than a year to analyze the project . How to do it ? And in what form . Strategically they thought about trying to understand why some music worked and others didn ' t and so on , in fact , trying to find what needed to be fixed , to have the perfect sound and style . When they made an observation on the state of music in our country , they realized that the woman was non-existent or almost … they thought that if the women of other peoples were successful , there was no reason , that those of the West Indies would not succeed as well . From the start they were looking for a woman who would have enough charisma to be part of the group , and I was doing the solo as well as the backing vocals . So , if they called me as a chorister , they already had the idea of pushing me in front . They wanted also a female voice that speaks to women . In short , it was necessary to reach women and bring them to the music of the group . It ' s true if we only put guys , women will come because they ' re cute , they sing well and if we put a woman , then there will be men who can come because they will like to see her in addition to the female voice . So , it was in their strategy ... So , do you think you fulfilled the contract to bring the men to Kassav [ Laughs ]?
I think I fulfilled the contract largely [ laughs ] some admitted later that they had been seduced by the woman of Kassav ' s . I think I fulfilled my function to speak for women and bring this feminine touch to Kassav '
Kassav ' remains intimately linked to the history of music in the Caribbean and in the Afro world in general , because it founded a style , Zouk , which has since been taken up all over the world . However , things were not easy at the beginning in your opinion why , at the beginning your music was almost denigrated in the West Indies . e misunderstanding of novelty ? No , I think we have to look much further than that , already we have to understand that the West Indies were born in total chaos , incredible violence , today , moreover , May 22 , a tribute
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Flashmag ! Issue 129 May 2022
to the ancestors , it ’ s the day slavery was abolished in Martinique . I mean the brains were manipulated during slavery . Already during the crossing there was a trauma , and on the spot , peoples were shaped so that they did not revolt . A lot of things have been done to make us think that a lot of things that are ours have no value . And to divide us . In my childhood , for example , if you had to study music , it was classical music , there was no teacher for Biguine , it was only afterwards that some pianists started to teach music from our region . Drum music was revolutionary music , deep country music . It was almost wild music for some people . Because it was the French mentality that some had integrated . For them they came out of slavery and they could only rise in society by becoming as French as possible , by assimilating Westernization . And then the education that France wanted us to have so far , is French education . There were only two hours of West Indian music on the radio , and the rest was Sheila , Johnny , Brel , Adamo etc .… Also , for many of that generation and even after , the great music was classical and then the Jazz . Black American musicians were recognized in France , while ours played at the Bal nègre in Paris on rue Blomet ( Bal nègre created in 1924 since renamed Bal Blomet ) West Indian artists played in other piano bars in France and this gave them another notoriety … Kassav arrived and proposed something new . Popular , but not so elitist .
tKassav ’ means successes , but also immense pain with the departure for eternity of some of its members , in 2010 you lose Patrick Saint Eloi , and in 2021 Jacob Desvarieux your sidekick . How already in 2010 you experienced the departure of Patrick what gave you the strength to continue ? Patrick had left the group in 2002 . He wanted more freedom and that we understood . Being part of a group requires you to follow the group . 8 years later he died . He already had some health problems and developed cancer … we had gotten used to his absence and already in 2002 , his departure had shaken us up . We took a break , and then Georges ( Decimus ) decided to come back . In the 90s he took a break and created another group called Volt Face . The fact that George came back consoled us for Patrick ' s departure , but his death was terrible for us . He was part of Kassav ', it ' s a part of us !