Simon Jurad – 1983

Simon Jurad learnt his trade well, starting out with La Perfecta in the mid-70s. He stayed with the group for several years before going solo. At the same time, he maintained strong links with Haiti, playing with the Frères Déjean, for example. And it’s all there in this delightful Simon Jurad from 1983. It’s not for nothing that Ronald Rubinel plays the piano, Paulo Rosine signs some of the arrangements, and the cream of Haitian music is present, from Eddy Brisseaux, to Polis Nozile, via Ulrick Bouzy. Above all, Joël and Mushy Widmaier accompany Jurad on the delicious Jessie En La Majeur. The album opens and closes with two compas/zouk anthologies, the mid-tempo Pitié, which even has some Congolese rumba guitar colours, and the explosive Pete Pak, which can’t reasonably leave anyone sitting on their chair! An opus of infectious good humour, also featuring Jean-Paul Pognon and Jean-Philippe Marthély.