PRODG Entertainment Promotions

PROFILES

Louis Elneus
Founder of HLD

Richard Jeanty
Author & Entrepreneur

Leslie Demangles
Author & College Professor

Danielle Legros-George
Haitian Poet & Autor

Margaret Papillon
Haitian Author

Myrtelle Cherry
Haitian Artist & Painter

Carole B. Joseph
Mass Bay Community College President

Gashford Guillaume
Mozayik Drummer

Pascale Auguste
Haitian Association Against Cancer

Andy Jacques
Haitian Fashion Designer

Phillip J. Brutus
State Representative

Yvecar Momperousse
Haitian Student Alliance

The Maroons
Haitian Writers & Poets

Evans Thesee
Founder HaitianConnection.com

Abdias Charles
Founder of Repair Haiti.org

Mecca AKA Grimo
Haitian Hip Hop Artist & Activist

Fania Simon
Writer, Lecturer & Activist

Nadege Fleurimond
Owner of Fleurimond Catering

Interview: Gashford Guillaume

		In the Haitian community the word “Band” is usually associated with Konpa, but over the past seven years, Mozayik, an Afro-Haitian Jazz Band has been getting rave reviews. Mozayik was founded by a core of Haitian-American musicians in New York City in 2000. Their goal is to explore their Afro-Haitian roots while expressing their love for all types of jazz as well as gospel, funk, classical, and beyond. The Band blends mostly African derived rhythms with contemporary harmonic and melodious elements. Eddy Bourjolly's smooth guitar, Welmyr Jean-Pierre's lyrical piano, Gene Torres's talking bass, Markus Schwartz's zestful percussion, Gashford Guillaume's skillful and sensitive drumming provide the special blend that makes this quintet, according to many, the best Haitian Jazz Band and their albums have reflected that status.
Recently, Prodg staff member Jenny Eli had a chance to catch up with Gashford Guillaume of the Haitian Jazz Band Mozayik.

Jenny Eli: Hi Gashford, for the benefit of our readers who might be unfamiliar with Mozayik, can you please provide a brief detail about the band?

Gashford Guillaume: Mozayik is an Afro-Haitian jazz quintet based in New York. We've been together for about seven years now. Our musical concept is about blending traditional Haitian rhythms and idioms with jazz. Our goal is to produce music that will appeal to a wide audience; specifically both mainstream jazz and World Music audiences. Countries such as Cuba, Puerto Rico and Brazil (among others) have successfully combined their native rhythms and melodies with North American jazz, which has resulted in the Latin Jazz genre, one of the more popular jazz styles. Haiti is rich in rhythms, and we feel the same can happen for Haitian jazz. It's a matter of how the music is presented. We've released two CD's thus far. Our self-entitled "Mozayik" CD was released in 2000 and "Rhythmic Reflections" came out in 2004, and was then re-released as "Haitian Creole Jazz" after being picked up by the NYC independent jazz label Zoho Music, in 2005.

JE: Is your genre of music widely received and listened to by the Haitian community? Who is your audience?

GG: We've gotten nothing but a whole lot of love from the Haitian community. They have been very receptive to our music and that really encourages us. However, if we want to succeed in reaching our goals, and bring Haitian jazz beyond the Haitian community, we can't just focus and rely on the Haitian audience alone. Therefore, we do a lot of performances outside of the Haitian community. For a long time, the majority of our performances took place outside of the Haitian community.

JE: I attended the Haitian Jazz Fest last year in NY where I first experienced the sounds of Mozayik. Are you working on any future projects or performances? What role did Mozayik play in coordinating the first and second editions of the Jazz Festivals held in NY and recently in Florida?

GG: I'm currently working with John (Papa Jube) Altino (Haitian musician and producer, currently the manager of the landmark World Music venue SOBs) on the 2nd Annual Haitian Jazz festival set for December 23rd. We are so excited about the opportunity to bring Haitian jazz to "Jazz at Lincoln Center". As a member of Mozayik, I learned so much about Haitian jazz and I got the opportunity to train and develop my musicianship in that context. My experience in Mozayik has influenced my dream of having a Haitian jazz festival. It is an event where we get to showcase our dream of presenting Haitian jazz to a large audience. Therefore, I would say that Mozayik serves as a big motivation for me when planning these festivals.

JE: Will there be future collaborations with other artists of this genre in future releases?

GG: We always look to collaborate with other artists in our recordings. On our first CD we did a track with Emeline Michel and on our second CD, Beethova Obas. I already have a couple of people in mind for this next project but it's a matter of figuring out who would work best for a particular tune. The Band is currently working on music for a third CD, and we plan to record sometime in 2007. As far as performances, we have been pretty busy but I can say that two of the highest profile gigs we have for the remainder of the year are our upcoming performance in Haiti on November 18th and the 2nd Annual Haitian Jazz Festival.

JE: Can you briefly tell us about the other members of the band? What does each of you bring to Mozayik?

GG: Eddy Bourjolly is an amazing jazz guitarist. I have learned so much from him. He's what I call a true "Jazz Cat". He, along with our original bass player, Philippe Charles, introduced me to Haitian jazz. Eddy is also an outstanding composer. He's always looking for new ways to introduce the Haitian concept; he contributes a lot to the band. Welmyr Jean-Pierre is a very versatile pianist. He can practically fit into any type of music. He has an excellent ear for music. "His playing is very "tasty". Markus Schwartz has been studying traditional Haitian drumming for over fifteen years. His contribution to the group really brings out the "Haitian" in our Haitian Jazz concept. He's our Haitian rhythms encyclopedia! (smiling)... I enjoy playing with him. He and I, along with our bass player (Gene Torres) form the back bone of Mozayik. Gene is very knowledgeable when it comes to playing Jazz. He's funky, soulful, and melodic and has a warm, strong sound. You really feel the bass when he's playing. I grew up listening to different genres of music; jazz, fusion, R&B, Gospel, funk, world pop etc. They make up my sound. Depending on the tune, I will use some of these elements in my playing. I'm also a composer. Being able to bring our talents together allows us to create our own sound.

JE: How did you guys meet?

GG: I was referred to Eddy as a "sub" for a drummer that did not show up to a gig that he was leading. Eddy was impressed with my playing when he saw I was able to keep up in the jazz performance. He then invited me to workout with Philippe Charles and we practiced jazz tunes and they introduced me to the Haitian Jazz Concept. We worked on the concept and its elements. We did some gigs as a trio and later on, after meeting Markus and playing with him in a Haitian Roots (Rasin) band, I invited him to our rehearsals. He fits in like a glove and showed us rhythms we never even knew before, and he would incorporate the rhythms into compositions we'd be working on. Our Haitian jazz concept was growing. We did some gigs and later we needed the last piece to our puzzle a pianist. I knew Welmyr and had played in different events with him for several years and I knew he would be perfect for the band. I invited him to workout and do jam sessions with us and we did that for about a year then we fully developed our concept. We had to document our music and we took our music to the studio and named the band MOZAYIK.

Continue with Gashford's Interview