Learning about Carole Demesmin. Thought Id share her bio and short video of her performance with you as well...Enjoy! Carole Demesmin—the daughter of Mozart Demesmin, a composer—was born in Leogane, but spent her time in the capital (going to Leogane for summer vacations). At 13, Demesmin moved briefly to New York, then to Boston. As one of the few black families, and for sure, one of the very few Haitians living in the area, Demesmin would later say that she felt isolated, and was often the victim of racism. She once said in an interview with the Haitian Times, that she was chased at knife point by some teenagers, who resented seeing a black girl in their neighborhood. Demesmin would escape from the attempted attack unharmed, after running and throwing herself in front of an incoming car (the driver braked off in time, and the teenagers fled). After high school, Demesmin attended the prestigious Berklee School of Music, graduating in 1979. Around this time, Demesmin visited Washington D.C. and had an encounter with a governmental ambassador from Benin that would change her entire perspective of her culture, and of her life. The African man asked Demesmin questions after questions about Haiti, and pretty much questions she did not know the answer to. After the encounter with the African dignitary, Demesmin felt like a cultural fraud. This man from Africa knew more than she did about Haiti. How could that be? Demesmin decided to take a huge leap: move to Haiti to study indigenous culture. Demesmin reportedly became a priestess of the Voudun religion during that trip, that would take her on a 13-year old journey. Along with Emeline Michel, Yole Ledan Derose and Ansy Derose, Cornelia “Ti Corn” Schutt, Demesmin became one of the most dominant solo musical forces in Haiti in the 1980s. With lyrics written in Creole by the renowned lyricist Jean-Claude Martineau, who composed songs in Creole, Demesmin was part of a revival of everything authentically Haitian, drawing from Haitian folklore to create music that was not the Franco-friendly music that had been imported from Europe for the past three previous decades. The albums came, almost back to back, starting with 1978’s Carole Maroule,, which was trailed by Carole Min Rara, two years later, and Carole Lawouze, seven years later. Demesmin was also one of the pioneers of self-distribution in the Haitian music; some of her records were released on Marc Records, a record label founded by a Haitian expatriate in New York, but most of her albums were produced and self-distributed. In addition to raising national consciousness about the value of Kreyol as a language, Demesmin’s songs celebrated Haitian culture, and history. One of her songs from her first album highlighted the life of Lumane Casimir, a Haitian vocalist from the 1930s, who by the 1980sm had been practically forgotten, until Demesmin revived the memory of many, the same manner Alice Walker had nudged the memory of many concerning the nearly-forgotten Zora Neale Hurston in the 1970s and 1980s. Another song she recorded “Caravelles” retold the history of Haiti from the time Christopher Columbus and his crew landed with his three ships. In later years, Demesmin would return to the United States, dividing her time over the years between Naples, Hallandale, Chicago, Miami , and Europe, specifically Belgium (where most of her kids have been educated and reside). In 1998, Demesmin released her album Kongayiti-Afrika, her first in nearly a decade. Demesmin is one of the few Haitian performers to be given awards and gain acclaim during her lifetime, receiving a plaque of honor at the Haitian Entertainment Awards in the early 2000s; she has also been honored in Cuba by the Cuban-Haitian group Desandan—two of her many accolades. In the mid-2000s, Demesmin even tried her hand acting, playing the matriarch Yvette in the film Life Outside of Pearl, alongside Rudolph Moise and Jimmy Jean-Louis. She continues to lecture about Haitian culture around the world, and is a major fighter for the rights of Haitian artists through her organization United Haitian Artists. Source of article: Kreyolicious
Posted on: Sun, 11 Jan 2015 22:55:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015