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Haitian music legend Jean Yves “Fanfan” Joseph walks us through konpa\u2019s evolution, from its birth in Haiti to its global reach\u2014and current challenges. A founding member of the iconic Tabou Combo, Joseph offers both a personal and insightful account, with tales about the band’s journey linked with his own migration story and shares views on konpa\u2019s status today.<\/p>\n
SPRING VALLEY, N.Y. \u2014\u00a0 Not too many Haitian konpa artists can say they surpassed rock stars on a music chart in their heyday, recorded songs in between the crowning of roosters, or triggered the development of a whole new genre. One of the few who can is Jean Yves \u201cFanfan Tib\u00f2t\u201d Joseph, <\/strong>a <\/strong>founding member of Tabou Combo<\/a>, Haiti\u2019s legendary 57-year-old band and one of the few original konpa groups still performing today.\u00a0<\/p>\n As we mark the 70th anniversary of konpa\u2014birthed officially on July 26, 1955\u2014we turned to Joseph for a walk through the music genre\u2019s evolution, from its earliest days in Port-au-Prince as an offshoot of merengue to its emergence as a global export. Since Tabou\u2019s founding in 1968, Joseph has had a front-row seat to the many stages of the genre through the years. At times, he was in the driver\u2019s seat as his band experimented with new inspirations and technologies that helped it reach the apex of world music.\u00a0<\/p>\n Joseph generously provided a rich historical overview of konpa, from its origins in 1950\u2019s Haiti to its global reach in the 1980s and current challenges as technology continues to impact creative content everywhere. He shares deeply personal anecdotes, his own migration story as a dyaspora<\/em>, and insightful perspectives on the genre and his current concerns.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Haitian Times<\/em> sat down with Joseph in June at in Spring Valley, N.Y., where he lives and operates two businesses next to each other in a modest strip mall, La Baguette Dor Bakery and Patisserie<\/a>, as well as the La Baguette Bistro, a restaurant and lounge adorned in Haitian art along its walls.<\/p>\n The interview below has been condensed and edited for length and clarity.<\/p>\n Macollvie Neel \/ The Haitian Times: <\/strong>Fanfan. Thank you so much for letting us join you in Spring Valley for a little bit to talk about konpa reaching its 70th anniversary, what it\u2019s been like for you.<\/p>\n Jean Yves \u2018Fanfan\u201d Joseph: <\/strong>Well, yes, here we are, 70 years since konpa started in 1955\u2014I\u2019m so happy and I\u2019m so proud to be part of that, one of the people who promoted konpa throughout the world.\u00a0<\/p>\n THT: Tell us about that journey from your perspective.<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph: <\/strong>Konpa started in 1955, and Tabou Combo was created in 1968. We are the second [or third] generation, coming right after Shleu Shleu<\/a>, Les Fantaisistes de Carrefour<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n THT: Take us back there \u2013 where it came from and how all these bands you mentioned created the very first generations of konpa.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph:<\/strong> From what I\u2019ve witnessed and heard, konpa is from the Dominican Republic. I know I\u2019m going to get a lot of heat for saying that, but I have to tell the truth: The Dominican Republic was very influential in creating that chance. One specific guy named \u00c1ngel Viloria<\/a>, a Dominican artist, used to come to Haiti a lot \u2013 crossing the border and playing [merengue] music. He had a broad audience among the young people, the upper class and everybody.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Haitian musicians were kind of like, \u2018Who is this guy?\u2019 We were watching him going out with our girls, filling in the clubs and everything. Nemours Jean-Baptiste<\/a> had his own band then. He decided to play the same music as Viloria, but with a slower beat appropriate for Haitian culture.<\/p>\n THT: Before Viloria was coming in and playing merengue, what were Haitians playing then?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph: <\/strong>The Haitians were mostly playing troubadours<\/a>, with a trio of guys playing small venues and all this stuff. With the American Occupation, big band<\/a> jazz was also brought to Haiti\u2014 Count Basie, Duke Ellington. Guys like Nemours, who was a sax player in a big band, started to reduce the format [size] to play in clubs. In 1955, they gathered with a bunch of guys, among them Richard Duroseau, and created Ensemble Aux Calebasses<\/a>. The first concert was at Place Saint-Anne in Port-au-Prince. It was free \u2013 everybody came.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n THT: What exactly did Nemours Jean-Ba<\/strong>ptiste do with the sound to make it new?<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph: <\/strong>He slowed the beat down and sang in Creole. He brought his own culture, his own language, his own genre\u2014and created konpa. Throughout the years, konpa evolved. Now, we have a totally different konpa from what Nemours created.\u00a0<\/p>\n THT: Before we get to that evolution, tell us about your first time hearing konpa music?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph: <\/strong>I was walking to school, at five, six years old, when I first heard it. But I started listening<\/em> to music when I was about 13, 14. Nemours had very catchy songs and he called it \u201ccommercial\u201d to be simple and direct, to the point, so people can catch it from the first beat. It\u2019s konpa direk. Nothing complicated \u2013 easy chords, easy to follow \u2013 so people can just enjoy themselves. Nemours said it in his song.<\/p>\n Once Haitians got their own music, they weren\u2019t paying attention to Dominican music anymore. People just overwhelmingly just took the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n THT: Take us ba<\/strong>ck to you know like your first <\/strong>bal<\/em><\/strong>\u2014not as a musician playing, but as a fan?<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph: <\/strong>Oh yeah. There\u2019s a guy who used to live in P\u00e8tion-ville whose band was called Jazz des Jeunes<\/em><\/a>. When he was going to bals<\/em>, he used to take us to this place, Djoumbala, in an area called Freres. Myself, Jean-Claude Jean<\/a> and a few other guys used to go listen.<\/p>\n Music is a part of Haitian culture\u2014very, very, very much part of our culture. Besides playing soccer, that\u2019s the only other thing [for fun] you would do.<\/p>\n THT: So how did you start discovering your love for music to the point where you joined a band?<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph: <\/strong>To tell the truth, I never thought I\u2019d be a musician. Never in my wildest imagination. But I grew up in P\u00e9tion-ville and went to the Lyc\u00e9e de P\u00e9tion-ville with Andr\u00e9 Dejean<\/a>, Hermann Nau. These guys were musicians from the get-go. I was a soccer player, captain of the Lyc\u00e9e team. Jean-Claude Jean was my best friend\u2014and he was into music. <\/em>He used to go to rehearsal with Tabou Combo on Sundays, so I\u2019d go to rehearsal and wait for him to hang out afterwards.\u00a0<\/p>\n One day, Tabou Combo had an argument with the conga player, and he didn\u2019t show up to play [at a kermesse<\/a>]. The band couldn\u2019t stop, so Jean-Claude said, \u2018Epa Fanfan la [Fanfan\u2019s here].\u2019 So I played. I don\u2019t even remember what I did.<\/p>\n THT: Did you eventually learn to play the conga?<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph: <\/strong>Yes. There was a guy who used to play congas\u2014Pierre. He showed me how to play conga, for 20 cents for each lesson. I became good enough to do a recording. There was no such thing as punching a computer. You had to play live, on point, every time. I miss those days.<\/p>\n THT: What did actually recording a song look like?<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph: <\/strong>There was one guy, Widmaier, doing the recordings. Our first album was recorded on two tracks. So there was this club called Djoumbala, the owner was a cock fighter and he had a gag\u00e8<\/em><\/a> in the backyard. We went into the nightclub to record the album and every time we started, we heard \u2018coo coo coo,\u2019<\/em> \u2018coo coo cook\u2019 from the cocks. <\/em>At <\/em>7 o\u2019clock, they all stopped and that\u2019s how we recorded the album. When they went to sleep.\u00a0<\/p>\n THT: Talk about the composition of a classic konpa band. Before technology, what were the main people needed?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph:<\/strong> Formation was: Two guitars and a bass, like The Stones and the Beatles. For rhythm purposes, conga\u2014which was very much part of Haitian culture\u2014along with the gong and an accordion, since the keyboard was non-existent, and, the vocals.\u00a0<\/p>\n For rhythm purposes, we added conga\u2014which was very much part of Haitian culture\u2014along with the gong and an accordion\u2026<\/p>\n THT: How was that different from say the formation that Nemours Jean-Baptiste had?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Joseph: <\/strong>Nemours Jean-Baptiste had the big band influence. He\u2019d have trumpets and four saxophones. That formation came under the influence of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. But when the Stones and the Beatles came, it was a new generation of music playing with all this rock and roll\u00a0<\/p>\nMaking the band, the first time\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n