ArtistInfo

Boulo Valcourt
Kè Mwen Fè Mwen Mal / Au Coeur Ça Fait Mal

Album US 2016 on Manoumba Records label
Jazz, Latin, Folk, World and (Compas, Bolero, Afro-Cuban Jazz)

Boulo Valcourt (b. 1946, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti) has been a central pillar of the jazz landscape in Haiti and its diaspora for more than fifty years. The vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and arranger has been a founding member of such noted ensembles as Ibo Combo, Caribbean Sextet, Pikliz, Djanm, and Haïtiando. He has regularly collaborated with past and present musical greats such as Azor (Lénord Fortuné), Réginald Policard, Jean Jean and Philippe “Toto” Laraque, Lionel Benjamin, Mushi and Joël Widmaïer, and Ralph Thamar. His ensembles have shared the stage with Danny Glover and Wynton Marsalis, and he has been a featured artist at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. He has mentored many of the most popular Haitian vocalists of the past two generations, including Emeline Michel, Beethova Obas, Tifane (Tifany Sejour), and Alan Cavé, each of whom have catapulted on to international careers. He has written dozens of hits for these and other performers, frequently using texts by acclaimed poet Syto Cavé, including “Fè van pou mwen” and “Jounen” for Emeline Michel and “Limit Solèy” for Tamara Suffren. Valcourt’s “Tante Nini,” written in collaboration with Cavé, generated overwhelming excitement when Caribbean Sextet first released the recordings in the 1980s. These tunes remain a prominent and beloved part of the Haitian soundtrack. But this is Boulo’s long-awaited solo album. In his words, “Tout tan ma p konpoze pou anpil moun, men sa nou kapab di se yon Boulo 100 pousan”: I’m always composing for lots of people, but this, we can say, is Boulo, 100%. And Boulo 100%, it turns out, is a dynamic and irresistible mélange of Haitian roots/rasin, Latin, and Brazilian flavors. There’s a hint of konpa dance music here, interspersed with mizik dous (sweet, soulful music), and, as Valcourt says, “yon ti tent, yon ti souf de ròk anba”—an underlying tint, a little breath of rock. According to the artist, his sound is alternately “très cool, très romantique, très jazzy.” Each song on this album is different. Valcourt explains that each piece represents “yon lòt epòk mwen”—a different period in [his] life. He takes his cues from “tout pakou mwen”—all of the routes and journeys and encounters he makes. Born in Cap-Haïtien but raised in Port-au-Prince, Valcourt was educated at the Institution Saint-Louis de Gonzague and at the École Georges Marc, before moving to Montréal to study aviation and electrical engineering. But after receiving his degree, Boulo had no interest in any career but music. His ears were resolutely tuned into to American jazz, blues, soul, and funk—most notably the music of George Benson, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, and James Brown. Simultaneously, he was entranced by the musical scene in 1960s and ’70s Brazil, with the rise of Antônio Carlos Jobim and Gilberto Gil—leaders shaping the bossa nova and Tropicália movements. Especially in Tropicália, Valcourt identified a connection with the Haitian mizik rasin in its blending of Afro-Caribbean rhythms with rock and roll and other popular music genres. From blues to soul to tropicalismo, these varied influences encouraged Valcourt and his collaborators to explore the use of more contemporary harmonies alongside music more typically identified as “Haitian.” Among these critical local influences have been twoubadou and mereng—both frequently upheld as powerful national symbols. Valcourt’s partial discography includes the following albums and compilations: with Ibo Combo, Café (1972), Engendré (1973), and La Fraîcheur (1975); with Caribbean Sextet, Forte Dose (1979), En Gala (1980), La Revanche de Jolibois (1981), Caribbean News (1982), Madougou (1983), Lese Mwen Viv (1989); with Djanm, Batala (1993); with Haïtiando, Cubayiti (Vol. I) (1999), Haïtiando Vol. II (2000), and Comparengue (Vol. III) (2001); with master drummer Azor, Azor et ses Amis and Friends: Souvenirs du Japon (2005), and Sous Lakay (2007). ~Rebecca Dirksen, text (c) 2016

Musicians

Boulo Valcourt voc, *1946 album by

ArtistInfo App

Acknowledgements

ArtistInfo for Mac, iPad, and iPhone