Discussions in Percussion podcast
This was a fun and informative talk with podcaster and percussionist Damon Grant, that I did last November.
https://www.discussionsinpercussion.com/home/2019/11/25/152
Another video from the Kay Sa CD Release Party
Minis Azaka
Kay Sa CD Release Party at The Owl Music Parlor in Brooklyn NY. June 1, 2019.
Year-End Recap and News for 2020!
Very proud and grateful for a music-filled year! A few highlights include recording on a diverse array of projects that were released in 2019 including; Bohio Music “Ayiti Nan Kay La”, Godwin Louis’ “Global”, David Sanchez “Carib” and my own Lakou Brooklyn “Kay Sa”. Also grateful for the opportunities to perform with these beautiful projects on tours of Haiti, around the US, and beautiful NYC venues like the Owl Music Parlor, Jazz Standard, Lincoln Center etc.
Here is a video from Lakou Brooklyn’s CD Release Party for Kay Sa, (available exclusively via Soundkeeper Recordings ). Featuring myself along with Godwin Louis on sax, Monvelyno Alexis on guitar and vocals, and Bobby Raymond on bass.
In other news, David Sanchez’ Carib recording was nominated for a Grammy for Best Latin Jazz Recording! Any voting Academy members, please consider this heartfelt project, a tribute to both Haiti and Puerto Rico’s cultural legacies, featuring beautiful original compositions of David Sanchez, performed by a stellar crew of musicians. Grammys are coming up January 26th!
We All Break, a project of the talented drummer/percussionist/composer Ches Smith is preparing for our second recording, with a greatly augmented lineup featuring Matt Mitchell (piano), Nick Dunston (bass), Miguel Zenòn (sax), along with myself, Jean Guy Rene and Daniel Brevil on Haitian drums, as well as Sirene Dantò on lead vocals. Super excited for this!
I am also extremely grateful to have worked with some incredible dancers this past year, all of whom focus on preserving and extending the traditional dances of Haitian folklore and spiritual expressions of Vodou:
Haitian Dance icon Jean Léon Destiné
Linda Isabelle Francois
I was also blessed to share the stage with several icons from the “Mizik Rasin” (Haitian Roots Music) scene; including a Flag Day performance with the one and only Eddy Francois, and hanging/sitting in with my great friends from Lakou Mizik for several of their shows in and around Vermont. Lakou Mizik have a new album out that I highly recommend; AyitiNola!
Looking forward to doing some more teaching and presenting workshops this year as well… teaching some private Haitian drum classes at The New School, and working on other opportunities as well… Stay tuned!
Thanks for reading, and wishing each and all a healthy happy and harmonious 2020!
-Markus
Kay Sa CD Release Party
Here are a few pictures and a video performance from the CD Release Party for Kay Sa, which took place on Saturday, June 1st at The Owl Music Parlor in Brooklyn, NY. Great venue with beautiful sound and a nice vibe, a full house of attentive and appreciative folks, and the band played so beautifully. Many thanks to Monvelyno, Bobby and Godwin, for sharing your talents and passion to bring this music to new heights. CD or file downloads available exclusively from Soundkeeper Recordings: http://www.soundkeeperrecordings.com/kaysa.htm
Bohio Music Haiti Tour - Ayiti Nan Kay La
With Riva Precil and Monvelyno Alexis of Bohio Music, as they celebrated the release of their new recording Ayiti nan Kay La with three shows in Haiti; The historic and charmed Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, Presse Cafe in Petionville, and the beautiful Galerie Monnin. Joined by musicians from the Lakou Mizik, we opened for the legendary Ram, during their regular Thurs night party at the Oloffson.
Lakou Mizik Summer Tour 2018
Last month, July 2018, I had the great pleasure of attending three Lakou Mizik 2018 Summer Tour dates on the East Coast. The band has been a long-time favorite of mine, and its been my honor to sit in with them on many occasions.
Read MoreLakou Brooklyn at Meli Melo & Live Recording
This past Saturday, June 23, 2018, Lakou Brooklyn played a wonderful evening of music at a beautiful new Haitian-owned restaurant and bar, Meli Melo, in Valley Stream, NY. The spot is large and tastefully designed, has good food and hospitality, and is very conveniently located, with ample parking and an LIRR train station across the street. They are looking to promote more music programming, and Lakou Brooklyn looks forward to the next opportunity to perform there.
The core quartet of myself, Bobby Raymond on bass, Monvelyno Alexis on guitar and vocals, and Godwin Louis on soprano & alto sax, was also joined by the wonderful Mr. Jean Caze, one of the finest trumpet players you will hear. Jean was gracious enough to sit in with us for most of the evening, and we had a blast. Jean is featured prominently on both my first CD - Tanbou nan Lakou Brooklyn, and my first Soundkeeper Release, Equinox. - See the discography page for samples and links. The crowd was most attentive and supportive, and a wonderful time was had by all!
Tomorrow, the band will record a session for our next project for the audiophile label Soundkeeper Recordings. The label is run by master audio engineer, Barry Diament, whose mission statement is thus: The goal of every Soundkeeper Recording is to bring the listener to the performance, to create the feeling the listener is in the presence of the musicians, in the space where the performance actually took place.
This will be my second time recording a project with Barry, and I am so excited to play this new material, with this incredible bunch of musicians, for the benefit of Barry's recording techniques, which are also pretty amazing to behold. I could not ask for a more talented and sympathetic cast of musicians than Bobby, Monvelyno and Godwin. My goal is to create opportunities that will allow their talents to shine, while celebrating the rich legacy of Haitian music, as well as #BAM (Black American Music - i.e. Jazz traditions). Looking forward to sharing more on this very soon!
We All Break in Argentina
Just returned from a beautiful whirlwind of a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina, with Ches Smith's We All Break. Man, I love playing with this band! And, we performed at an incredible venue, Centro Cultural Kirchner, one of the largest cultural centers in the world.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirchner_Cultural_Centre The 9 floor centre has a concert hall; 5 other auditoriums for theater and concerts; 18 halls for poetry readings, performance art, and other events; 40 rooms of art and history galleries totaling 15,000 square meters on 6 floors; 16 rehearsal rooms; and 2 rooftop terraces
The Sala Sinfonica is an incredible main concert hall at the facility, and is absolutely gorgeous, with excellent acoustics. The free concert we put on was very well-attended, and was filmed for broadcast on Argentina television as well. I hope to receive a link to the archived show once its available. The audience was extremely attentive and engaged, and many folks hung around afterwards to ask questions and meet the band.
The next day, we did a master class at another very interesting venue, El Centro Cultural de la Memoria Haroldo Conti, which was once an infamous military base and detention center, now transformed into a center for the arts. The participants asked some great questions, and we got a chance to share information and demonstrate traditional Haitian Vodou drumming, and Ches explained a bit about some of the principles at play in that music, which inform and inspire his original compositions for piano and percussion.
To my bandmates, Ches Smith, Matt Mitchell and Daniel Brevil, I eagerly await the next opportunity to make music, and share time with you guys.
Band photos courtesy of Vale Marchese