lockdown : vinyl find #38.

Music made by expatriates is always interesting : either because it contains a genuine melancoly and goes deep into the identity of the author, either because it combines elements from the motherland with elements from the land of residence. 

Hence, when I read about the history of this record, considered a must-have among records from the French West Indies, it got me interested. The band was comprised of seven young guys from Martinique, who were living in Paris at the time ; this recording from 1975 is their only one as Gaoulé 75 that we know of. 

Mostly written by two of the band members, Charles Hilaricus and Jean-Marc Monnerville, the album is of course, a gem of music from the West Indies but with an uncommon funk for this type of records. The grooves of the percussions and drums, combined with a cool use of the organ (Jean-Claude Naimro, the keyboardist, then joined Kassav' and worked with heavyweights like Manu Dibango and Peter Gabriel) and guitars, clearly link the album to the mid-1970's it belongs to. Sung in creole (except for one song, sung in French), it mixes afro, caribbean, funk, soul and European influences ; definitely hard to categorized, let's say it's a modern form of biguine. 

At the time I searched about this record, I hadn't made an essential connection : Jean-Marc Monnerville is actually Kali, a singer that I know from his 1990's fame in the West Indies for his reggae/calypso-infused spiritual songs. To say the least, his pre-rasta era was as interesting as the rest of his career. 

Gaoulé 75 - Gaoulé 75.

Bummer, couldn't find any audio...