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Miami Street Weekly, Concert Preview >>
LA MEZCLA / Songs for the homeland
In a bicentennial year marked by violence and tragedy, Emeline Michel offers her native Haiti hope rooted in music.
BY JUDY CANTOR
''It is difficult to be a Haitian singer,'' says Emeline Michel, stating this as a fact, not a complaint. 'People ask, `What happened to your country?' and you have to find an answer,'' she explains. 'It's tiring to always have to think `Maybe in the future.' I have been singing to my country for years and the reality there hasn't changed.''
This year, Haiti celebrates its bicentennial as the first black republic, an anniversary that has been marked by violence and the recent tragedy wrought by Hurricane Jeanne. ''This year feels worse. It was the year we were supposed to be shining -- we are so proud -- but it's been catastrophe after catastrophe,'' Michel says, speaking by phone in fluid, but heavily accented English from her home in New York. At her concert this Saturday, presented by Miami Dade College's Cultura del Lobo Performance Series at the Gusman Center, donations for the Haiti Relief Fund will be collected in the lobby to help those left homeless by hurricane floods in Gonaives, Michel's hometown.
''You can't be dreaming of peace if you don't make your own contribution to make the country better,'' she says. Michel offers a heartfelt dose of spiritual relief on her new album, Rasin Kreyol (Creole Roots). Singing in Creole, she speaks to Haiti and beyond on tracks that invoke various Haitian styles and an abundance of soul, combining Michel's own lyrics and melodies with those of traditional Haitian song.
''I describe myself mainly as a singer/songwriter because there is an emphasis on the lyrics. The rest is layering strong melodies over Haitian rhythms,'' says Michel, adding that she feels a particular affinity with the traditional acoustic music called twoubadou. ''It's rustic and basic; everything is groovy and smooth,'' she says. ``It's the kind of music played by a band you hire to serenade someone under a window. It's music that's unplugged and inexpensive, so it's available to everyone.''
Elements of racine, or roots music, whose rhythms originate in vodou rituals, and the bouncy favor of compas dance music -- two genres that Michel describes as the steady base of contemporary Haitian music -- are heard on the album. Michel's singing transitions easily from chanted laments to uplifting anthems, folk ballads, and catchy pop choruses, often in the same song. Afro-Haitian percussion, lush Caribbean guitars, and piano figure prominently on the CD. The strong character of Michel's voice is heralded in the a cappella intro of the opening track, ``Bel Kongo (Beautiful Congo).''
Michel notes that she is one of only a handful of professional Haitian female singers, currently so well-known on the island that ''everyone knows when I arrive at the airport.'' Now 38, she began singing in church, where she was a soloist in the choir and a favorite entertainer at social events. At age 18, she won a scholarship to study music in Detroit. After recording her first album, she traveled to France, and then Montreal, where she still spends time. Rasin Kreyol was recorded in New York, where she's lived for about four years.
Despite her absence from the island (or perhaps because of it) the songs on Rasin are inspired by Haiti. ''Ban'm La Jwa (Give Me Joy),'' the lyrics of which are adapted from a prayer, asks God for strength in the face of violence and hunger. ''Naryon Soley (Sun Nation)'' speaks to Haiti's diaspora, reminding them that ''wherever you go, you carry your flag under your skin.'' Michel also wrote ''L'om Kanpe (When I Will Stand Up)'' with Haitian emigrants in mind. ''I remember the day I wrote that song, a boat came to shore in Miami and on TV you could see the Haitians running like they had arrived at the promised land,'' Michel recalls. ``There was one little girl coming off the boat in her white Sunday dress -- that really got to me. A few hours later, they had all been incarcerated. It shocked me how, here in America, people are unfairly treated. But the message of the song is that whatever you do to us, we are still free in spirit.''
Michel says that, with this album, she's tried to ''talk positive'' about Haiti. ''Music is a real remedy to everything,'' she believes. ``Haitian people really enjoy music. They enjoy parties. You can see it when carnival time comes -- people are just diving into the rhythm. They look like they have no problems at all.''
Emeline Michel performs 8 p.m. Saturday, October 2, at the Gusman Center for the Performing Arts, 174 E. Flagler St., Downtown Miami. Tickets are $18-32 ($5 for MDC/NWSA affiliates) and may be purchased at www.culture.mdc.edu. For more info, call 305-237-3010. 10/01/04 >> go there
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