Saturday 7 November 2015

Return to Haiti: Gerald Merceron and Lionel Benjamin in Souvenirs D' Enfance, 1979, and return to Hawai'i for us....




So it's that time of year again-- to say goodbye to the cold fall and hello to warm Hawai'i as every year in the past before for us four... I couldn't say more than when I did way back in the Jukka Linkola post...  of course, I won't be able to do any reuploads until I return in two weeks and as usual in these times I will post no downloadable albums, only reviewed items, with song samples so you can get an idea of whether you should seek these out actively.

But first another Haitian album: I wasn't sure what to expect, buying this ear unheard as it were, and it turned out to be mostly French Chansonnier material with a couple of folk songs thrown in.  Recall that he did appear in the monumental L'Energie Mysterieuse record from a year prior but there he sang a Gerald Merceron-penned composition, which, unfortunately, is repeated verbatim on this record in the B3 position.  Otherwise, here, all compositions are by Lionel.

The last track, a chansonnier bossa nova called Mon Enfant, is emblematic:





What a gorgeous voice though, full of tropical warmth and insistence...  There will be more Haitian jazz coming, that I can promise straightaway.

Now Aloha to the blue surf and Mahalo for your patience, as they say there in Hawai'i...





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