| Kassav' | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Paris, France |
| Genres | Zouk |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | GD Productions/Sonodisc, CBS, Warner France (distribution) |
| Website | http://www.kassav30ans.com/ |
| Members | |
| Jocelyne Béroard Jacob Desvarieux Jean-Philippe Marthély Jean-Claude Naimro Georges Décimus |
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| Past members | |
| Patrick Saint Eloi (deceased) Pierre Edouard Décimus Claude Vamur |
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Kassav' (Antillean Creole for a local dish made from cassava root) is a Francophone zouk band formed in Paris in 1979. The core members of the band are Jocelyne Béroard, Jacob Desvarieux, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Patrick St. Eloi, Jean-Claude Naimro, Claude Vamur and Georges Décimus (who left to form Volte Face and returned). Kassav' have issued over 20 albums, with a further 12 solo albums by band members.
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Kassav' was formed in 1979 by Pierre-Edouard Décimus (former musicians from the Les Vikings de Guadeloupe) and Paris studio musician Jacob F. Desvarieux. Together and under the influence of well-known Guadeloupean combo Experience 7, Grammacks and Exile One, they decided to make Guadeloupean carnival music and record it in a more fully orchestrated yet modern and polished style. In the 1980s they took Caribbean music to another level by recording in the new digital format.
Kassav' was the leading band to emerge from the formative years of zouk; most authors credit Décimus, his brother Georges, the band's bassist and Desvarieux as its inventors. Their first album, Love and Ka Dance (1980), established the new sound of zouk, a Parisian concoction unlike anything else, island-based or otherwise to come onto the global scene. The band gained popularity in their much-heralded live performances in Paris's Club Zenith and toured widely. For a band ostensibly operating in a "narrowly focused" Caribbean dance-based 'recently arrived' new genre, their success and influence on other artists was remarkable, although they were most influenced by a veritable 'cornucopia' of other styles as noted above.
Kassav' continued to gain popularity both as a group and by several members' solo recordings, eventually peaking in 1985 with Yélélé, which featured the international hit "Zouk la sé sèl médikaman nou ni" (meaning "Zouk is the only medicine we have" in French Antillean Creole). With this hit song, zouk rapidly became a widespread dance craze in Latin America and the Caribbean, and was popular in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Zouk performers became known for wildly theatrical concerts featuring special effects, stage spectacles and colorful costumes. One important contribution of Kassav' in concert was the appearance of featured dancers on stage with the band; these dancers were in many ways as much a part of the band as any musician. Kassav' has been noted by its acolytes and aficionados as a dance band par excellence.
Among Kassav' strengths that helped lead to its success were and are its members' superior musicianship, songwriting and production skills, and worldwide audiences eager for lively dance music more sophisticated than the sort of disco/techno-based styles that otherwise dominated dance music charts in that era. The especially gravelly singing voice of Desvarieux, Décimus's driving bass, Naimro's and Joseph's inventive keyboards and superior drum-machine-based and Vamur's solid jazz-inflected live percussion, along with dance party-inspiring simple French-creole lyrics are among unique Kassav' 'trademarks'. During his tenure with Kassav', St. Eloi's soaring vocals were another unique ingredient, and the romantic vocals of Marthely and Naimro's as well as Béroard's very strong vocals, a plethora of fun songs, and significant guest appearances including Stevie Wonder and others are important parts of the Kassav' mix.
They have appeared with Admiral T, a famous reggae dance hall singer, and many other popular artists. Singer-songwriter/keyboardist Jean-Claude Naimro also appeared with world beat artist Peter Gabriel. Lead vocalist Jocelyne Béroard has also had a number of successes both solo and as a guest with other artists, being the first woman artist in the Caribbean to win certain music awards; she continues to perform with Kassav' and as a solo artist.
Jocelyne Béroard's stunning 'amateur' photography of natural scenes and people seen from her unique traveling-artist perspective's island-paradise visuals[1] could be cited among their songs' inspirations. The band's songs with a "political" edge or insinuation are typically double-entendre in the Afro-American and Calypsonian traditions well-known in Caribbean dance music like that from which the music of Kassav' evolved.
Kassav' released another CD in 2007: All U Need is Zouk to substantial acclaim with another successful world tour, so in addition to being the recognized progenitors of zouk (which has become a world-wide dance music phenomenon, notably in Latin America - especially Brazil), nearly 30 years later the same musicians are still arguably its leading exponents.
Originally formed solely of Guadeloupean artists (Decimus; Desvarieux; St-Eloi), within a few years Kassav' also embraced band members of Martinican ancestry (Béroard; Naimro; Marthely); their music is an original danceable Caribbean French Creole mix that delved deep into synthesized sounds after exploring many acoustic timbres, with rhythms based fundamentally in a gwo ka (French Caribbean folkloric drumming/chanting) context, especially in earlier recordings. It has been suggested that their success was largely outside of the large U.S. music market due to a nearly total absence of English lyrics; instead, they use a very localized version of Créole Français unique to Guadeloupe and Martinique, very distinct from European French or even Haitian French Kreyòl. Their choice of language however did not limit their artistic vision, and it remains carnival-like and eminently danceable; the success of Kassav' is ongoing in the 2010s.