🎸🎤🌴🎶💔 Attention, rarity! Among the legends of Haitian music, guitarist, singer and composer Rodolphe Legros is a figure from the 30s to the 50s. Born in 1913, he got his start by forming the HH3W trio in 1938 with his brother Alexandre and Philippe Dormelas, named after the radio station on which he performed. In 1949, he got a regular gig at the Ibo Lélé hotel and formed the orchestra of the same name. Among his hits, Maman Nanotte is probably the best known, written when he was just 18. There is also Trois Feuilles Tombées and, in 1955, these two songs are obviously part of the retrospective published in two 10″ volumes on the Jacot label, under the title Week-End in Haiti. This is the first part, where we sail between merengue and traditional rhythms, to which Legros paid particular attention. The combination of guitar, accordion and traditional percussion gives these tracks a nostalgic, Latin and Creole feel that is both hypnotic and catchy, which is what makes them so charming. In 1957, Rodolphe Legros left Haiti for Canada, then settled in Brooklyn. He died in New York in 1964.
Week End In Haiti (Haiti Latest Hits) – Rodolphe Legros & Ensemble Ibo-Lélé, 1955
