Voices from Haiti interview

Here is an interview (Innerview) I did some years back, with a very talented writer and cultural activist from the Haitian community; Katia D. Ulysse.  I really enjoyed her evocative and thoughtful questions, and I encourage you to check out her work. http://www.katiadulysse.com/

Denmark Meets Haiti

Master percussionist and bona fide tanbourinè, Markus Schwartz, reflects on his own private Haiti and his relationship with “the oldest instrument after the human voice.”

Markus was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, but a part of him seems deeply rooted in Haitian culture. In English or in impeccable Kreyòl, he is direct and unpretentious. He speaks with reverence for the instrument he spent the last two decades studying. Though he has performed and recorded with top Haitian artists like Beethova Obas, Emeline Michel, and Wyclef Jean, Markus refers to himself as a student.

Of his first introduction to the tanbou, Markus says: “I don’t think anything happens by chance.