LIVE PERFORMANCE BUZZ
The title of the show was simply “Gifrants Live”, but it could have been easily “A night to remember.” Indeed, from his first tune entitled “Dyaspora” to the last one “Ma Taye Latcha Mimi”, the smooth and sensuous voice of Gifrants took the audience to an island of musical pleasure with a clear display of soulful vibrations of Haitian music flavored with jazz, Brazilian and Latin influence. He conveyed a wide range of emotions and feelings such as his love (Amourèz e Zanmi—Friend and Lover), nostalgia (Dyaspora—I am an immigrant), life struggle (Simbi, sove mwa—Simbi, help me out), desire (Tonfwi Defandi—Your forbidden fruit) with an amazing depth and easiness that characterizes and dignifies true talent and professionalism.  His elegant dance steps offered a charmingly burning tease for the eyes that exudes a hypnotic sensuality and many in the audience fell under his spell. The choice of the instrumentation would have been ordinary if the presence of the harmonica under the vibrant and slick touch of the virtuoso Michael Wright did not bring such a delectable freshness that exploded under the clapping of this large enthusiastic audience whenever he played.  With the groovy sounds of Jane Wang on upright bass, the funky guitar playing of Patrick Mottaz, the jazzy chops of Gilad Barkan on piano, syncopated rhythms of Andreas Brade on drums and Atibon Nazaire on percussion, the performance of Gifrants at BAM Café was very impressive. Moreover, it did reveal without a doubt a Haitian music at its best and truly, the music of Gifrants can be considered as a strong and tangible reference when it comes to Haitian Creole Jazz.