Léspri Ka: New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-2010

by Séance Centre

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TheSlowMusicMovement If you're unaware of the power & beauty of Guadeloupean music then hit play on what is sure to be one of the compilations of 2022. It's a deeper than deep selection soaked in Afro spirituality, jazz licks, Caribe soul, historic hardship, resilience, joy & love and those impossible to ignore calls to dancefloor catharsis so prevalent in African diasporic music.

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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2LP Vinyl Edition w/ Insert
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Double LP with 4 page insert including a commissioned essay by Guadeloupean musician Marie-Line Dahomey, and extensive liner notes from the curators.

Includes unlimited streaming of Léspri Ka: New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-2010 via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Dao - Chen'n La 08:14	buy track
2.	Gaoulé Mizik - Sonné Lékla Sonné 06:23	buy track
3.	Emboule Jean-Claude, Louison Gerome et Le Groupe Kako - Enjafann Kann 05:26	buy track
4.	Thibault "Freydy" Doressamy - O Fon A Kê An Nou 05:14	buy track
5.	Gui Konket - Kimbé Rèd! 04:15	buy track
6.	Michel Laurent - Matla La Mouyé 04:01	buy track
7.	Horizon - Ti Malo 06:42	buy track
8.	Kalindi Ka - Yo 04:15	buy track
9.	Selekta Ka - Nou Woukou Mansé A Zero 07:14	buy track
10.	Groupe Béloka - Menm Chimen-La 05:18	buy track

about

The innovative, radical soul of Guadeloupe explored across thirty years of contemporary gwoka music, released by Time Capsule and Séance Centre.

As Guadeloupean vocalist and composer Marie-Line Dahomay writes in her liner notes to the compilation, gwoka is more than a style of music, it is “a way of living and thinking.” Rooted in the social, musical and ritual practices of enslaved African people and their descendants on Guadeloupe, gwoka has always sought to express the spirit of independence and resistance authentic to the island. Building on its traditional call-and-response form and the ideas of pivotal figures like Gérard Lockel and Christian Laviso, modern gwoka evolved throughout the second half of the twentieth century to include funk, jazz and electronic influences.

Defined by its propensity for innovation, this compilation charts the most radical changes to modern gwoka, capturing a sensory riot of traditional répertoires, rhythms and makè techniques fused with genre-defying experimentation. Whether heard in the deeply cosmic, spiritual music of Dao, Freydy Doressamy and Gaoulé Mizik, or the jazz funk inflections of Gui Konket and Horizon, the music here is united by the feeling of santiman ka, crucial not only to gwoka music but the identity of Guadeloupe at large.

As co-curator Cédric Lassonde (Beauty & The Beat) writes: “What unifies these selections is the depth of the compositions, the experimentation around the santiman ka, and the spirit of resistance and liberation against slavery, be it modern or ancestral. With a thirst for innovation typical of the island’s creole culture, the ka spirit is deeply rooted in collective history and in a quest for identity.”

Co-curator Brandon Hocura (Séance Centre) continues: “The creative energy of these musicians is powerful and demonstrates a universal pursuit of resistance, freedom and identity. Their voices are distinct, but the chorus rises high and carries their message far across the sea.”

Lèsprit Ka: New Directions in Gwoka Music from Guadeloupe 1981-2010 is the first compilation of its kind to bring the sound of modern gwoka to a wider audience, with many of the featured musicians still active today. Presented as a double LP, the release features a specially commissioned essay by Guadeloupean musician Marie-Line Dahomey, and extensive liner notes from the curators.

True to the hybrid nature of the music, the compilation seeks not to provide a definitive sound, but express the variety of contemporary forms that have evolved from gwoka. Just as Guadeloupean trailblazers Kassav fused gwoka with funk and cadence to create zouk, so did the musicians on this collection push gwoka in new directions rarely heard beyond its shores.

In the words of Gérard Lockel, “gwoka is the soul of Guadeloupe”.

credits

released January 28, 2022

Remaster: Stuart Hawkes (Metropolis Studios, UK)
Curators: Cédric Lassonde & Brandon Hocura
Artwork/Design: Alan Briand
Reissue production: Kay Suzuki & Naomi Okabe

Release by Time Capsule & Séance Centre
TIME012 / 25SC

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Séance Centre Ontario

Séance Centre is a label, publisher, and distributor conjuring timeless music from the past, present and future.

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