Haïti Colibri

Ti-Coca’s style is genuine twoubadou – sometimes also called "siwèl" , because of its bittersweet lyrics. Twoubadou is Haitian Creole for ‘troubadour’ – a French medieval poet-musician, who composed and sang in Provençal, especially on the theme of courtly love, accompanying himself on various instruments.

And like the troubadours of old, the Haitian twoubadou is a singer-composer, who expresses himself in the vernacular and either accompanies himself or, like Ti-Coca, is backed by a small string-based acoustic band of (generally self-taught) musicians, using instruments that are often handmade from salvaged materials. Famous Haitian troubadours of the past – Ti-Coca’s predecessors – include Althiery Dorival and Ti-Paris. Twoubadou singers have often served as the conscience of their generation. Their songs are expected to convey the humorous and bitter sides of life and love, with words that are often mischievous and full of double meaning, ribald and off-colour. Ti-Coca and Wanga-Nègès perform a repertoire of folk music, traditional songs from the Ayiti twoubadou repertoire, with mereng and konpa tunes, to which Ti-Coca brings all the sparkle of his charming voice. They compose a delightful cocktail, a kind of love philtre (as their name indicates), with a mixture of different genres, urban and rural, sacred and secular.

Distribution :

David Mettelus "Ti-Coca" : vocals
Allen Juste : accordion
Richard Hector : banjo
Wilfrid Bolane : doublebass
Mathieu Chertoute : percussion

Collection VOX POPULI