Widmaier, Joel

Artist/Band/Group Birthday :	03/02/1960(Age 64)
Born In/Current Location :	Haiti
Occupation(s) :	Singer, Producer, Sound Engineer, Drummer
Genres :	Creole Music, Konpa Jazz
Solo/Band/Group :	ZEKLÈ

Joël represents both the musical and vocal quintessence of a new trend which has been revived in all genres, and of which he has constituted the avant-garde thanks to his versatile talent as: singer, percussionist, guitarist, composer and lyricist in the footsteps of his pioneer father Herby Widmaïer. It was at the height of exploratory hikes with Gerald Merceron that he passed his vocal exam in the room: “Je m tonbe nan je ou”, propelling an unusual voice, captivating with a “cool” sound . In the meantime, it is from the emergence of the group “Zèklè”, and the fused music of “Lakansyèl” that he infused his versatility, with its limpid and warm tone sprinkled with a libertarian and eclectic sca t: free, rocky, bluesy, which despite everything, does not lose its local identity. And as a drummer by trade, Joël was nonetheless an astonishing percussionist who knew how to explore all the dimensions of this instrument to apply by representing the sound environment, according to his art of dosage and a game made. precise punctuation. While interweaving his impromptu, serene and improvised vocalizations with his percussive rides.

These are all traits that have established him as a model to be followed by his contemporaries. JW sang various ritornelles for the “Zèklè” and the “Caribbean Sextet”, two groups in which he simultaneously fulfilled the dual function of singer-drummer in the 1990s: Se ou menm, Amélie, Reponn mwen, Tambour battant, Move nouvelle, Pil ou fas, Si ou vle, Adye, Sodo, San mele, Caribbean update, Makaya, Sonje mwen renmen w, Chante lanmou, Anyway, Wangol, Decide w, M ap fè yo ti bo,etc. Over time, the vocalist gave way to the percussionist. Then, “Zèklè” and “Caribbean”, no longer in the limelight, he ended up joining, among other fleeting associations, to the group “Strings” as a drummer, singing intermittently. As well as the talismanic voice of the sublime productions of Réginald Policard.

Sadly, at this stage, his mixed career couldn’t match his immense talent which he wasted on other random duties. However, when he returned to the posts at the height of occasional ” meetings ” with the “Zèklè”, the “Caribbean”. And other associations to which he knows how to propel himself on occasion as a plural propagator, bathing in his freshness , his exuberance and his eccentric voice, which remains among the most singular of an environment with which he has reconnected, with good cats and onomatopoeias. While highlighting a texture embellished with lyricism and expressiveness. And as a drummer who knows a lot about percussion and all its components; he who knows how to be dominant in the field of measurement. Knowing how to transform any percussive mud into gold.

He especially catalyzed himself as a leader among the instigators: including his brother, Mushi, Claude Marcelin, Raoul Denis etc; having propelled the New Vagu e movement with the Zèklè, exploring a tonal and syncopated polyrhythmic concept, inspired by global reference. Imbued with a fusion of the exotic to the ordinary. Hyphen between pop and konpa then in the throes of sudden changes in relation to rock and world beat ; up to rasin hikes.And as a pioneer of all various orientations. So many tiaras that impose it in a contemporary model. And so many brands to maintain with a view to revaluing old legacies.

 

Born in Port-au-Prince, February 8, 1960

Went four (24) years of experience as a drummer and percussionist
Eighteen years of experience as a singer
Studio musician, sound engineer

Education

1965 to 1976 Elementary school and secondary

1970 Self-taught drummer

1979 Lynsey Hopkins Education Center / Miami

1980 to 1981 The Institute of Audio Research, New York
Followed several courses in sound system.

Experiences

1982 to 2005 Participation as musician, producer, co-producer of albums. See

1983 discography Drummer, lead singer and vocal effects on LANKASYEL’s unique LP, a mix of new age jazz and ethnic music

1974 to present Studio work as a drummer, percussionist, lead singer, chorister with more than twenty (20) national and international artists, including Bernard Lavilliers (88), Emeline Michel, Toto Bissainthe, Jean Wyclef, Luc Mervil … See discography

Jul.1985 to Dec1996 Drummer and percussionist to “Carribean Sextet)

Composer / co-arranger

1981 to the present day Twenty-one (21) compositions for ZEKLÈ, an alloy of” compass cadence “and modern sounds and harmonies.

Fifteen (15) songs were put on record of which eight (8) were ranked first in the Haitian hit parade

Co-arranger of twenty-one (21) songs “ZEKLÈ)

1980 Composer, co-arranger and singer of more than sixty (60) “jingles” and identifications for radio and TV

1987 Producer of the “Tropic Mood” Album of the band “Strings”

1998 Producer of the Album “Flamingo Tropical »From
« Strings »group

2002 Drummer and percussionist in Raoul Denis Junior’s Carribean Escape Album

2004 Collaboration with Wyclef Jean for the disaster in Gonaives with his song” Gonayiv “

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