Kassav', also alternatively spelled Kassav, is a French Caribbean band that originated from

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

in 1979. The band's musical style is rooted in the Guadeloupean gwoka rhythm, as well as the Martinican tibwa and Mendé rhythms. Regarded as one of the most influential bands in 20th-century French West Indies music, Kassav is often credited with pioneering the

zouk Zouk is a musical movement and dance pioneered by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the early 1980s. It was originally characterized by a fast tempo (120–145 bpm), a percussion-driven rhythm, and a loud horn section. Musicians from Mart ...

musical genre. Their musical evolution is a

synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors **Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organi ...

cadence-lypso Cadence-lypso is a fusion of cadence rampa from Haiti, Jazz, Blues and calypso music, calypso from Trinidad and Tobago that has also spread to other English speaking countries of the Caribbean. Originated in the 1970s by the Dominican band Exil ...

and

compas Compas (; ; ), also known as konpa or kompa, is a modern méringue dance music genre of Haiti. The genre was created by Nemours Jean-Baptiste following the creation of Ensemble Aux Callebasses in 1955, which became Ensemble Nemours Jean-Bapti ...

traditions. Despite initial resistance from French record labels, which disparaged their early works as excessively "too ethnic," Kassav' tenaciously persevered, collaborating with various West Indian music producers and distributing their music through Sonodisc. The term "kassav" in creole denotes a type of

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava, manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America, from Brazil, Paraguay and parts of the Andes. Although ...

pancake. The band's inception can be traced to Pierre-Edouard Décimus and Fréddy Marshall, members of the Guadeloupean ensemble Les Vikings, who aspired to innovate the island's traditional music by amalgamating it with contemporary influences. The integration of Georges Décimus, brother of Pierre-Edouard Décimus, and Jacob Desvarieux, a guitarist and arranger, significantly contributed to the band's gradual formation, with additional musicians subsequently joining Kassav'. Their debut studio album, ''Love and Kadance'', released in 1979, heralded the advent of zouk and served as the archetypical exemplar for the genre. With a discography of over 50 albums, encompassing both band and solo projects from its members, Kassav' has achieved significant international recognition. They were the first black group to perform in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

History

Kassav' was formed in 1979 by Pierre-Edouard Décimus (former musicians from the Les Vikings de Guadeloupe) and

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 ...

studio musician Jacob Desvarieux. Together and under the influence of well-known

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

an and Guadeloupean kadans or compas bands like Experience 7, Grammacks, Exile One, Les Aiglons, Tabou Combo, Les Freres Dejean, etc., they decided to make Guadeloupean carnival music recording it in a more fully orchestrated yet modern and polished style. The name of the band is

Antillean Creole Antillean French Creole (also known as Lesser Antillean Creole, Kreyol, or Patois) is a French-based creole languages, French-based creole language that is primarily spoken in the Lesser Antilles caribbean. Its grammar and vocabulary include ele ...

for a local dish made from

root. Kassav' is the creator of the fast carnival

Beton style. The

French Antilles The French West Indies or French Antilles (, ; ) are the parts of France located in the Antilles islands of the Caribbean: * The two Overseas department and region of France, overseas departments of: ** Guadeloupe, including the islands of Bass ...

' Kassav' was the first to apply the

MIDI Musical Instrument Digital Interface (; MIDI) is an American-Japanese technical standard that describes a communication protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, ...

technology to cadence and fused the genre with funk, and Makossa. Music of Guadeloupe and

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 ...

: * The gwo ka, traditional

music of Guadeloupe Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all human societies. Definitions of mu ...

, of which there are 7 versions (rhythmic) * The bélé, traditional music from Martinique, of which there are 11 variants (rhythmic) * The

biguine Biguine ( , ; ) is a rhythmic dance and music style that originated from Saint-Pierre, Martinique in the 19th century. It fuses West African traditional music genres, such as Bélé, with 19th-century French ballroom dance steps. History Two ...

music of Martinique * The chouval bwa, traditional music of Martinique associated with the city of Saint-Pierre * The

mazurka The Mazurka ( Polish: ''mazurek'') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character defined mostly by the prominent mazur's "strong accents unsystematically placed on the seco ...

and

quadrille The quadrille is a dance that was fashionable in late 18th- and 19th-century Europe and its colonies. The quadrille consists of a chain of four to six ''Contra dance, contredanses''. Latterly the quadrille was frequently danced to a medley of ope ...

, European music of the French Antilles * The

Compas Compas (; ; ), also known as konpa or kompa, is a modern méringue dance music genre of Haiti. The genre was created by Nemours Jean-Baptiste following the creation of Ensemble Aux Callebasses in 1955, which became Ensemble Nemours Jean-Bapti ...

, modern Haitian

méringue Méringue (; ), also called ''méringue lente'' or ''méringue de salon'' (''slow'' or ''salon'' méringue), is a dance music and national symbol in Haiti. It is a string-based style played on the guitar, horn section, piano, and other string ...

popularized by Nemours Jean-Baptiste in 1955 * The cadence rampa (kadans), alike

, a modern Haitian méringue popularized by Webert Sicot in the very early 1960s that spread to the Caribbean * The

cadence popularized by Exile One with Gordon Henderson and also interpreted by groups such as Grammacks with Jeff Joseph as a senior member. Experience 7 was a Guadeloupean

cadence In Classical music, Western musical theory, a cadence () is the end of a Phrase (music), phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution (music), resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don ...

band formed in the mid-1970s, led by Guy Houllier and Yves Honore. Most authors credit Décimus, his brother Georges, the band's bassist and Desvarieux as its inventors. Their first album was ''Love and Ka Dance'' (1980). The band gained popularity in their much-heralded live performances in the Parisian arena Zénith and toured widely. For a band ostensibly operating in a "narrowly focused" Caribbean dance-based new genre, their success and influence on other artists was remarkable, although they were most influenced by a veritable cornucopia of other styles as noted above. Kassav' continued to gain popularity both as a group and by several members' solo recordings and eventually peaked in 1985 with '' Yélélé'', which featured the international hit Zouk "la sé sèl médikaman nou ni" (meaning "Zouk is the only medicine we have" in French Antillean Creole). With this hit song, zouk rapidly became a widespread dance craze in

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

, and was popular in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, and

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

. Zouk performers became known for wildly theatrical concerts featuring special effects, stage spectacles and colorful costumes. One important contribution of Kassav' in concert was the appearance of featured dancers on stage with the band; these dancers were in many ways as much a part of the band as any musician. Kassav' has been noted by its acolytes and aficionados as a dance band par excellence. Among the strengths of Kassav' that helped lead to the group's success were and are its members' superior musicianship, songwriting and production skills, and worldwide audiences eager for lively dance music more sophisticated than the

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

-based styles that otherwise dominated dance music charts in that era. The especially gravelly singing voice of Desvarieux, Décimus's driving bass, Naimro's and Joseph's inventive keyboards and superior drum-machine-based and Vamur's solid

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

-inflected live percussion, along with dance party-inspiring simple French-creole lyrics are among unique Kassav' "trademarks". During his tenure with Kassav', St. Eloi's soaring vocals were another unique ingredient, and the romantic vocals of Marthely and Naimro's as well as Béroard's very strong vocals, a plethora of fun songs, and significant guest appearances including by

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

and others are important parts of the Kassav' mix. They have appeared with Admiral T, a famous

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its Jamaican diaspora, diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first ...

dancehall Dancehall is a genre of Jamaican popular music that originated in the late 1970s. Initially, dancehall was a more sparse version of reggae than the roots reggae, roots style, which had dominated much of the 1970s.Barrow, Steve & Dalton, Peter (2 ...

singer, and many other popular artists. Singer-songwriter/keyboardist Jean-Claude Naimro also appeared with

world beat Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural cont ...

artist

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and human rights activist. He came to prominence as the original frontman of the rock band Genesis. He left the band in 1975 and launched a solo career wit ...

. Lead vocalist Jocelyne Béroard has also had a number of successes both solo and as a guest with other artists, being the first woman artist in the Caribbean to win certain music awards; she continues to perform with Kassav' and as a solo artist. Jocelyne Béroard's stunning "amateur" photography of natural scenes and people seen from her unique traveling-artist perspective's island-paradise visuals could be cited among their songs' inspirations. The band's songs with a "political" edge or insinuation are typically double-entendre in the African-American and

calypsonian A calypsonian, originally known as a ''chantwell'', is a musician from the anglophone Caribbean who sings songs of the Calypso music, calypso genre. Calypsos are musical renditions having their origins in the West African griot tradition. Origin ...

traditions well known in Caribbean dance music from which the music of Kassav' evolved. Kassav' released another CD in 2007, ''All U Need Is Zouk'', to substantial acclaim with another successful world tour. Nearly 30 years later the same musicians are still arguably great performers . Originally formed solely of Guadeloupean artists (Decimus, Desvarieux, St-Eloi), within a few years Kassav' also embraced band members of Martinican ancestry (Béroard, Naimro, Marthely); their music is mostly

that delved deep into synthesized sounds after exploring many acoustic timbres, with rhythms based fundamentally in a gwo ka (French Caribbean folkloric drumming/chanting) context, especially in earlier recordings. It has been suggested that their success was largely outside of the large U.S. music market due to a nearly total absence of English lyrics; instead, they use a very localized version of ''Créole Français'' unique to Guadeloupe and Martinique, very distinct from European French or even Haitian French ''Kreyòl.'' Their choice of language however did not limit their artistic vision, and it remains carnival-like and eminently danceable; the success of Kassav' was ongoing in the 2010s. On 30 July 2021, Jacob Desvarieux, 65, died at the University Hospital of Abymes in Guadeloupe. He had been medically induced into a coma for almost a month. His death was attributed to COVID-19 by media reports.

Musicians

Current

* Vocals: Jean Philippe Marthely (1981–present), Jocelyne Beroard (1980–present) * Keyboards: Philippe Joseph (1994–present), Jean Claude Naimro (1980–present) * Drums: Thomas Bellon (2012–present) * Saxophones: Claude Pironneau (1999–present) * Bass: Georges Decimus (1979–present) * Trumpets: **Fabrice Adam (1994–present) * Trombone: Hamid Belhocine (1982–present) * Backing vocals: Marie-Céline Chroné et Marie-Josée Gibon

Past

* Drums: Claude Vamur (temporarily replaced by Hervé Laval, although Vamur did not leave the group) * Percussion: Patrick Saint-Elie * Percussion: César Durcin (died 11 February 2016) * Saxophones: Claude Thirifays * Trumpets: Jean-Pierre Ramirez, Freddy Hovsepian (1982–2021) (died 12 February 2021) * Trombone: Claude Romano, Pierre Chabrèle * Backing vocals: Catherine Laupa * Keyboards: Douglas M Bida * Bass: Frédéric Caracas, Pierre Edouard Decimus, Guy n Sangué et Stéphane Castry * Vocals: Patrick Saint Eloi 1982 - 2002 (died 18 September 2010) * Vocals: Jacob Desvarieux 1979 – 2021 (died 30 July 2021)

Guests

* Vocals: Zouk Machine, Jean Luc Guanel, Princess Lover, Tanya Saint Val, Shoubou, Philippe Lavil, Daly, Passi, Tony Chasseur, Jocelyne Labylle, Tribal Jam, Edith Lefel, (died 20 January 2003), Ralph Thamar. * Backing Vocals: Claudine Pennont, Suzy Trébeau, Sylvie Aïoun, Jean-Jacques Seba * Drums: Jean-Philippe Fanfant, José Zébina, Jérome Castry * Percussion: Dédé Saint Prix, Albert Vigne * Keyboards: Ronald Tulle, Thierry Vaton, Didier Davidas * Guitars: Thierry Delannay, Ryco Loza (died 24 February 2022), Jean Christophe Maillard * Saxophones: Allen Hoist, Alain Hatot (died 16 December 2020), Bruno Ribeira

Discography

Albums

;Studio albums * 1979 ''Love and kadance'' * 1980 ''Lagué mwen'' * 1981 ''Kassav n°3'' * 1982 ''George Décimus with Kassav (joint album George Décimus / Kassav') * 1983 ''Kassav'' * 1983 ''Kassav n°5'' * 1983 ''Passeport'' * 1984 ''Ayé'' * 1985 ''An-ba-chen'n la'' (2× Gold) * 1987 '' Vini Pou'' (Gold and Platinum) * 1989 '' Majestik Zouk'' (2× Gold) * 1992 ''Tékit izi'' (2× Gold) * 1995 ''Difé'' ;Live albums * 1987 ''Kassav au Zenith'' * 1990 ''Le Grand Méchant Zouk'' * 1993 ''Live au Zénith'' * 1996 ''Kassav cho'' * 2005 ''Carnaval Tour 2005'' (FR #124) * 2006 ''Le Grand Méchant Zouk'' ;Compilation albums * 1987 ''Les Grand Succès de Kassav vol.1'' * 1987 ''Les Grand Succès de Kassav vol.2'' * 1998 ''Kassav Gold'' * 1998 ''Un toque latino'' * 1999 ''Le Meilleur de Kassav : Best of 20e anniversaire'' * 2002 ''Les Indispensables de Kassav'' * 2003 ''Légendes Kassav'' * 2006 ''Best of'' * 2006 ''Kassav: Les années sonodisc'' * 2009 ''Saga'' (3 CD with 53 remastered numbers and 4 unedited) (FR #45) * 2012 ''Le meilleur de Kassav (FR #20)

Singles

(Selective, charting)

DVDs

* 1999 ''Les 20 ans de KASSAV à Bercy'' * 2005 ''Carnaval tour'' * 2006 ''Le grand méchant zouk'' * 2008 ''All u need is zouk tour'' * 2009 ''Nuit créole les 30 ans de KASSAV au Stade de France''

Discography (members)

;Joint with others * 2006 ''Partie pour zouker'' (Lorie & Jacob Desvarieux) * 2007 ''Fòs a péyi la'' ( Admiral T, Jacob Desvarieux & Jocelyne Beroard)

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kassav Zouk musicians Musical groups established in 1979 1979 establishments in Guadeloupe Guadeloupean musical groups Recipients of orders, decorations, and medals of Senegal