#Toto Bissainthe

[mywifeleftme]

316: Toto Bissainthe // Chante Haïti

Chante Haïti Toto Bissainthe 1977, Arion

“These songs are mostly slave songs taken from the Vodou cult. They speak of the quotidian, of the suffering of exile, and the desire of Africa, not as a geographical place but as a mythical land of freedom. They express their resistance and their refusal: resistance to the colonizer, refusal of his politics, of his religion, of his culture, of his language.”

So begins Toto Bissainthe’s statement on the rear of Chante Haïti, her 1977 collaboration with a small combo of Antillean folk and French jazz musicians: vocalists Marie-Claude Benoît and Mariann Mathéus; percussionists Akonio Dolo and Mino Cinélu (Miles Davis, Weather Report, Gong); Patrice Cinélu on acoustic guitar; and Beb Guérin on the double bass. The songs indeed fuse the Vodou ritual of her native Haiti with the European avant garde sounds of her adopted milieu of Paris, where she had moved to pursue acting and found herself a de facto exile due to the political situation back home. Bissainthe had become a prominent figure in the French theatre, performing in new plays by Beckett and Genet and co-founding Les Griots, France’s first Black theatre company; by the late ‘70s, she was an acclaimed recording artist to boot. Her accomplishments made her a prominent figure in the Haitian diaspora and her activist streak is apparent throughout Chante Haïti, explicitly linking the grief and yearning for liberation in these traditional ceremonials with the country’s contemporary struggles.

Like many songs on the album, the Creole words of opener “Soley danmbalab” mourn the people's estrangement from Mother Africa, a crossing which can neither be reversed or repeated. It begins like a field recording, Bissainthe’s soulful, Miriam Makeba-esque voice set to a chorus of rattles and bells and gurgling masculine whispers. As the song develops, her melody wends like a stream through the dense jungle of percussion, dissonant bass, and counterpoint chanting. Eventually, Mino Cinélu’s arrangement becomes more free, the male chorus imploring the Oungan (a male Vodou priest) to intercede with the creator on the people’s behalf as the tune breaks down into an increasingly abstract bass and drum interplay, while the three female singers exchange birdlike vocal improvisations.

“Ibo Ogoun (Variations)” is even wilder, evoking a trance ritual, the spirits speaking in many tongues through the celebrants as they seek to summon Ogun, God of Iron and War, to lead the battle of liberation. One of the male percussionists times his tanbou beat so that it hits just as he sings certain notes, creating the illusion that he voice has suddenly lurched down an octave for a moment, almost like a DJ freaking a vocal sample. Bissainthe, Mathéus, and Benoît match the intense drumming with some crazy syncopations, sometimes talking, sometimes hissing and whispering, sometimes wailing and ululating.

Most of the album takes on a more meditative tact, anchored by Guérin’s plangent double bass. On the smoky “Papadanbalab,” an entreaty to the serpent creator Damballa to bear witness to the penury of his people, Bissainthe sways over a slinky jazz bass line, Patrice Cinélu adding mellow acoustic fusion licks. The song seems like a brief stopover in a Parisian club. But even the less overtly intense tracks pack plenty of musical interest. “Lamize pa dous” has this hypnotic rhythm that sounds exactly like a micro house beat—in fact, the first thing it made me think of was Ricardo Villalobos’ Alcachofa, or Animal Collective at their campfire ravingest. The song is about the moment of surrender to death, the winnowing of time represented by water encroaching on all sides, the realization too late that “we spend our lives trying to fill the sea with stones.”

Listening to a record like this, especially in light of Bissainthe’s note on the back excoriating the colonialist ethnographer who reduces Haitian folklore to “excitement and violence,” requires at least a smidgen of awareness from the white listener that Chante Haïti is not intended for them. The traditions it engages with are of deep spiritual significance to many Haitians, both in the ‘70s and today. But for those inside and outside the culture who are willing to approach it with respect, Chante Haïti is a fascinating fusion of Antillean and European musics, and a peek into a profound and secret history.

316/365

[beyourselfchulanmaria]

Papa Damballah · Toto Bissainthe · Traditional Haïti · Bob De Vieux Toto Bissainthe rétrospective (Chanson française et haitienne)

[genevieveetguy]

. Back in Dakar they must be saying, "Diouana is happy in France, she has a good life." For me, France is at the kitchen, the living room, the bathroom, and my bedroom. Where are the people who live in this country?

Black Girl (La noire de…), Ousmane Sembene (1966)

[deadassdiaspore]

[irenelichtensteinblog]

Toto Bissainthe, Rétrospective, Haiti

[holybridget]

Sarah crée la première compagnie de théâtre noire en 1956. Avec ses camarades Timité Bassori, Ababacar Samb et Toto Bissainthe.

Sarah Maldoror envisageait dès les années 1950 de mettre en scène ce poème tragique d'Aimé Césaire.

[tinydropsofperfumedtime]

toto bissainthe | soufle van

[grapesyrop]

Toto bissainthe chanteuse haïtienne, Senegal 1980s

[classicladiesofcolor]

Mentioned in the article: Elza Soares, Susana Baca, Ruth Fernández, Toto Bissainthe, and Irene Cara.

[viliere]

Toto Bissainthe - Soufle van

[haitilegends]

MARIE CLOTILDE "TOTO" BISSAINTHE LA VIE DE LA COMÉDIENNE, CHANTEUSE (1934 – June 4, 1994) LE SITE OFFICIEL DE TOTO BISSAINTHE www.totobissainthe.com © 2004 Milena Sandler. Tous droits réservés. ---------------------------------- Marie Clotilde "Toto" Bissainthe (1934 – June 4, 1994) was a Haitian actress, comedian and vocalist known for her innovative blend of traditional Vodou and rural themes and music with contemporary lyricism and arrangements. Born in Cap-Haïtien in 1934, she left Haiti at an early age to pursue her acting studies abroad. Her career started in theatre with the company Griots, of which she was a founding member in 1956. Griots was at the vanguard of négritude-inspired cultural institutions in France, and was the first African theatre company in Paris. CONTINUE READING - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toto_Bissainthe Marie Clotilde "Toto" Bissainthe (1934 à Cap-Haïtien, Haïti - 4 juin 1994, Haïti) était une chanteuse, compositrice et comédienne. Son mélange innovateur de musique traditionnelle, d'arrangements contemporains de textes modernes, a rendu hommage aux vies, aux difficultés et à la spiritualité du peuple haïtien, en particulier la classe ouvrière et les paysans. LIRE LA SUITE : https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toto_Bissainthe Toto Bissainthe Ou Soti Pos Machan - http://bit.ly/1SJD44N Toto Bissainthe Rasanbleman (feat. Marie-Claude Benoît, Mariann Mathéus) - http://bit.ly/1SJDfgl Toto Bissainthe Haïti, mon pays - http://bit.ly/1SJDo3s Toto Bissainthe - Monologue ; La misère au soleil - YouTube http://bit.ly/1SJCHqG - "Extraits de l'album "CODA" enregistré live au New Morning de Paris. Mushi Widmaier : Claviers. Joël Widmaier : voix, batterie et percussion. Milena Bissainthe Sandler : voix et percussion." - Lesprilib1 Toto Bissainthe Soufle van - http://bit.ly/1SJCvYF "Toto Bissainthe chante Werner Anton Jaegerhuber, l'auteur-compositeur haïtien. Cette pièce figure sur l'album " Rétrospective" - Lesprilib1 Toto Bissainthe Supermarket - http://bit.ly/1SJCUdA Extrait de l'album "CODA" enregistré live au New Morning de Paris. Mushi Widmaier : Claviers ; Joël Widmaier : Voix, batterie et percussion; Milena Bissainthe Sandler : Voix et petite percussion. Toto Bissainthe - Papa Loko - http://bit.ly/1SJCioa TOTO BISSAINTHE - M'pa Gen Zanmi Ank'o - http://bit.ly/1SJD0St TOTO BISSAINTHE - SIMBI ANDEZO - Haiti - http://bit.ly/1SJD98y Toto Bissainthe - Lamize Pa Dous (Poverty Is Not Sweet) - http://bit.ly/1pg6F9Y Itunes - https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/toto-bissainthe-chante-haiti/id386180813 Amazon.com: Toto Bissainthe: Songs, Albums, Pictures, Bios - http://amzn.to/1pg7mjt #HAITI☆#LEGENDS #TotoBissainthe #MarieClotilde #chanteuse #compositrice #composer #comédienne #comedian #vocalist #MilenaSandler #daughter #mars #moisdelafamme #journeedelafemme #women #march #womensmonth #traditionalVodou #CapHaïtien #Haitian

[blackhaiti]

Toto Bissainthe 💽 🌴🇭🇹 #haiti #music #toto #bissainthe

[thetransatlanticphenomenon]

You can still catch a recording of our latest show on @kcsbfm at the link in our bio! We heard so many great artists, including Chanderwatie Kandhai. She is a singer and harmonium player from Suriname who performed music in a genre known as baithak gana. Baithak gana, also called 'local classical music', originated in the Indian Diaspora communities of Suriname. According to the Local Classical Music Archives, an initiative of the Centre for Indic Studies, baithak gana is now "fondly practiced in the West Indies region, specifically in Guyana, Suriname and Trinidad." Check out their website for videos, photos & more! Below is our full playlist: *Los Dandy's "Gema" [MEXICO] *Los Embajadores Criollos "Lejano Amor" [PERU] *Los 3 Paraguayos "Recuerdos De Ypacarai" [PARAGUAY] *Juan Neri y su Trio "La Chica de Ipanema" [MEXICO] *Los Claners "Sin Tener Que Mentir" [VENEZUELA] *Henry Stephen "Limon Limonero" [VENEZUELA] *Toots & The Maytals "Pomps And Pride" [JAMAICA] *The Immortals "Hot Tears" [NIGERIA] *Funkees "Ole" [NIGERIA] *Conjunto Los Latinos "Jaraneando, Si Senor" [CUBA] *Caridad Hierrezuelo "Saoco" [CUBA] *Chanderwatie Kandhai "Sab Se Awla O Aala" [SURINAME] *Bonga "Ghinawa" [ANGOLA] *Conchinha de Mascarenhas "Mulata é a noite" [ANGOLA] *The Happy Boys "Mi Dulce Amor" [PANAMA] *Toto Bissainthe "Ou Soti Pos Machan" [HAITI] *Muyei Power "Yawule Ngombu" [SIERRA LEONE] *L'Orchestre National de Mauritanie "La Mone" [MAURITANIA] *Bembeya Jazz National "Boiro" [GUINEA] *Anne-Marie Nzié "Odili" [CAMEROON] *Orchestre Le Super Volta De La Capitale "La Guitare de Tinga" [BURKINA FASO] 📷: Image of album cover of "The Lovely Voice of Chanderwatie" taken from discogs.com #chanderwatie #musicofsuriname #surinamesemusic #baithakgana #harmoniumplayer #communityradio #womeninmusic #musichistory #kcsb (at KCSB-FM 91.9 in Santa Barbara) https://www.instagram.com/p/CP-98bRA2t2/?utm_medium=tumblr

[genevieveetguy]

West Indies, Med Hondo (1979)

[iamgabrisan]

#Repost @haiticulturalx —— The video premiere of our Pa Bliye Toto Bissainthe event perfectly encompasses our Famn theme. Join us Sunday, 2.7 at noon on Youtube to relive this incredible event celebrating the life of one of Haiti's most memorable women - with performances by 3 of the Diaspora's finest female performers, @miss-talie, @njoachim and @riva.nyri. This photo captures the powerful feminine energy in the room - so much talent @pauline.jean.music, @emelinemichelmusic, @melaniecharlesisdflower and @reg_roumain! Filmed and edited by @haitianrich and presented in partnership with Fondation Haiti Jazz and @shapeshifterlab. Photo by Wolf Zed This event has a suggested donation of $10, links will be in the video post. This program is made possible through the funding support of @humanitiesny, @NYSCA, @nyculture and @neaarts. #HaitiCulturalExchange #haiticulturalx #fanmvanyan #TotoBissainthe https://www.instagram.com/p/CKhBiVejrwW/?igshid=1cnwfe91chig7