Ou Mal Tomber – Michel Desgrottes, 1967

🎵 🇭🇹 🎤 🇳🇬 🎶 In 1967, Haitian composer and conductor Michel Desgrottes recorded a number of landmark songs in Martinique. He called on his compatriot Emile Volel, who had already been living in Guadeloupe for several years, to sing the famous Pa Coué Sa Doudou, and the no less famous Ou Mal Tomber. Two songs in the purest Ibo style, directly descended from the tradition of the Igbo people in Nigeria, where the accordion is king. The lyrics, as always mischievous, are remarkably well set to music by Volel’s charming voice. The EP is, of course, rounded off by a compas direct, Mondor, an indispensable Haitian marker. The little 45 is published by Disques Jojo, the forerunners of GD Production, Georges Debs’ label.