A Cosmic Poet From Martinique 1979-1989

Description

Creole poetry, folkloric mysticism and cosmic synths with heavy groove combine in this unprecedented overview of the first four albums by spiritual Martinican Gratien Midonet. For Midonet, pushing musical boundaries was less a choice than an extension of his spirit. A self-taught guitarist and composer, drawing on childhood memories of bélé and beguine rhythms, Midonet's musical life developed in parallel with his academic and spiritual pursuits. Studying philosophy and psychopedagogy in France, it was his fascination with Pan-Africanism and animism that fuels the transcendent energy of his music. Although Midonet honed his sound in France, the four albums he released in the late 1970s and 1980s were heavily inspired by diasporic nostalgia, or what he describes as "the smells and colors... the subliminal noises... the fruity notes, memories of wakes, the bulging organ of the cathedral and the panting of drums" from his childhood home on the Caribbean island of Martinique. It was there that Midonet became a cult figure for the title track of his 1979 debut, Van An Lévè, which became a protest anthem for the island's independence movement, and was briefly censored by French authorities.