Mini-jazz

Mini-jazz (Haitian Creole: mini-djaz) is a reduced méringue-compas band of the mid-60s characterized by the rock bands formula of two guitars, one bass, drum-conga-cowbell, some use an alto sax or a full horn section, others use a keyboard, accordion or lead guitar.

Origin

The 1915-34 US occupation introduced jazz music to Haiti. local music bands were sometimes called jazz in comparison to the American big band jazz. the word Jazz has become the equivalent of band or orchestra. The Mini-jazz movement started in the mid-1960s, small bands called mini-djaz (which grew out of Haiti’s light rock and roll bands that were called yeye bands of the early 1960s) played compas featuring paired electric guitars, electric bass, drumset and other percussion, often with a saxophone. This trend, launched by Shleu Shleu after 1965, came to include a number of groups from Port-au-Prince neighbourhoods, especially the suburb of Pétionville. Tabou Combo, Les Difficiles, Les Loups Noirs, Frères DéJean, Les Fantaisistes de Carrefour, Bossa Combo and Les Ambassadeurs (among others) formed the core of this middle-class popular music movement.

See also

• Compas
• Jazz
• Méringue

References