Yves
Joseph
and his band Taboo Combo are ambassadors
of the unique musical traditions of their
native Haiti. Much of the country's slave
population originated from the Dahoumie
region of Africa, an area colonized by
France, as was Haiti. The language served
as a bond and a point of commonality.
The
islands of the Caribbean constitute a
unique history lesson with language as
its chief artifact. The prevalence of
English, Spanish, French, and Dutch serve
as reminders of the cultures that shaped
respective territories. A dialect called
Creole French evolved in Haiti, and is
shared with other French islands Martinique
and Guadeloupe. A musicologist looking
for the source of Haitian music will find
it in the African drums of Dahoumie and
the lilting rhythms of centuries of French
patois. Those indigenous rhythms became
the basis of Haitian music, but the region's
Latin influences have shaped its contemporary
character.
