Frantz Casseus - Haitian Dances
2025-05-04
This 1954 EP from Haitian composer/guitarist Frantz Casseus is a perfect fusion of Haitian folk traditions, classical composition and jazz harmonies. I am usually not particularly interested in classical guitar, but Casseus' compositions and his playing are soulful, down-to-earth and pragmatic—perfection is not the goal, musical expression and communication is. With that in mind it makes perfect sense that Casseus was an early tutor of Marc Ribot (who also released a great album of him playing his teacher’s works), who takes much the same approach of putting expression and communication first.
Only one track on this EP is not composed by Casseus. Sobo (titled simply Dance on some releases) is composed by Haitian composer and pianist Ludovic Lamothe but arranged for guitar by Casseus. Only few recordings exist of the original but the evolution of the song is interesting to witness. Here is a short timeline of Sobo as a bonus:
- 19??: Ludovic Lamothe - Sobo: https://youtu.be/B2maUYIVW9A
- 1954: Frantz Casseus - Sobo (aka. Dance): https://youtu.be/1oU15lSealo
- 1967: Jho Archer - Sobo: https://youtu.be/n7B5hFcs1Ow
- 1993: Marc Ribot - Sobo: https://youtu.be/dPNZCHv6SOg
- 1999: Jean E. Saint-Eloi - Sobo: https://youtu.be/_bxycsez5QI
Obviously Jho Archer’s arrangement is not based on Casseus’ but in order to keep the timeline chronological it ended up in-between Casseus’ and Marc Ribot’s versions.
Anyway, this ended up as quite the lore-dump. Just go listen, it is great stuff that more people need to know.
Listen
- Suite no. 1: Petro: https://youtu.be/V8i94ZKxr3A
- Suite no. 1: Coumbite: https://youtu.be/P1DXu7qLsk4