Bertin Depestre Salnave deserves our attention as one of the Haitians involved with the evolution of jazz music. Unfortunately, finding information about his life and work can be difficult. Most information about his career in Europe refer to an interview published in a 1978 issue of Storyville, a jazz publication. Salnave discusses his musical origins in Haiti through influences from a musician uncle and Occide Jeanty, the illustrious director of the Musique du Palais. Then, in 1913, he went to France, where he studied classical music before joining a variety of bands and orchestras in the 1910s and 1920s. Indeed, the French and European music scene included a plethora of forms of music, so Salnave was exposed to Antillean, tango (he claimed to have performed with Tano Genaro's band), "syncopated" music from the US, and Western classical genres.
Florius Notte and His Creole Band Jazz de la Coupole included at least 2 Haitians in its early formation, Salnave and Emile Chancy. Chancy is presumably the same Chancy who launched his own band in Haiti, Jazz Chancy, one of the groups playing jazz-influenced music near the end of the US Occupation.
Salnave also joined Will Marion Cook's group in England, where he met a number of African American, Puerto Rican, and Caribbean musicians, such as Sidney Bechet. Like Jim Reese Europe, the Southern Syncopated Orchestra was a sort of transitional band that linked early jazz with ragtime and other forms of American popular music of the era. According to the Storyville piece, by the 1920s, Salnave was playing "jazz" proper with American musicians like Crickett Smith, a trumpeter. In addition, Salnave played saxophone in the band of Arthur Briggs, although he may have left the group before they were recorded. Nonetheless, he participated in a number of black American groups in Europe who were pivotal in exporting jazz. This meant Haitian and other Caribbean musicians were able to learn techniques, methods of playing, and stylistic conventions of African American musicians, which they later brought back to the Caribbean.
Salnave with Arthur Briggs' Savoy's Syncopators Orchesta ca. 1924.
By the time he formed his own group, Emile Chancy, Jeff Sevestre, Firmin, and Florius Notte were members. Jeff Sevestre, possibly Geffrard Cesvet, may have become a bandleader in Haiti after returning from France. Undoubtedly, Salnave's band played a pivotal role in the transmission of jazz music to Haiti through musicians returning from France after performing with European, African American, Latin, and Antillean groups. These musicians, plus the presence of US Marines and their radio station, inundated the country with foxtrots, blues, tango, and Cuban music. According to Averill's study on Haitian popular music, the radio established by the US Marines was not accessible to the majority of Port-au-Prince, but concert programs for broadcasts in Le Matin and Le Nouvelliste indicate many bands that performed a repertoire of Cuban, American, and Haitian meringue tunes. Many of these bands also performed in clubs, bars, and public events, such as the Musique du Palais (directed by Occide Jeanty, then Luc Jean-Baptiste). Thus, the impact of jazz on Haitian dance music was shaped not only by the forces of US Occupation and its cultural impact, but Haitian musicians themselves who incorporated it into their local repertoire.
1927 recording of "Mean Dog Blues" by the group of Arthur Briggs. Salnave is not featured, but this may be an indication of how the band sounded in 1924, when he was a member.
Lamentably, what became of Salnave after his return to Haiti is difficult to deduce. The Storyville article indicates his career as a jazzman ended when he returned to the island. But, in light of others affiliated with him who appear to have continued their music careers in Haitian dance bands, perhaps Salnave gave lessons or performed with local bands. Perhaps Haitians like himself may have refined some of the jazz influences with local groups who, since the late 1920s, included standards of that era in their performances. Some of the elements of jazz he claimed to have learned in Europe, such as call and response, going without written arrangements and saxophone improvisation may have been in-demand skills for their novelty and authenticity. In terms of recordings, "Brown Love," from 1933, features some of these techniques. Salnave plays in the "hot" style with fellow Haitian, Emile Chancy,, and the record features some intriguing but too brief soloing. The interesting thing to uncover here would be if the local jazz bands that formed by the late 1920s in Port-au-Prince were playing in a similar manner to Salnave's group in France. However, until someone uncovers any possible recordings of Jazz Scott, Jazz Chancy, or Orchestre Pantal Jazz, all we have to go on are 1930s recordings of a few Haitian dance bands from Alan Lomax.
No comments:
Post a Comment