Rara in Haiti

To coincide with the release of the Kanaval book, Soul Jazz Records are also releasing Rara in Haiti. Rara is the music played throughout Kanaval, an anarchic folk-meets-punk collision of drums, voices and bamboo sticks which all creates an exciting, energizing soundtrack to Kanaval in Haiti. Rara bands tour the countryside for days accosting people, car drivers and anyone in their way, demanding payment before they move on and the crowd of musicians and singers gets bigger all the time. This music was recorded by Soul Jazz Records in Port-au-Prince and coincides with Soul Jazz reissuing another of their Haiti releases, Vodou: Spirits of Life and Voodoo Drums. The CD comes in limited mid-price box edition with extensive contextual sleevenotes by the writer Richard Fleming (author of Walking to Guantanamo).