Grand Baton

Montgomery News (montgomerynews.com)

Entertainment
The ka drum beats on in the heart of Grand Baton
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
By Sam Ellison

Ever heard of the ka drum? If you haven’t, don’t feel too bad because most people are completely clueless as well. As a boy, the lead singer/guitarist of Grand Baton, Jean-Christophe Maillard, got to know this type of drum very well.

On the French island of Guadalupe, in the Caribbean, Maillard became accustomed to a broad spectrum of music. Growing up, he was introduced to music by joining the church band and becoming proficient at the piano and the guitar by performing not only at the church, but also at carnivals throughout the town.

He says, “The priest wanted to have a band playing on Sundays.” He also refined his skills by practicing with a band mate who taught him all the basics. “Since I was 11 years old, a guy taught me everything from the beginning and we rehearsed every Friday night and we would just jam.”

However, it wasn’t until he moved to Paris, France, at 15 years old, that his music career kicked off.

Although the move was mostly for studies, he refined his musical talent there as he began performing and collaborating with many African and Caribbean artists, including Angélique Kidjo, a Grammy Award-winning Beninese singer-songwriter. But the thing that sets Grand Baton and their leader, Maillard, apart from any other band is their dedication to their heritage and history.

Back to the ka drum — this is the heart and soul of Grand Baton. The ka drum is no traditional drum; its sound resonates loud and clear in each and every song in combination with Maillard’s vocals and guitar play and the rest of the band. The history of the drum has a close relationship with the history of slavery on the island.

Maillard recalls, “As the slaves gathered on Saturday nights to keep their morale afloat, they would use the drums and they would get the energy to work as well, but the parties were held to talk about rebellion, so they started to play the drums. Nowadays in Guadalupe, every island has a very different language range of rhythms and you can measure how much was lost in the slavery.”

Back in the 1970s, during Guadalupe’s big movement for independence, the citizens brought the drum back from oblivion. Maillard believes, “People play it nowadays in parties, but otherwise, it almost disappears.” Maillard grew up with it and he wanted to use that energy as the root of all the band’s music, whether it has been mixed or not.

Gwoka is the term used to define traditional music with the ka drum and Maillard reiterates, “You must remember that the music was originally drums and voices. The drums were playing, one singer, and the crowd responding; the singer starts a song and the sentences are really short, and after each verse or sentence, the crowd sings the chorus. And you would keep the energy and system and focus on the trance.”

After his tenure in Paris, Maillard decided to take a chance and moved to The Big Apple because the people in America responded to his music better than the French did, despite the fact that most Americans don’t actually understand what he’s saying.

Similarly to Grand Baton’s belief in keeping the heritage of the ka drum within its distinctive style, the band chooses to keep most of the lyrics in Creole.

“The lyrics are 98 percent Creole. When I first started, it sounded obvious to sing in Creole with use of the ka drum, and it was also part of the whole philosophy of what I’m trying to do. Nowadays in Guadalupe, there are not so many songs written in the true language. I started to realize they were writing more and more in French and less in Creole.”

Now the question is that if it’s in Creole, how will people know what he’s saying? How will we be able to connect? This is the power of music: It can penetrate through the barriers of language and create such a sound that lyrics almost become obsolete.

Maillard says, “I’m writing more and more songs with English and Creole because I don’t want to bother people with translation, but it’s all about music. Maybe it’s good because you have something to search for and a whole story to get into and a new culture to learn about. But it’s important to keep your own language and tradition when you travel around the globe.”

Often called the Creole version of the White Stripes, Grand Baton combines its Caribbean roots, native language and progressive rock/metal influences into something extraordinary. Grand Baton will be performing live in Doylestown at Puck on June 11 at 8 p.m. So pick up a copy of their latest CD and let the journey begin.

IF YOU GO:

Grand Baton

will perform

at Puck, Printers Alley,

Doylestown, PA 18901

Friday, June 11, 8:30 p.m.

Tickets: $8.

Info: 215-348-9000 or

http://www.pucklive.com.
URL: http://www.montgomerynews.com/articles/2010/06/08/entertainment/doc4c0e98efe3bbe931302535.prt
© 2010 MontgomeryNews.com, a Journal Register Property

- Montgomery News

Le Grand Baton: Le Grand Baton
Here at the Sea, we're all about introducing eclectic new sounds to you, the adventurous listener. Among our latest discoveries is Le Grand Baton – a percussion-heavy collective with members hailing from France, the Caribbean and the United States with a sound revolving around the Ka drum. That particular instrument, popular in Saint Lucian folk music, is played on the ground rather than upright, giving it an altogether distinct sound. Many members of this self-proclaimed "voodoo rock band" play it on <i>Le Grand Baton</i>, infusing 15 Creole-sung songs with a rhythmic sensibility that will rattle your ears and shake your brain. The drums, combined with electric guitar and the strong, often-falsetto voice of Jean-Christophe Maillard, listed in the credits as Mbutu (Creole for "drumstick"), deliver a universal message — one in which polyrhythmic pulses and righteous riffs trump language barriers. Think King Crimson gone tribal, or a more kinetic Peter Gabriel, or maybe a less frenetic System of a Down. The brief spoken-word passages can be annoying, and at times you might feel completely lost if you're unable to get to the same headspace as these guys. But lost in a good way, as you let the ethno-prog sounds of Le Grand Baton transport you to another place and time.
Added: July 22nd 2008
Reviewer: Michael Popke
Score:
Related Link: http://Myspace.com/grandbaton
Hits: 751
Language: english

This article comes from Sea of Tranquility
http://www.seaoftranquility.org

The URL for this story is:
http://www.seaoftranquility.org/reviews.php?op=showcontent&id=6595
- Sea of Tranquility

Member: ffroyd (Profile) (All Album Reviews by ffroyd)
Format: CD (Album)

I like new music. By the term new music, I’m not just referring to something that has just been released. I mean something in a style that I haven’t heard before…something groundbreaking…something truly…progressive. Le Grand Baton is a band that fits that description very well. Their management recently contacted me and after hearing one track I was immediately attracted to this strange and wonderful music. It is rare that I’m drawn to new music this quickly but Le Grand Baton has me hooked.

The project centers on guitarist, vocalist and composer Jean-Christophe Maillard, a native Caribbean who incorporates his island heritage into a very unique style of rock music. Maillard also goes by the nickname Mbutu, which comes from the Creole word “boutou” meaning drumstick. Also involved in Le Grand Baton is world-renowned drummer Pascal Rey and percussionist Phillip Makaïa. While Mbutu plays all of the guitars, he has a few guests playing bass in Etienne Mbappe & Cyrlie Nobilet.

As you might have already surmised, percussion plays a huge role in the sound of Le Grand Baton. In fact, the central instrument used to create this music is the Ka drum. Long regarded as taboo because of its implications to slavery, the instrument has recently been brought back into the culture as a weapon of the artists. A revolutionary new music called “Rude Ka” or “Gwoka” has developed in the Caribbean region as a result. The music incorporates the heaviness of hard rock and heavy metal music with the haunting rhythms of the Ka drum and other island percussions. It is a truly unique and captivating style of music.

The first few seconds of the album made be think of the title track from Steve Walsh’s Glossolalia album. The intro to “Ou Laka Palé” has a heavy guitar and tribal rhythm that is very similar and had me worried for a little. Fortunately this is the only part of the album where I hear an almost identical riff and it’s most likely coincidental. The music goes through an amazing amount of different moods throughout the disc. There are excellent world music elements that dwell on the poppier end of the spectrum but always in a sophisticated and enjoyable way. On the other side of the coin, the band can totally rock and at times very, very heavy. There are moments on here that remind me of Sleepytime Gorilla Museum a bit. The lyrics are sung in the Creole language and remind me of some of the better French and French Canadian prog out there. The vocals especially sounded like Pollen’s Jacques Tom Rivest to me. They also have a more experimental/avant-garde edge and space rock elements that make the music all the more diverse. Also, if you enjoy the stuff King Crimson was doing in the 1980s, you should find a good bit to enjoy here as well.

I tell ya, I am completely in awe of this CD. Le Grand Baton is an impressive new force in the world music scene and they have received warm accolades from many well-respected members of the musical community already. I urge you to check out the tracks on the bands Myspace page page and I have a strong feeling that you’ll be just as thrilled as I was upon listening to this music for the first time. I would highly recommend this. I wish more new music was as original as this.


- Progressive Ears

A very interesting cd this Le Grand Baton, a project of French musician Mbutu (Jean-Christophe Maillard, who originates from Guadeloupe.

The music features some traditional drums from les Caraïbes, so it offers a "World music" mood to the listener, even though it is often driven by aggresive electric guitars played in a manner that could remind of Steven Wilson's or Brett Kull's style. Some of Peter Gabriel more intense music could also be an acceptable reference. Because of that, I think that that fans of the heavier side of Prog should be interested by Le Grand Baton.

Mbutu sings in creole and he has a voice that really reminds me of Québécois singer Luck Merville (born in Haiti), that also put out an album in creole in 2004 ( Ti peyi a). In my opinion, this is quite a compliment I make, Merville having reached a star status in Canada and in francophone Europe.

Le Grand Baton is an excellent album to seek out for listeners of "World music" with a rock edge. Take a listen via the band's myspace page. Highly recommended. - Proggnosis.com

Prolusion. LE GRAND BATON is a band project lead by Jean-Christophe Maillard, also known as Mbutu, a native Caribbean living in France. The rest of the band apparently has an international flavor, as the group’s homepage lists Paris and New York City as other geographical locations for the outfit. Mbutu apparently has made a name for himself in a musical style known as Gwoka, and this current project mixes this ethnic musical genre with rock.

Analysis. The main and dominant instrument on this creation is a drum known as Ka. With references to the ancient tragic history of the slave trade it's also known as a "slave drum". This goat-skin covered rhythm instrument has a peculiar sound, but it's the way it is utilized and played on these compositions that really makes an impact. Mixed with regular drums, the groovy patterns served by the combination of these rhythm instruments have a distinct ethnic feel to them, world music or folk music, but with an edge. Voodoo is a key word here, I guess; the band describes themselves as "the true voodoo children" and there's a distinct tribal feel of the dark kind seeping through most of these songs, where the rhythmic work sets up a foundation often wild as well as frenzied, the kind of rhythms you'd expect to hear when stumbling upon forbidden rites performed in the deep jungles, in celebration of nameless horrors and decadent excesses. The first half dozen compositions add twisted, dark rock music to these almost decadent, quirky rhythmic displays. Booming distorted bass lines or eerie melodic twists, with even more distorted guitar licks and riffs placed upon those, form dark and ominous compositions, the kind of music fitting for a post-apocalyptic zombie feast. Effective use of weird vocals and whispers in those creations enhance this atmosphere even more. On the rest of this CD there's a drastic change in the music explored: the melodies, moods and atmospheres calm down and mellow down, moving more and more towards jazz in style. The ethnic beats are still present and the rhythms may still be on the wild side at times, the compositions remain rather complex in nature, though the dark and ominous feel disappears. Slight remnants remain for a while, but as this production draws to a close with the long track Les Jours s'Allongent, we're in a different world altogether, as this creation is pretty close in style and sound to what an artist like Bendik Hofseth produced in the late ‘80s: mellow, melodic jazz with strong leanings towards pop and rock. This makes for a rather adventurous production in many aspects; the Caribbean ethnic rhythms and voodoo heritage mixed first with rock close to avant-garde and even punk in style at the start, the sudden change towards mellower rock and further evolvement towards jazz in stylistic expression is a daring one. Not always successful though, but none of the songs here comes across as fillers or as undeveloped either.

Conclusion. For liberal-minded followers of rock music that feel a variety of styles, moods and genres is a treat, this production should be worthwhile investigating. The compositions, especially the dark and somewhat brutal ones opening this album, may not be appealing at first; but many will find that over time they get more and more fascinating as one adjusts to this rather unique stylistic expression. The mix of ethnic music and rock may also attract the attentions of jazz- and folk-rock aficionados. The most conservative among them may find this release a tad difficult to relate to, but it should be of interest to quite a few among that crowd too.

OMB=Olav M Bjornsen: December 30, 2008 - Progressor.com