Turn-by-Turn Directions To a Rabbit Hole

....that leads to an imaginary soundtrack for a breezy island getaway....

A few weeks ago in this space, I wrote about Pasteur Lappe, the funk artist from Cameroon whose three albums, made between 1979 and 1981 in Paris, were produced by Jacob Desvarieux of the catalytic band Kassav, from Guadeloupe.

Two days later I encountered my friend, the extraordinary record sleuth Aaron Luis Levinson. He was carrying a rare 1974 artifact from percussionist and bandleader Henri Guedon — from Martinique, near Guadeloupe — called Cosmozouk. It’s one of those improbable chronicles of experimentation that’s also ridiculously danceable: Guedon was drawn to guaguanco and other Afro-Cuban rhythms, and at the same time, samba and jazz fusion. This was created in the period before zouk spread throughout the French Caribbean; it shows Guedon catching the rhythmic pivots and syncopation details of each style on the way to grooves that simply float. It’s almost impossible to believe this music is fifty years old.

For a sense of Guedon’s (rapid) evolution, check this 1972 torrent featuing his band La Contesta:

Guedon’s work, coupled with the deep music Desvarieux made with Kassav and the many Kassav-adjacent artists, activated my curiousity about these islands. What else was going on there in the ‘70s and early ‘80s? First search: Spiritual jazz/Guadeloupe/Martinique/recordings. Among the early responses:

Well now. Whenever your belief in music as transformational agent begins to wobble, put on this relic from 1981.

An inviting, breathtakingly open recording featuring Max Cilla on bamboo flute, this went from unknown-to-me to indispensible in one sitting. Cilla starts many of his originals with solo inventions; his expressive control of vibrato and other nuances of tone production is a seduction all by itself. Then come lively melodies that sound like they might have been born on a playground, anchored by percussion that might not be talking to the spirit world right then — but is certainly using the language of that world and could go there at any minute. Cilla crafted his own flutes for years; this album and a Volume 2 from 1989 (which features percussion by Henri Guedon and others) has been spotlighted on compilations and reiusses.

Naturally there’s further to go down the avenue marked “spiritual jazz” where Guadeloupe and Martinique are concerned. This record, from 1982, involves a large ensemble assembled by composer and musician Serge Fabriano. It’s rooted in the seven drum patterns of gwo ka music, a form that can be traced back to the seventeenth century and transatlantic slavery. According to Wikipedia, Gwo ka is an Antillean Creole term for “big drum;” the foundational patterns rely on several hand drums of different sizes, and, crucially, evolve through improvisation. That’s audible throughout this gorgeous landmark recording.

This 1980 album, the primary offering from drummer and composer José Manclière, shows how stretchy the folkloric music of these islands could be. Manclière hits touchstones associated with gwo ka and biguine, then adds elements of Headhunters funk, agile squabbling clavinet and assorted synthesizers. This album, produced by Kassav bassist Pierre-Edouard Décimus, has an intense atmosphere — it’s signficiantly more earthy than the glossy Kassav records that went international later in the ‘80s.

I landed at Manclière’s record through Discogs searches of the Kassav principals, then discovered that it’s spotlighted on this terrific compilation from the French label Heavenly Sweetness. Koute Jazz, released in 2015, contains tracks that simmer at different temperatures. This plaintive ode, from Les Vikings de la Guadeloupe incorporates George Benson-style sung guitar improvisation and funk horn blasts into something sublime and transcendent — as the first YouTube comment reads, “this specific song scratched an itch I didn’t know I had.”

This music is like that! And: Today’s little map only leads partway down the rabbit hole.