Henri Guédon (born May 22, 1944, in

Fort de France Fort-de-France (, , ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Martinique, an overseas department and region of France located in the Caribbean. History Before it was ceded to France by Spain in 1635, the area of Fort-de-France was known as Ig ...

Martinique Martinique ( ; or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the eastern Caribbean Sea. It was previously known as Iguanacaera which translates to iguana island in Carib language, Kariʼn ...

- died on February 12, 2006, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

after heart surgery) was a French

percussionist A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Ex ...

from Martinique. His first band was called La Contesta and he organised it when he was 20. He was awarded a Maracas d'or the first year the awards ran. In 1983, Philippe Langlais invited him to compose a mix of classical and jazz with his orchestra, the resulting composition called Opéra Triangulaire. He was a

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

champion 1963-65. Multiple albums fused Antillean rhythms with other music from around the world. Guedon was instrumental in exporting the new sound of 60s and 70s Latin - guaguanco,

boogaloo Boogaloo or bugalú (also: shing-a-ling, Latin boogaloo, Latin R&B) is a music genre, genre of Latin music and dance which was popular in the United States in the 1960s. Boogaloo originated in New York City mainly by stateside Puerto Ricans with ...

salsa Salsa most often refers to: * Salsa (food), a variety of sauces used as condiments * Salsa music, a popular style of Latin American music * Salsa (dance), a Latin dance associated with Salsa music Salsa or SALSA may also refer to: Arts and ent ...

descarga A descarga (literally ''discharge'' in Spanish) is an improvised jam session consisting of variations on Cuban music themes, primarily son montuno, but also guajira, bolero, guaracha and rumba. The genre is strongly influenced by jazz and it w ...

- to France and the rest of Europe. When Guedon began placing his percussion instruments at the front of the stage in the style of his great influence

Ray Barretto Raymundo "Ray" Barretto Pagán (April 29, 1929 – February 17, 2006) was an American percussionist and bandleader of Puerto Rican descent. Throughout his career as a percussionist, he played a wide variety of Latin music styles, as well as Lati ...

, French audience members found themselves shocked and intrigued. Soon enough, greats like El Conde and Pacheco were touring

. Were it not for Henri Guedon, Europe could have conceivably taken years to move forward from

mambo Mambo most often refers to: *Mambo (music), a Cuban musical form *Mambo (dance), a dance corresponding to mambo music Mambo may also refer to: Music * Mambo section, a section in arrangements of some types of Afro-Caribbean music, particul ...

and cha-cha-cha.

Discography

* ''Zouk Experience Percussion Des Antilles'' (Epic, 1977) * ''Afro Blue'' (Le Chant Du Monde 1982) * ''Afro Temple'' (Le Chant Du Monde 1984) * ''Nomadisme Musical Aux Caraibes'' (Bleu Caraibe, 1992)

Bibliography

(incomplete) *De l'onomatopée créole à la percussion (with Mauricette Catillon) *Écoute les Antilles (Armand 1984) *Percussions (Alphones Le Duc 1984)

References

External links

*

1944 births 2006 deaths People from Fort-de-France Martiniquais musicians French percussionists French male judoka 20th-century French musicians 20th-century French sportsmen {{Martinique-musician-stub