The
music of Haiti is influenced most greatly by
French colonial ties and
African immigration (through
slavery), as well by its neighbor, the
Dominican Republic (see
music of the Dominican Republic).
Impoverished Haiti didn't have any recorded music until 1937 (see 1937 in music) when Jazz Guignard[?] was recorded noncommercially.
The meringue is a form of syncretic music that mixes
Spanish,
French and
African forms; it is an ancestor of the
Dominican merengue (note the spelling difference).
Compas direct[?] was invented in the mid-
1950s by a group of artists, already then famous, called
Coronto International[?]; it soon became popular throughout the
Antilles, especially in
Martinique and
Guadeloupe, where it evolved into
zouk[?].
Webert Sicot[?] and
Nemours Jean Baptiste[?] became the two major powers in the group. Sicot left and formed a new group and an intense rivalry developed between the two, though they remained good friends. Nemours played a popular, improvised style, compas direct, while Sicot's sophisticated "
cadence rampa[?]" was inaccessible to mainstream listeners.
The religion of most Haitians is
vodou[?] (
voodoo) and highly formalized
percussion is used in spiritual music. Vodou includes two different kinds of deities (
Lwa):
rada[?] and
petwo[?]. Ceremonies may include either Rada drums ("Tanbou Rada" in
Haitian Creole[?]) with cowhide covers attached with wooden pegs, or Petwo drums (Tanbou Petwo), which have a goatskin covers attached with cords and a more aggressive sound. Additionally there are many many Haitian rhythms played in Vodou which vary greatly with geography. For example, some of the most popular Rada rhthyms from
Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas include Yanvalou, Mayi, Zepol and Dawomen, while in Gonaives, Rada takes such names as Wanjale, Akbadja, and Kavalye Hounto.
In the Petwo family one can find: Petwo Makaya, Fran Petwo, Petwo Doki, Makandal, Bumba and Kita.
There are many other Vodou rhythms as well: Djoumba, Kongo, Ibo, Tchika, Raboday, Banda, Nago, Maskawon etc etc.