Dorival, Althiery

Born In/Current Location :	Haiti
Genres :	Twoubadou

Haitian-African folk singer, Altiery Dorival, is known as a twoubadou (troubadour) musician. He sings in a raspy tenor voice, accompanying himself on Haitian banjo, similar to the American banjo.

Dorival’s image is as a man of the people, singing about the lives of Haiti’s poor masses, living their lives of grinding poverty with grace and an unsinkable spirit. But he can also play the role of bon vivant, decked out in a white suit and Panama hat.

The twoubadou tradition, in which Altiery Dorival sings and plays, has existed in Haiti for over half a century. Brought to Haiti’s shores from Cuba at the start of the 20th century, Haitians soon claimed the music as its own. Twoubadou music expresses the bitter sweetness of peasant life, rife with earthy and risqué themes. Twoubadou singers, such as Dorival, have been and still are the voice of the people.

Once Haiti’s modern music, konpa and zouk, took hold from the mid-sixties on, twoubadou faded from sight. Because twoubadou sewed the seeds for konpa and zouk, it was inevitable it would re-surface again, which happened in the late 90s. Today, twoubadou that used to be played by Altiery Dorival is played mainly at Carnival, house parties, and tourist spots.

Dorival has become best known for his album Natif Natal (Native Born) and the tracks “Ti Joseph”, and “Si’m Fe Ou Bagay”. If you want to hear the sound of twoubadou as it was originally sung and played, look no further than Dorival, one of its progenitors.

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