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By any measure...Ayen pa mol

I was going to include best artist, but I will give the nod to Bob.

Although if these guys sang in English their brilliance would be evident!

And please spare me the Bajan nonsense.

Ah tawt you were going to say Swinging Stars

Btw, the group was formed in 79.

This Mark's their 40th year! 40 years, but for the death of Patrick St. Elloi the group is unchanged!

And still producing great music and the best dance concerts out there!

In reply to Maispwi

Hey, swinging stars put out some great music in it's time backing up calypsonians...but Kassav, like the great Jamaican musicians of yesteryear, started a genre and has ruled it with an iron fist for 4 decades!

Very few Bands in the World can say that, if any!

In reply to Ayenmol

The tradewinds, Yoruba singers, merry men

my money on the tradewinds...

Want a dance workout?

If your smart TV is connected to your stereo dial up one of Kassav's concerts and let it play loud.

You can't get the full depth of the music unless you turn it up!

The African drum and the horn section alone makes me want to move!

In reply to Bigzinc

Post your favorite from the tradewinds.

Byron Lee and the Dragoneers

In Concert..

In reply to Ayenmol

caribbean man
boyhood days ...remember frankie worell late cutting laker for four
civilization
you cant get
copycats
guyanese folk song medley

off the top of my head

In reply to russean76

Byron Lee cannot touch Kassav for innovation in music!

Byron Lee ain't known but in the Caribbean and a few small areas outside!

Kassav is well known in the Caribbean, Europe, Africa, South America etc. Their music has influenced everything from merengue to Compas to Soukous.

Plus, how many bands have started a genre, and remained on top for so long while continuing to adapt with the times?

In reply to Bigzinc

Man post a YouTube link...nuh.

Not in any order per se

Third World
Steel Pulse - not Caribbean based but great none the less
Wailers
Kassav
Square One
Touch
Xtatic
Charlies Roots
Black Uhuru
Burning Flames

In reply to imusic

Black Uhuru was not a band

Which genre has such percussive brilliance?

In reply to Ayenmol

dont have youtube here but you can search for Tradewinds songs..

In reply to imusic

I always liked Burning flames and I thought their lead singer...Onyan and Patrick St Elloi had identical vocals....

Love Third World too. All of the above I heard perform live.

Krosfyah was another band I enjoyed growing up...I also enjoyed what WCK did both the bouyon version.

In reply to imusic

No third world?

English Caribbean folks will identify these beats...Soca and Calypso samples these.

Incredible how many beats there are in the Caribbean.

We don't get near the attention for our contributions to music particularly percussion.

I think the most important part of music is the percussion section.

Is that learned? Or personal?

In reply to Ayenmol

What about the MerryMen (from BIM)?

Roy cape

In reply to Bigzinc

Tradewinds...

Man, them is run of the mill vocal heavy bands.

Grammacks putting them to shame.

In reply to camos

The very first name on my list

Defog dem glasses bruh

Dominican cadence music from the 70's...

Exilie One

Those guys set the tone for the Dominican style.

Appropriate song for this site..

Reflect before you talk.
Reflect before you critic.
Reflect before you judge.
Reflect before you attack.

In reply to imusic

oh shit!

Byron Lee, Roy Cape, Tradewinds to a lesser extent, are cover bands

Now.....they have excellent musicians in their ensemble. Roy Cape in particular has some of the best session musicians in the business.

But they’re cover bands none the less

In reply to Ayenmol

grammacks had one big hit from the late 70s Wooey midebar...

i will give kassav a listen sometime...

In reply to Ayenmol

Grammacks good too

I can’t argue against your pick of Kassav.

I remember when they used to come Trini back in the day.

They used to RAM OUT the Queens Park Oval to the point where they even postponed cricket matches in order to host Kassav in concert. Such was the demand.


ONE OF MY KASSAV FAVORITES

Their lead singer has such a rich, throaty, kinda scratchy voice. Unique

In reply to imusic

Favorite Third World Album.

96 degrees...sweet for days!

Try Jah love to me is example #1 of the clarity in vocals that Third World represented...first song I learned to sing along to as a kid.

In reply to imusic

There are very few artists that can make you sing and dance like Kassav!

None have stuck to their roots like these guys.

None have been more loyal than these guys.

Great thing about them is that all of them are great singers and musicians which is why I used 'ayen pa mol' in the lead post. Great example of all the core members singing, except for the drummer and bass guitarist.

Thought I was going to see a top Steel Pan orchestra in Trinidad or Third World

The Merrymen
Tradewinds

In reply to openning

As a child Merrymen was indeed my favorite but I grew up
Still love dem though

Kassav on their 30th Anniversary.

Watch from 1:30 to 2:50...typical great fan interaction to get the crowd enjoying themselves.

Am on the lookout for a US date this year see if I can go.

Clean fun. Great music.

In reply to Ayenmol

kassav........purely for the technical brilliance of their work....i don't think any other band has or has had the technical level of musicianship that kassav has

In reply to Oilah

The few years I worked at Paradise Beach club, before immigrating to Canada, the Merrymen played every Wednesday night, and the Tradewinds played a number of times, during the tourist season.
Jackie Opal band also played

UB40

In reply to imusic
I don't know much about Steelband, but this guy was Mr. Pan
He and his wife was smart enough to get new pans every year, donating the old ones to schools.
ozie hamilton george

I think Peter Tosh's Word Sound and Power band was the best ever. When Sly n Robbie were band members. Being Peter was a brilliant rhythm guitarist he allowed the band members to express themselves fully on stage.

10th Anniversary

Band member introduction included. I think George Decimus and the drummer are no longer there as well as Saint Eloi who passed of Cancer in 2010.

You can see how much the crowd loved the music even then when they were just getting going in France...Zouk la was released in 85.

What a band. To see Caribbean folk make it like these guys against so many odds and still be so respected and imitated around the World is tremendous.

Every Caribbean Country should teach about that group to young ones.

In reply to Ayenmol
First time hearing about this group, had to google to see where the band is from

Phase II Pan Groove
Trinidad All Stars
Desperadoes
Renegades

In reply to imusic
VAT 19 Fonclaire

In reply to Jumpstart

Fonclaire produced a wealth of talented players and arrangers

In reply to Jumpstart

I agree 100%.

I put those guys on U2 level!

All due respect to the Tradewinds and merryman, them guys aren't in the same zip code.

Kassav History

Dominican roots.

In reply to openning

Not too many English speaking people who were born after Zouk la took the World by storm know them...but YouTube is your friend.

In reply to Ayenmol

I am trying to learn Zouk and Kizomba dances, so I will hear more of this group.

There is a band that tops Kassav in terms of pure musicianship for me

Irakere. They were in a word.....phenomenal

But the Cubans aren’t often considered to be “Caribbean”

But Cuban musicians in general tek win hands down. And not just music....the arts in general.

Nuh sleep on Haiti neither

In reply to openning

You can't learn Zouk without Kassav. They I vented the thing.

Before Kassav it was called either konpa from Haiti or kadanse from DA.

Kassav melded the two to make what is called Zouk.

In fact zouk the word is synonymous with what jamaicans call dancehall or house party or block party.

In reply to imusic

Irakere sounds good, but they are very folksy and seem to play a more African style that is quite true to the root.

Am not sure if I would call that greater musicianship. Maybe we view musicianship differently.

The Caribbean is about melting various styles to form a distinct sound that is easily recognized but impeccably crafted.

In reply to Ayenmol
I was told Zouk dance origin is Haiti, it is new to the North Ameriacan dance scene.
BTW, North America has bastardize some dances, making it easier for people to learn.
My latin dance instructor is Cuban, a graduate of The National school of Arts

In reply to Ayenmol

What a band. To see Caribbean folk make it like these guys against so many odds and still be so respected and imitated around the World is tremendous.

Every Caribbean Country should teach about that group to young ones.

Ayenmol: I agree with you 110%. I have been listening to Kassav since the late 1990s. I had a french teacher on my staff who introduced me to Kassav and Zouk music. Zouk dance music is happy sing along music. Granted, I don't understand the lyrics but I can repeat the refrains and move to the rhythm easily. Kassav is by far the best dance band I have ever heard. I once saw them in Toronto. To see and listen to Joscelyn Berorard perform Siwo is an incredible happy musical experience. Kassav and Manu Dibango's band dominated the Parisian scene for many years. Good to know that the Band is still going. Hope Joscelyn never grows old.

In reply to Ayenmol

Original Irakere members

Chucho Valdes
Paquito D’riviera
Arturo Sandoval

Thiose 3 alone are among the giants of musicianship in any genre. They are world renowned and respected.

You’re right about the “folksy” sound. They were forbidden to play jazz....so to “hide” it, they incorporated Cuban popular music and blended it with bebop lines.

In essence, they combined the traditional African rhythms, Cuban popular music, bebop, and Cuban folk music to form the fundamentals of what is today referred to as “Latin Jazz”

In reply to imusic

Man that is the way it is with the French and Latin American musicians in trying to capture the hearts of the public, particularly within the American culture and it dominant musical reach.

That is why, as American music continues in it's instrumental blandness and vocal torrent, I continue to enjoy the tunes from the unapologetic Caribbean and Latin community.

In reply to imusic

Not sure Jazz genre belongs on this thread. A seperate thread for Caribbean Jazz music might be a useful exercise.

In reply to Ayenmol

Agreed

Djoni
Mwen di ou awa
Kole Sere
Zouk la se medikamano

My favourites in that order.
In the 1980s I used to listen to alot of Zouk - Mala Voi , zouk machine....

In reply to openning

Zouk is a musical style, not a dance.

Kassav has so popularized the genre that people also refer to the dance as zouk.

Again...Zouk is a style of music made popular or pretty much invented by Kassav.

It has ot's roots in the African drum beat with it's various renditions throughout the Caribbean and South America.

Kassav started out playing a style of kadanse from DA and Konpa from Haiti also merengue.

They all borrow from each other in rhythm and dance. Hardly can you say any one Island originated it, just where each particular style was adopted.

Zouk, because of the Worldwide success of Kassav, is the most popular and now influences every other genre of the kind...including soca.

The merengue dance has roots in the line dance we call in DA belle, and quadrille.

In reply to Benjie

Zouk machine was pretty popular for a while, Tanya's st.vall, frankie Vincent (the French sparrow with his double entendre laced vocals).

Lot's of groups rose up after Kassav. But no e are standing today.

This little crowd pleaser always get me going.

That's the beguine beat that Kassav uses often.

There was a 70s band in St.Lucia by the name of Trutones (hope i spelt it correctly). I heard that they were the headline act for one of the Super-bowls during that era. Perhaps Courtesy or any other Looshan poster on here can shed more light on this.

In reply to Ayenmol

Tabou combo from Haiti was pretty good as well
Exile One is another band I recall

But back to Kassav - Djoni & Mwen di ou awa . You will struggle to find two caribbean songs with better rythmns

Jacob Desvarieux and Machel

In reply to Benjie

Yelele also. Man Kassav have so many great tunes. Whenever I fall in love with one and hear another I can't choose...particularly when they bring the medley.

Any of y'all down with Afro-Beat music? Anyone a fan of Davido?

Y'all should start getting familiar with it.

Here's a Sampling...


BTW did I tell alyuh about the BAD African sisters?

In reply to Ayenmol

I am familiar with latin dances and music to these dances,ie Salsa, Cha Cha Cha, Merengue,Bachata, Cumbia
I now learning Zouk and Kizomba.
Living out west, we don't have any radio stations that play any of the post music.
I am fortunate to have Sirius radio, where I can listen to Soul, The Joint which is Reggae, Caliente my favourite station.

Here's some more Afrobeat. Gotta introduce alyuh to the music of the motherland...

In reply to openning

Living in Calgary, the only music on the radio is Conway Twitty and Jim Reeves

In reply to imusic

You know Touch? Rather impressed!

In reply to Larr Pullo

FELA RANSOME KUTI

In reply to imusic

Bro, we have more stations than Van.
Allyuh better be nice to us, we stop BC wines last year, we will stop the oil from getting to you, having now elected, a Trumplike party.

In reply to imusic

Respeck to Fela but the new youths now poised to take over with their beats. Actually Machel gets a lot of air and club play in Africa too...

In reply to imusic

You seem to be hip to music, following you and brother Cheek, did you play in a band back home or in TO?

In reply to Da-Vincy

Touch is (was) boss!

In reply to openning

I’ve played in bands in both locations.....and elsewhere

In reply to imusic

I can tell, just by your comments.
The guy I posted came to Canada with a Steel band between 71-73 after his band doing well in the Carnival competition, a number of guys, stayed in Calgary.
Ozie being one of the guys.

In reply to Larr Pullo

I heard that about Machel in Africa



Interesting tidbit. Some coworkers from Fiji ask me where I from. I tell them Trinidad. They say they know it.

I ask how

They say Sundar Popo

I nearly drop down on de people floor.

Apparently Sundar Popo is HUGE in Fiji with his chutney music

They say he does RAM OUT the football stadium there when he performs. Well.....they didn’t use the term ram out.....but they did say stadium sell out and people cyah get tickets to buy

They also said that before a Fijian woman gets married, all the women in her family and friends get together for what we would call a “stagette”. Then they all get on dutty singing Sundar Popo songs. And the duttiest of dem all is dey Nani.

And this talk was confirmed by other Fijians I subsequently checked with.


Who de fork knew?

Sundar Forkane Popo. KING in Fiji!

In reply to imusic
Fully agree. Always wished they were known outside of Vincy.
But I see that your handle is well-deserved

In reply to Da-Vincy

Dance music is quickly assimilated by other cultures.

More so than love songs which you need to understand to appreciate.

Music, the actual rhythm and beat, is what brings people together.

In reply to Priapus

Yep. The Trutones sometimes spelt as Tru Tones and yes they were featured at the Superbowl - their leader Ronald "Boo" Hinkson is one of the best guitarist you can find in the region. They are now basically defunct but Ronald "Boo" is still very much into his music and is arranging for many young artistes. He is also been very visible during our Jazz festivals.

Ayenmol, I agree with your choice of Kassav - no other band comes close...well yes, Tabou Combo. Tabou Combo at their very best...enjoy!!!

Carveat: Get a good music system to listen to this on this poor Google platform.

In reply to Da-Vincy

Did de McIntosh boys have a band? Dem fellas cud play

In reply to Ayenmol

WTRH!!.. yuh friken fi grammy factory owner Rhi, spouge creator Jackie Opel, queen Alison Hinds n ressa dem

gud thread anyways...

In reply to Maispwi

Latinaires...they were quite good especially the organist.

Latinaires.

How many of you enjoyed the Tabou Combo above? Thank me later.

Please, if you are an audiophile listen to Tabou in a lossless format not this shit MP3 format.

In reply to Ayenmol

Great thread. Kassav is the all time best band from the Caribbean period.

Roy Cape, Lloyd Parkes, Fab Five, Troubadours are all good bands.

Kassav in class by itself.

In reply to Courtesy

Thanks but ah was looking for a Frankie/Syl collaboration

Tabouuuuuu!!!!!...can't touch this

Test tune for many Caribbean audiophiles. We basically image our systems with this song.

In reply to Maispwi

OK.

In reply to Courtesy

I respect tambu combo, but put them on the level of exile one, grammacks and midnight groovers.

They even have a disco feel to their music.

Good stuff for those who enjoyed the oldies...but still not Kassav fresh.

I still listen to groovers and exile one in the car on a Friday when I like to roam a bit, hit a few fast food joints and go to the car wash or squeal a tire here and there.

But for the home stereo? Kassav.

In reply to che



All talented folks. But too much marketing and sex appeal.

Real music ain't that shallow!

Vocals has it's place but great music is when all on stage shine!

In reply to Ayenmol

Please tell me you are joking.

Actually, most persons who are into music in a serious way have a preference for TABOU.

Those Haitians can play.

What about Inner Circle?

I know they're a one hit wonder with Bad Boys, but that song having been the theme for the TV show Cops which ran for about 15 years, should qualify them for mention.

In reply to Maispwi

Are you referring to Frankie McIntosh ?
Lead a band called Laviscount Brass in Antigua in the 70s. Arguably the best band
the island has produced. Brass bands with horn sections are now missing from most bands.

Wait, no love for The Dread And The Bald Head?

In reply to Maispwi

Frankie McIntosh was born into a band (his father’s) and became an excellent pianist himself. But he is more legendary for his arranging, doing so for virtually every calypsonian of note.

In terms of the English Caribbean, I would put Byron Lee and the Dragonaires at the top of the list. They produced consistent quality music for several decades and were quite versatile in terms of the genre of music they played. They also toured extensively.

In reply to Benjie
I've seen Byron Lee for almost 20 years, the band always come with songs from Carnival, I really don't know if the band has any original songs.

In reply to Benjie

Was it Lions Centre dey used to play at during Carnival?

In reply to openning

Byron Lee's calypso renditions were watered down versions but ah enjoyed his Soft Lee series

In reply to imusic

Chucho valdes and Irakere......fantastic group

You know who iwas thinking lacks a musical standout? St. Lucia.

Has St. Lucia produced any musicians of note?

In reply to imusic

I don't like them but if you going to list local bands putting out original works you have to list Kes

Not long lived but Traffic were ok

In reply to Ayenmol

Mate, you are not even following your own thread (WTF - Wed, Thurs, Fri).

Tru Tones headlined at the Super Bowl. Where do you think the Tru Tones are from?

But not paying attention to the various posts even your own thread is not atypical.

In reply to Courtesy

Well, i missed that. Am not familiar with trutones either. Never heard of them till today.

In reply to Ayenmol

I am imagine you don't GOOGLE either? If this is the case, I don't blame you.

God knows and sees everything.

Ronald "Boo" Hinkson, Leader of Tru Tones.



Love Everyday.

Shades.

In reply to Courtesy

Thanks. The OP had tunnel vision for Kassav

In reply to Courtesy

boss guitarist.....i remember when BETonJazz was around.....they had a concert by him quite regularly on a friday night

In reply to Courtesy

Why would i google something I've never heard? And what does that have to do with this thread? We are talking dance bands...Where does Jazz fit in?

Maybe you are the one missing the point? Or you just want to create confusion on the thread?

Plus, headlined? I did use google, and no, there were a few bands who played including the merrymen. They were apparently a well known group in Miami at the time when the Superbowl performance tapped into local fare.

In reply to Ayenmol

Is that not All Genre?
This thread is quite informative, for someone like me, living out west.

In reply to openning

Yes but i have never heard anyone ever nominate a jazz band for best anything. Ever. Plus the Caribbean is not known for top Jazz musicians. Jazz is not a Caribbean product.

If talking Caribbean innovation in music, Jazz would be way down the list. As enjoyed as it may be in the region.

In reply to Ayenmol

Krosfyah hands down!

In reply to Ayenmol

Have you ever heard of Etienne Charles?

In reply to Ray123

My wife and i were dating when Krosfyah came out with their first hit Album...man, we use to go down to greenhouse on the waterfront for dance night. That was the jam before it got way to out of control. Great dance night and nice tracks out at that time. Alot of average people went out dancing in those days because the soca was so good.

We use to try make it even to the tourist joints at the hotels.

Oh, lawd..

Onyan was out too..

There was another one by a female vocalist to...can't think of it now.

In reply to Larr Pullo

Can't say that i had...went to his site. Nice sound. will look into it for sure.

A little compa maybe

Or a little reggae

De church say no

In reply to openning

Thank you Sir not forgetting the complexity of the genre compared with the boom, boom!!!. And his (Iron mol) question was:

Anyways, I have wasted enough time on this contorting waste of a man...Ayenmol.

Malavoi was another phenomenal group.....in fact without Malavoi, there would be no kassav

In reply to Jumpstart


malavoi - la case à lucie. Phenomenal song.
Totally different genre to Zouk. Wasnt malavoi and all string instrument band ?
There is an awesome youtube video of them live at the Zenith in Paris.

In reply to Courtesy

Just because you mentioned it, I just imaged new speakers with that Tabou piece - Monitor Audio 500's

sweet indeed

In reply to DirtyDan

Welcome to the club. If you can lay your hands on the lossless version it will be thrice as nice.

Btw, that Monitor Audio 500 standing is just awesome.

In reply to Ayenmol

Bunny Ruggs (RIP) had one of the sweetest voice clarity you would ever wished for).
Third World in concert is good music to listen and watch. The guy who replaced Bunny is good - but not great - AJ Brown.

In reply to np

Zapow was a great band!

In reply to Ayenmol

none of the bands listed here half as good as a top jazz band!

In reply to DAVE400

This live performance was great.YouTube

Kes the Band - Savannah Grass "LIVE" @ Gateway to the World 2019

In reply to camos

Such as?

Often times Jazz bands rely on highlighting one instrument at a time understandably, but when playing all together can seem disjointed and chaotic.

There’s a a reason such a genre is not mainstream.

I recall some of the big bands of the 50's and 60's. There were few that captured the imagination.

Of course, some would disagree. Music is a personal choice and expression.

In reply to np

Yeah. I mentioned that earlier. I thought it was truly marvelous.

I have always had problems, for some reason, distinguishing lyrics in songs.

Never with Ruggs. It almost seemed like he was speaking the lyrics.

In reply to Ayenmol

Wynton Marsalis


MJQ







roy hargrove quintet

Folks, I think the analogy that works for this topic:

The Best WI teams did not have Sobers, Kanhai, Lara, Headley and myself.

Yet, all those fine gentlemen were world class, even greatest ever for Gary and BCL.

Kassav is like the WI TEAM of the 80"s and early 90's. No real doubt about it. Big band with Originality ,dynamic arrangements, musicianship with most appeal in French Caribbean circles.

Yet of course, we had massively great bands and singers.

In reply to Curtis

Kassav is an innovative band who took a local Caribbean beat and rhythm and turned it into a World renowned standard. Blending instruments and styles that spanned Continents and Cultures.

They have remained together for 40 years. Churning out many albums in that span with at least 5 of their members producing their own albums over that span.

So outside of the music itself, which we all have our preferences....tell me what makes Wynton Marsalis or the others miles better, as you put it?

btw, I don't think Marsalis is part of a band as Kassav is.

In reply to imusic

I heard you played with the Dutch brothers, Joey Lewis, and Ansil Wyatt New year eve against the BRC n the Tropical Islanders @ Carlton.

Third World by a mile then the rest!

In reply to camos

Not bad at all, great harmonies with Beres Hammond in tow

Third World for me! Never heard of cassava until now!

In reply to StumpCam


It's like arguing Usain Bolt or Tyson Gay for best sprinter.(i.e.) it is not even close.

In reply to StumpCam

lmfao

Can't believe no one has yet mentioned the Buena Vista Social Club....or is Cuba not part of the Caribbean?

In reply to Larr Pullo


that is not the name of the band! they are great though, saw them last July.

In reply to camos

What dem name?

In reply to Larr Pullo

sorry! you are correct re the name.

Pretty soon every band will be named.

Not a single reason given for their being chosen though.

In reply to tc1

Oh man......Similar to your eyesight, your hearing seems to have deteriorated beyond repair

You might want to spend whatever time you have left appreciating your caregivers.

In reply to Ayenmol

Those are some pretty ignorant statements

In reply to imusic

ent?

In reply to imusic


Nuttin wrong with having a caregiver

In reply to imusic

There are great bands from every genre and beyond the fact that jazz is at the heart of about every form of music and just about every great band has musicians that excel in playing certain instruments on par with great jazz musicians...

Please post examples of a jazz combo, trio, quartet or big band ensemble that has remained together for 20 years, had multiple Album releases and at least 3 albums go platinum!

Then accuse me of ignorance.