Music Man

Listening Post 47. Joël Jaccoulet is a producer, arranger, songwriter and musician who has a passion for the sounds of his own culture but doesn’t hesitate to mix styles—for what is Créole if not a blend? On Créole Pop he assembles an extraordinary collection of artists with backgrounds in French chanson, soul, hip-hop, zouk, reggae and jazz. The album’s 13 tracks, sustained by guitar, keyboard, ukulele, cajon and washboard, among other tones, paint a rhapsodic portrait of an island—Martinique—that merits the spotlight. An Limiè (In the Light) is Jann Beaudry’s seductive and sensitive take on the challenges of a relationship: “Sometimes men are strong, sometimes hollow,” she sings in Créole. “When a voice inside tells me to run, I remind myself that when he falls, he can still get up” (video 1). Beaudry’s mood is more despairing in Paris Perdu (Lost Paris): “Without him, I’ve lost all taste and desire,” say the French lyrics, “I’ve forgotten all the street names/The city is a stranger” (video 2). Jocelyne Béroard’s Lapli Pé Tonbé (Rain Afraid to Fall), explores a more mature romantic stage: “Baby, even if I drop tomorrow, the struggle will have been worth everything,” she intones in Créole (video 3). The island cadences continue with Tchip, sung by Pekka, a French-Créole-English mash-up about the title “magic word”—not a word at all but an aspirated sound expressing defiance or insouciance; and Là (There, Like That), a guitar-driven melody sung in French by Goldee. “There, like that,” also describes how Jaccoulet introduces a new generation of Caribbean artists to the world. (B Caribbean)