Frantz Casseus (14 December 1915 – 3 June 1993) was a

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

an-American

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselv ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Born and raised in

Port-au-Prince Port-au-Prince ( , ; ht, Pòtoprens ) is the capital and most populous city of Haiti. The city's population was estimated at 987,311 in 2015 with the metropolitan area estimated at a population of 2,618,894. The metropolitan area is define ...

, he spent most of his adult life in the United States where he immigrated in 1946 hoping to meet pianist

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

. Though influenced by jazz and European classical music, Casseus's compositions maintained a focus on Haitian folk forms, which he incorporated into his recordings and his published compositions. Casseus was a frequent collaborator with Harry Belafonte who recorded his song "Merci Bon Dieu". Casseus played on Belafonte's successful 1955 adaptation of "

Day-O "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" is a traditional Jamaican folk song. The song has mento influences, but it is commonly classified as an example of the better known calypso music. It is a call and response work song, from the point of view ...

", a Jamaican folk song. Between 1953 and 1969, Casseus recorded three albums for Smithsonian Folkways. Casseus wrote music until the last years of his life, but from the 1970s tendonitis in his left hand curtailed his performance and recording career. Casseus was an early guitar teacher to the American musician Marc Ribot (b. 1954), whose aunt and uncle were friends of Casseus. Ribot has played a significant role in preserving Casseus' musical legacy.Ribot, Marc
"Frantz Casseus"
''BOMB Magazine'', Winter, 2003. As part of these efforts, Ribot edited a collection of Casseus' solo guitar compositions, and performed those same pieces on a CD issued in 1993.Ribot, Marc (1993). ''

Marc Ribot Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus ''Marc Ribot Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus'' is a 1993 album of solo guitar works by Haitian-American composer Frantz Casseus recorded by Marc Ribot and released on the Belgian label, Les Disques du Crepuscule. Ribot studied classical ...

'' D Brussels: Les Disques du Crepuscule.

References

Discography

*
Haitian Folks Songs
' Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (1953); duets with singer Lolita Cuevas *
Haitian Dances
' Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (1954); solo guitar *
Haitiana
' Smithsonian Folkways Recordings (Afro-Carib) (1969); duets with singer Barbara Perlow * ''Marc Ribot Plays Solo Guitar Works of Frantz Casseus'', Les Disques du Crépuscule (1993); solo guitar pieces performed by Marc Ribot

External links

* 1915 births 1993 deaths Composers for the classical guitar Haitian composers 20th-century Haitian musicians Haitian emigrants to the United States {{Haiti-musician-stub