Skah Shah

After relocating to New York in the mid-'70s, vocalist Joe Ely "Cubano" Telfort took the reins in reshaping Skah Shah, an ensemble originally assembled in Haiti under the name Shleu-Shleu. The group's handling of compas and zouk from Haiti earned this characterization from www.real.com: "easy rhythms (that) are inviting for dancers who are entertained by vaguely operatic vocals and seductive saxophones." Throughout the 1970s the musicians split their schedule across Central and North America, allowing Shleu-Shleu to weather a precarious stretch once multiple members chose to stay in the United States. Brought in to fill a vocal slot, Talford stepped into leadership of the band not long after that shift.