Biography
What began as a one-off performance assembled for La Fête de la Musique in Port Au Prince became the Afro-Haitian Experimental Orchestra at the instigation of Corinne Micaelli, director of Haiti’s French Institute. She sought to bring Afrobeat drummer Tony Allen to the island to collaborate with local players at a major public event, and Allen accepted the invitation.
Erol Josué—singer, dancer, voodoo priest, and director of the Haitian National Bureau of Ethnology—assisted in gathering percussionists and vocalists from across Haiti’s leading ensembles, among them his own Yizra’El Band, Racine Mapou de Azor, RAM, and Lakou Mizik, whose featured member Sanba Zao ranks among the country’s foremost traditional singers and percussionists. Glaswegian guitarist and songwriter Mark Mulholland, then resident in Haiti, joined the lineup, as did keyboardist and electronicist Olaf Hund and bassist Jean-Philippe Dary, an old friend of Allen’s who assumed the role of the ensemble’s de facto musical director. The collective was granted five days to create original material and prepare for a nationally broadcast concert intended also for release as a recording.
Those sessions produced extended improvisations that fused Haitian folk traditions, voodoo songs, and drum chants—ten percussionists participated—with contemporary funk and electronica. Mulholland later observed that he and the other European musicians “was put in some breaks,” and he captured the proceedings on multi-track recordings. On the evening of the concert, disorder erupted when a teargas bomb was detonated in the crowd; although the performance continued, usable recordings could not be made.
In 2014 Mulholland relocated to Bamako, Mali, where he encountered Chris Eckman of Glitterbeat Records, known for his work with Walkabouts. After Mulholland recounted the project with Allen and the Haitian All-Stars, Eckman requested to hear the tapes. Despite their unpolished state, the grooves and overall quality proved compelling. Mulholland and Hund prepared several mixes, after which new vocal tracks featuring Josué, Zao, and the remaining singers were added. The resulting self-titled album appeared in June 2016, and the group—comprising Allen, Zao, Josué, Mulholland, Hund, and Dary—began operating as a working ensemble.
Erol Josué—singer, dancer, voodoo priest, and director of the Haitian National Bureau of Ethnology—assisted in gathering percussionists and vocalists from across Haiti’s leading ensembles, among them his own Yizra’El Band, Racine Mapou de Azor, RAM, and Lakou Mizik, whose featured member Sanba Zao ranks among the country’s foremost traditional singers and percussionists. Glaswegian guitarist and songwriter Mark Mulholland, then resident in Haiti, joined the lineup, as did keyboardist and electronicist Olaf Hund and bassist Jean-Philippe Dary, an old friend of Allen’s who assumed the role of the ensemble’s de facto musical director. The collective was granted five days to create original material and prepare for a nationally broadcast concert intended also for release as a recording.
Those sessions produced extended improvisations that fused Haitian folk traditions, voodoo songs, and drum chants—ten percussionists participated—with contemporary funk and electronica. Mulholland later observed that he and the other European musicians “was put in some breaks,” and he captured the proceedings on multi-track recordings. On the evening of the concert, disorder erupted when a teargas bomb was detonated in the crowd; although the performance continued, usable recordings could not be made.
In 2014 Mulholland relocated to Bamako, Mali, where he encountered Chris Eckman of Glitterbeat Records, known for his work with Walkabouts. After Mulholland recounted the project with Allen and the Haitian All-Stars, Eckman requested to hear the tapes. Despite their unpolished state, the grooves and overall quality proved compelling. Mulholland and Hund prepared several mixes, after which new vocal tracks featuring Josué, Zao, and the remaining singers were added. The resulting self-titled album appeared in June 2016, and the group—comprising Allen, Zao, Josué, Mulholland, Hund, and Dary—began operating as a working ensemble.
Albums