Kassav
Calypso Rose
Mizikopéyi - Créole Big Band

Kassav began in 1979 when Pierre-Édouard Décimus and Freddy Marshall decided to update Antillean carnival "root" music by pairing salsa or reggae influences and glam rock with beguine beats and Dominican kadans. They were soon joined by Jacob Desvarieux on guitar and Georges Décimus on bass. The collective grew over the years. Kassav set a benchmark in four decades. The Guadeloupean group created their own zouk packed with Caribbean influences melting into African makossa, funk and rock to create one of the most exciting cocktails on the planet. Their big hit Soleil saw the group's music make its mark on an entire generation. Kassav officially dropped the apostrophe in 2012 and performed at the U Arena in Paris last May (capacity: 40,000 for 40 years!). A Netflix documentary about the group's career with interviews from Wyclef Jean, Youssou N’Dour, Stevie Wonder and Miles Davis will coincide with the group's world tour.

Line-up : Jocelyne Béroard (voc), Jacob Desvarieux (g), Jean-Philippe Marthely (v), Georges Décimus (b), Jean-Claude Naimro (k, v), Philippe Joseph (k), Thomas Bellon (dms), Dominique Tauliaut (perc), Marie Céline Chrone (bkv), Marie José Gibon (bkv), Abdel Hamid Belhocine (cuivre), Fabrice Adam (cuivre)

Crédit photo: © X. Dollin

With a career lasting almost 50 years, 20-odd albums between 1969 and now then global success with Far From Home (2016), Calypso Rose is back with a coconut-drenched cover of the famous Calypso Blues. The 1951 song by Nat King Cole about the fate of female immigrants from the Caribbean in New York is the first single from So Calypso!. The new album from the "Calypso Queen" (born in 1940 in Tobago) is devoted to covers by performers who supported her in her career: The Melodians, Nat King Cole, Aretha Franklin and Angélique Kidjo. Calypso is two-beat carnival music from Trinidad and Tobago that appeared in the late 19th century. The Andrews Sisters' version of Rum and Coca Cola, plagiarised from Lord Invader, made kaiso music popular in 1945. A decade later and calypso made its first appearance at the cinema in Island in the Sun starring Harry Belafonte. The actor Robert Mitchum also had success with his album Calypso… Is like so! (1957) that he recorded after a rum holiday in Trinidad.

Line up : Calypso Rose (voc), Jamba (g), Corey Wallace (gb), David Aubaile (k), Gregory Louis (dms), Sylvian Bardiau (t), Fabien Kisoka (s), Cali Kamga (bkv), Audrey Gbaguidi (bkv)

Crédit photo: © J. Bandit

Founded in 2006 and led by Tony Chasseur (singer and conductor) and Thierry Vaton (piano, musical direction), MizikOpéyi churns out Creole jazz, a blend of traditional Antillean rhythms and Afro-Caribbean melodies on jazz arrangements. The Créole Big Band is filled to the brim with 17 musicians fuelled by twelve brass instruments in keeping with traditional New Orleans big bands. The island's MizikOpéyi already has four records under its belt including the Sacem-winning De Racines Et D’Influences (2008). Their guest in Vienne is Alain Jean-Marie, a top pianist who released Gwadarama, an album revisiting his beloved Guadeloupe's music just ten years ago.

Line-up: Tony Chasseur (chef d’orchestre et chant), Thierry Vaton (p), Just Wody Cereyon (b), Pierre-Michel Balthazar (perc), Jean-Philippe Fanfant (dms), Christian Martinez (t), Philippe Slominski (t), Erick Poirier (t), Alain Ravaud (t), Michael Joussein (tb), Adélaïde Songeons (tb), Fabien Cyprien (tb), Pierre Mimran (s), Allen Hoist (s), Frédéric Couderc (s), Thierry Farrugia (s), Olivier Defays (s) + special guest : Alain Jean-Marie (p)

Crédit photo: © A. Jean-Marie, DR