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Boulo Valcourt

Died Friday, November 17, 2017 "Boulo Valcourt (b. 1946, Cap-Haïtien, Haiti) has been a central pillar of the jazz landscape in Haiti and its diaspora for more than fifty years. The vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and arranger has been a founding member of such noted ensembles as Ibo Combo, Caribbean Sextet, Pikliz, Djanm, and Haïtiando. He has regularly collaborated with past and present musical greats such as Azor (Lénord Fortuné), Réginald Policard, Jean Jean and Philippe “Toto” Laraque, Lionel Benjamin, Mushi and Joël Widmaïer, and Ralph Thamar. His ensembles have shared the stage with Danny Glover and Wynton Marsalis, and he has been a featured artist at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, DC. He has mentored many of the most popular Haitian vocalists of the past two generations, including Emeline Michel, Beethova Obas, Tifane (Tifany Sejour), and Alan Cavé, each of whom have catapulted on to international careers. He has written dozens of hits for these and other performers, frequently using texts by acclaimed poet Syto Cavé, including “Fè van pou mwen” and “Jounen” for Emeline Michel and “Limit Solèy” for Tamara Suffren. Valcourt’s “Tante Nini,” written in collaboration with Cavé, generated overwhelming excitement when Caribbean Sextet first released the recordings in the 1980s. These tunes remain a prominent and beloved part of the Haitian soundtrack." https://store.cdbaby.com/cd/boulovalcourt