Tony Chasseur is Kréyol djaz

Meet this Martiniquan singer and Ambassador of Créole jazz

Tony Chasseur is a musician, singer, songwriter, and producer from the Caribbean island of Martinique. He was born on July 26, 1961, in Fort-de-France, Martinique.

Chasseur began his music career in the 1980s as a member of the band Malavoi, one of the most popular groups in the French Caribbean. He worked as the lead singer and co-writer for the band for over a decade and became known for his smooth and soulful vocals.

In 1995, Chasseur left Malavoi to pursue a solo career. He released his first album, “Inifini” in 1996, which featured a mix of Caribbean rhythms, jazz, and soul. He has since released several more albums, including “Mizik Sé Lanmou” (1998), “Eritaj” (2004), and “Konviksyon” (2014).

Chasseur’s music is known for its fusion of traditional Caribbean styles with modern influences. He often sings in Creole, the French-based language spoken in the French Caribbean, and his lyrics address social and political issues affecting the region.

Aside from his music career, Chasseur is also involved in cultural and political activism. He is a member of the cultural organization Groupe d’Action Martiniquais (GAM) and has been an advocate for Martinique’s independence from France.

In the sprit of that activism in music, he produced the radio programme Kréyol Djaz to play the music of his Antillena peer wo were not getting the exposure on French mainstream radio. In 2018, Guadeloupen trumpeter Franck Nicholas began a hunger strike on April 24 so that jazz from Guadeloupe and Martinique is accepted in festivals in France. In solidarity, CHasseur penned an open letter that expands on his advocacy for Creole jazz:

“For 30 years of my career, I was in all the news about contemporary music from Martinique, not to say from the Caribbean, with several tours and performances in various parts of the world. I appeared, at different levels, on a significant number of albums produced during these last 3 decades. In 2006, I created the first big band of Caribbean contemporary music, MizikOpéyi.

Since 2010, I am the producer and host of a radio show called “Kréyol Djaz” (Créole Jazz) for the France Television group, broadcast in Martinique, Guiana, Wallis & Futuna, La Réunion, Paris. This radio program allowed me to interview the creators of the genre of Créole jazz, from the pioneers: Alain JeanMarie, Mario Canonge, Jean-Claude Montredon) to the young generation (Grégory Privat, Stéphane Castry, Arnaud Dolmen, Franck Nicolas, and more. So, under this name are grouped the “Jazz” coming from creole lands in all parts of the globe, with characteristics and specificities which are unique to each region and each musician.

The name of this program is inspired by the comments from French festival directors and radio managers, filled with condescension and confirmed ostracism, which can be summarized as follows: “It is not Jazz”. That’s how they consider the Jazz creations coming from Creole lands and using the rhythms indigenous to each land as a rhythmic base, whatever the level of harmonic elaboration and improvisation — the historical bases of Jazz. Now, we can answer that as there was Latin Jazz or Afro Jazz, today there is “Créole Jazz”.

I even had to hear some remarks from festival directors ordering me “not to sing in Creole” in my performance.

It is clear that the actors of Creole Jazz are discredited and rarely scheduled, or not at all, at the major festivals in France, even if they represent the colors of our country on many stages abroad and receive there recognition and gratification for the quality of their performances.

This sectarianism, assumed in the network of festivals, justifies completely the position taken by Franck Nicolas and I support it without any reservation. It is inconceivable that France, rich in all these overseas cultural components, could let some sectarian individuals, finally with limited knowledge, deprive the French population of the diversity and creative wealth of these lands that are supposed to be in the Republic. They could be a world cultural force that participates in the renown of our country, by the originality and the power of the proposed works.

Please accept my testimony denouncing, like many others, these barriers, these walls, erected in our Republic by people whose function should be the presentation of all cultures that make up our country. It is also a great shout of irritation.

Tony Chasseur does not just talk the talk, he walks the walk. His radio programming, and increasingly, his production and compilation of Créole jazz, and extension Créole though and ideas — two volumes of Créole Jazz, and two volumes of readings of texts by the poet Aimé Césaire — which add to the canon of Caribbean music to be heard by the world, and importantly, to be validated by increased streams, and where relevant, sales and concert attendance increases.

In recognition of his contributions to music and culture, Chasseur has received numerous awards, including the Martinique Music Award for Best Male Artist in 2016 and the Medal of Honor from the city of Fort-de-France in 2019. WIth a career spanning more than three decades, the Kréyol djaz of this music ambassador has to be heard by all.

MIZIKOPéYI Creole Big Band (Aztec Musique / 3M, 2019)

MizikOpéyi is an interesting concept in the Caribbean; a big band in the style of the New Orleans big band but one that “combines swing in all its forms with the rhythms of the Antilles, with a rejuvenating modernity.”

Formed by former Malavoi lead singer Tony Chassseur and his fellow Martiniquan, pianist and arranger Thierry Vaton, the band mines the music of the French Antilles, Haiti and other Creole music sources globally. On this, the fourth album, the eponymous Creole Big Band covers the Creole music of the Caribbean and the overseas department of Réunion, and adds new tunes that showcase the band’s wide repertoire. It also fascinates with a sound that can rival any big band in the land of jazz, yet is suffused with a kind of Caribbean fusion originality. Guest soloists include Jacques SchwarzBart, Franck Nicolas, Orlando Valle, Alain JeanMarie and Michel Alibo, and more. A new favourite for the seeker of Caribbean excellence.

Caribbean Beat

Martniquan singer Tony Chasseur calls his music kréyol djaz (creole jazz in its native form): “jazz coming from creole lands in all parts of the globe using the rhythms endemic to each land as a rhythmic base, whatever the level of harmonic elaboration and improvisation.” This reorientation of the jazz aesthtic away from the U.S. is heartening in our Caribbean space. Raise is the new supergroup of Antillean music stars; along with Chasseur are Ronald Tulle on piano , Michel Alibo on bass, Thomas Belon on drums and Alain Dracius on percussion. Sublime musicianship by all guides the listener to places where the primacy of zouk and other Caribbean rhythms create an elegant counterpoint to modern soul-jazz music. There are songs to make one dance on this album, there are songs to make one sing along to, even if kréyol is not your primary language. Tulle’s playing shines here on songs like “Dous O Péyi” while Chasseur’s voice has the tone that keeps listeners attached to the sound.

Caribbean Beat

Available