremost bands, including Racine Mapou de Azor, RAM, Erol’s
own band, the Yizra’El Band and Lakou Mizik, the group of Sanba Zao, one of
Haiti’s leading percussionists and traditional singers.
Together, the musicians had just five days to compose and
rehearse the set they’d play in the main square of Haiti’s capital,
Port-au-Prince, and broadcast live throughout the country.
“Putting it together was complete chaos,” recalls Mark
Mulholland, who was drafted in as the Orchestra’s guitarist. “Madness. We were
all in this tiny room, playing. We had 10 percussionists from all of Haiti’s
top bands. Then there was Tony, Olaf Hund on keyboards, and Jean-Philippe Dary,
an old friend of Tony’s, on bass. He became the de facto musical director. The
sound was overwhelming.”
The music grew organically from long jams, some initiated by
Allen and the other Western musicians, built around Allen’s Afrobeat rhythms
and the grooves from Dary’s bass, like the eerie psychedelic dream of “Chay La
Lou.”
“I’d find a riff and a few notes for the songs, but I tried
to keep it simple,” Mulholland says. “The other songs came from the Haitian
musicians. They grew out of voudou rhythms and a chant. All we had to do was
put in some breaks. Honestly, I don’t think any of us knew what to expect when
we began.”
What emerged from those long, hot sessions were a series of
tracks with roots on both sides of the Atlantic, compelling layers of subtle
polyrhythms that bridge centuries and cultures. Relentless grooves become the
foundation for soaring, utterly modern melodies like the swirling,
electronica-fuelled “Salilento” or the Afro Vocoder ritual sound of “Yanvalou”
that’s inspired as much by Krautrock and Sun Ra as Lagos or Port-au-Prince.
Flying on inspiration and adrenaline, it’s roots music for a global future.
“When we played in public after those five days together we
just hoped it would work,” Mulholland says. “The gig was a big festival, La
Fête de la Musique, and a few bands had been on before us, so everything was
running late and we were tense. Then, just before our set, someone set off a
tear gas grenade in front of the stage.”
Eventually, the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra was able
to play. They’d hoped to record the event, but technical problems prevented
that. And with some of the main players leaving the next morning it seemed that
the music would be no more than a fleeting memory.
“We still had multi-track recordings from the rehearsals,
though,” Mulholland continues. “I decided to go through them and see what I
could find. I wasn’t even thinking of releasing it. I just wanted to preserve
what we’d done for posterity. We’d achieved something, created something
important. It deserved to be remembered. So we re-recorded all the vocals with
Erol Josué, Sanba Zao, and the other singers.”
But life has a habit of springing surprises. Later in 2014,
after Mulholland had moved to Bamako, Mali, he ran into Glitterbeat’s Chris
Eckman.
“I told him about what we’d done in Haiti and Tony Allen’s
involvement,” Mulholland says. “He wanted to hear it. When I sent it to him,
even though it was raw, he could sense the power in the music. Glitterbeat was
interested, so Olaf Hund and I did proper mixes on a couple of cuts. Those
turned out well, and we went forward from there.”
The result captures the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra
sparking on all cylinders. The music is alive with the sense of spontaneity and
adventure, the members supporting and pushing each other, diving headlong into
the music and creating something that stands outside geography and genre.
“I think the album captures the spirit of all of us together
in that room,” Mulholland says proudly. “It’s anarchic and energetic. And I
really believe it’s good, it’s honest, it’s new. It’s different. It was an
experiment that worked.”
From the past to the future, it’s a sweep of music to grab
and shake the listener. And proof that beautiful, dangerous music can rise out
of chaos. Release is set for June 24.
Track listing:
01. Salilento
02. Chay La Loue
03. Yanvalou
04. Bade Zile
05. Poze
06. Pa Bat Kòw
07. Wongolo
08. Mon Ami Tezin
Songs 1-4,6 & 7:
Tony Allen – drums
Jean-Philippe Dary – bass (keyboards on Yanvalou)
Olaf Hund – keyboards and electronics
Mark Mulholland – guitar
Sanba Zao, Wolele, Zikiki, Beauvois Anilus , Edmond Gera and
members of Rasin Mapou de Azor & RAM – Percussion
Vocals:
Salilento, Yanvalou, Bade Zile, Wongolo – Sanba Zao
Chay La Lou – Marc-Harold Pierre
Pa Bat Kòw – Zikiki & Mirla Samuel Pierre
Backing vocals: Zikiki, Marc-Harold Pierre, Wolele & Mirla Samuel Pierre
Songs 5 & 8:
Tony Allen – drums
Mark Mulholland – guitar (plus organ on Mon Ami Tezin)
Olaf Hund – keyboards and electronics
Erol Josué – vocals
