“Jazz is coming from Africa”
Native of Montreal, Canada, and deeply rooted in the island of Haiti, Jowee Omicil is back with a new album, Love Matters. Discover today a first excerpt, his new music video titled “Mendé Lolo”, exclusively on PAM.
For Jowee, this track is a conversation between the Motherland and his birthplace : “Lolo the piccolo flute is the guru of Love while the bass is Africa. So the question is the Bass line and the answer is the Flute melody. Meanwhile there’s conversation going on with the other Percussions (piano, Rhodes & drums). Again it’s a Love story where Haitians ancestor from Guinea (Balla Mussa° me as a kid) is spreading love bracelets at a young age. The Journey ends with Jowee being Balla Moussa & only Love and the Sun remains.The groove is influenced by early 70th Hugh Masekela pockets.”
Jowee Omicil speaks many languages and plays just as many instruments – but prefers the saxophone. A son of Haitian emigrants, he grew up in Montreal. He started playing the sax at the church where his father was a minister, before studying at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, then moving to New York to launch his musical career – and, at times, confer with Ornette Coleman or accompany Roy Hargrove as part of the band RH Factor. He then lived in Haiti and Panama and settled in Paris a couple of years ago after signing with the Jazz Village label. Although ‘settled’ is perhaps not the best term to describe him. Retracing Jowee Omicil’s steps precisely would have required a satnav.
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