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37-817: The West Indian Day Parade Carnival is an annual celebration of West Indian culture, held annually on around the first Monday of September in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn in New York City . It is organized by the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA). The main event is the West Indian Day Parade (also known as simply the Labor Day Parade ), which attracts between one and three million participants. The spectators and participators watch and follow

74-450: A blunt message: "This community will no longer tolerate this violence. Do not shoot anyone. Do not stab anyone." On September 4, 2023, One male accidentally shot himself at Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue. In another incident, one male was shot and two stabbed and slashed during a fight at 1187 Eastern Parkway. On September 2, 2024, a mass shooting occurred when a lone gunman jumped onto

111-588: A dominance on the Caribbean and many places in European and South American music scenes. The band Tabou Combo , perhaps one of the most legendary compas ensembles, took the musical style to greater heights when they toured countries like Senegal and Japan during their world tours. Their performances in Panama enamored the population, earning them the title of "Official Panamanian Band". The band's impact on local Panamanian music

148-460: A fatal stabbing, in the hours before the parade. On September 5, 2016, during pre-parade celebrations, two people were shot and killed and five others wounded in attacks. The attacks occurred despite the NYPD doubling the number of officers patrolling the neighborhood, installing 42 new security cameras and erecting 200 light towers. Police also distributed fliers, in conjunction with community groups, with

185-426: A further three individuals were wounded in several shootings. On September 7, 2015, a pre-parade J'ouvert celebration was marred by violence when, at 3:41 a.m., gunfire hit lawyer Carey Gabay in the head. Gabay was an aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and first deputy counsel at Empire State Development Corporation . Gabay died nine days later. The shooting was one of several violent episodes, including

222-409: A number of groups from Port-au-Prince neighbourhoods, especially the suburb of Pétion-Ville . Les Corvington, Tabou Combo, Les Difficiles, Les Loups Noirs, Les Frères DéJean, Les Fantaisistes de Carrefour, Bossa Combo and Les Ambassadeurs (among others) formed the core of this middle-class popular music movement. These young musicians were critical in the creation of new techniques that contribute to

259-527: A prominent Haitian saxophone player and the originator of cadence rampa, recorded three LPs with French Antilles producers, two with Celini disques in Guadeloupe and one with "Balthazar" in Martinique. Haitian compas or cadence bands were asked to integrate Antillean musicians. Consequently, the leading Les Guais Troubadours with influential singer Louis Lahens, along with other bands, played a very important role in

296-592: A street divider and fired into the crowd, striking five people of the parade spectators. The victims were aged between 16-69 years old. One of the victims was fatally shot. West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago ). In the 1597 Oxford English Dictionary (OED), the term West Indian initially described the indigenous inhabitants of

333-637: A strong distinguishable feature of the méringue. Nemours Jean-Baptiste presented his Ensemble Aux Calebasses in 1955 (named after the club Aux Calebasses located at Carrefour, a western neighborhood of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital, where the band used to perform on weekends). At the beginning, Ensemble ‘Aux Callebasses‘ Of Nemours Jean-Baptiste played rhythms such as Cuba's guaracha and cha-cha-chá as well as Haiti's Bannann Pouyak, Grenn Moudong, and méringue lente. In 1957, Nemours Jean-Baptiste created compas, which has its roots in Haitian traditional méringue and

370-461: A variety of Caribbean musics including calypso , soca (soul/calypso), reggae , and compas . In 2020, the parade was cancelled due to COVID-19 by order of Mayor of New York Bill de Blasio , who canceled all permits for large-scale events through September 2020. The parade was replaced by a virtual event . While the parade did plan to return for 2021, on August 18 that year the WIADCA announced that

407-649: Is danced in pairs. Sometimes partners dance holding each other tightly and romantically; in this case often most of the moves are made at the hips. With the Kwaze le 8 Contredanse from southern Haiti, the compas is part of Haitian culture. During the 1970s and 1980s, it was very successful in the Caribbean and contributed to the influence of Zouk in the French West Indies. Nevertheless, Zouk and its rhythm are still mainly influenced by Mazouk and Biguine from Martinique, as well as by Gwoka from Guadeloupe, traditional music from

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444-628: Is the talented Tito Paris dança ma mi Criola (1994), one of the most popular songs of all time in Cabo Verde; this CD contained music close to Haiti Tabou Combo, Caribbean Sextet, Tropicana and French Antilles Kassav', etc. Cape Verdean artists were exposed to zouk and compas in the US and France. Acculturation has been aided by the growth of overseas communities (especially in New England) whose population now exceeds that of Cape Verde itself (about 300,000). Today,

481-683: The Carnival in Harlem in Upper Manhattan , New York City, in the 1930s by staging costume parties in large, enclosed places such as the Savoy , Renaissance and Audubon Ballrooms due to the cold wintry weather of February. This is the usual time for the pre- Lenten celebrations of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival and other related celebrations around the world. However, because of the very nature of Carnival, and

518-547: The Vodou traditional rhythms . Its popularity took off likely due to the genre's ability to improvise and hold the rhythm section steady and the facility with which dancers could absorb, feel and express the new rhythm. Nemours Jean-Baptiste incorporated a lot of brass and, in 1958, the first electric guitar in Haitian urban dance music. Compas is sung in Creole, English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Nemours' popularity grew in and out of

555-496: The parade on its route along Eastern Parkway . Some of the West Indian or Caribbean islands represented in the parade include Trinidad and Tobago , Haiti , Barbados , Dominica , Saint Lucia , Jamaica , Saint Vincent and Grenada , along with some Afro-Panamanians . Mainland Caribbean countries such as Guyana , Suriname , and Belize also participate as well. Jessie Waddell and some of her West Indian friends started

592-538: The "n" (as in kompa ) even though it is considered a botched spelling translation that resulted from a phonetic misunderstanding between French and Haitian Creole, the latter with a newly standardized orthography which has only been established since 1979 that contains no m-sounding consonants before b’s and p’s unlike in French. During and after the US occupation, the word "jazz" has become synonymous with music bands in Haiti. So

629-534: The 1960s to the 1980s, Haitian artists and groups such as Claudette & Ti Pierre, Tabou Combo and especially Gesner Henry a.k.a. Coupé Cloué and the Dominican group Exile One were very popular in Africa. In addition, the French West Indies group Kassav' and other West Indian musicians, whose main music is Zouk, have toured Cabo Island on various occasions. Many Cape Verdean artists play zouk and compas. A good example

666-525: The French Antilles. In the 1960s, the coladeira emerged as a livelier counterpart to the morna. The coladeira is played in fast double time, accompanying informal pop-style couple dances. Its main influences seem to be obscure folk processional music of the same name, commercial African American music, the morna and, above all, modern French Caribbean pop music. Most often it is played by a modern dance band, i.e. with drums, bass, electric guitars, etc. From

703-808: The Guyanese superstar, Slingshot, and "Labor Day in Brooklyn" by the Mighty Sparrow . Jay-Z mentions the Labor Day Carnival on his hit song " Empire State of Mind " (2009), when he says "3 dice Cee-lo, 3 card monte, Labor Day Parade, rest in peace Bob Marley". There are also popular Haitian bands with their powerful meringue - compas music on the parkway, such as T-Vice , Tabou Combo , Konpa Kreyol/Kreyol La, Sweet Micky , Phantoms, Carimi, Djakout, D.P. Express and many more popular bands. A string of fatal and non-fatal shootings and stabbings has occurred on and near

740-558: The West Indian-American Day Carnival Association, obtained approval for the parade to be established on Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn, where it remains today. Throughout the 1970s groups of colorfully clad masqueraders (“mas bands”) “wined” (danced) down the Parkway to the music of Trinidad-style steel bands ( steelpan ). Those steel bands were eventually replaced by powerful, truck-mounted sound systems that played

777-641: The West Indies, by 1661 the term defined "an inhabitant or native of the West Indies, of European origin or descent." In the 1950s, coinciding with decolonization and the arrival of Afro-Caribbean migrants in the United Kingdom, West Indian referred to those who were Black. Inclusively, in 1961 all inhabitants of the West Indies Federation were termed West Indian regardless of their descent, besides West indian Indo-Caribbean people sometimes also use

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814-599: The band. This is why hits like "Ti Carole" and "Chagrin D'amour", featured by known Dominican stars Luis Miguel and others, are also sung in Spanish. In the early 1960s Nemours and the Sicot Brothers from Haiti frequently toured the Caribbean, especially Curaçao, Aruba, Saint Lucia, Dominica and mostly the French Islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe to spread the seed of the méringue-compas and cadence rampa . Webert Sicot ,

851-603: The committee contributed in helping to organize the parade. The after-parade party, which the Trinidad Carnival Pageant Committee held at the Golden Gate Ballroom , was arranged by James M. Green , another figure who helped make the first Carnival Parade in Harlem successful. The permit for the Harlem parade was revoked in 1964. Five years later, a committee headed by Carlos Lezama, which eventually became

888-500: The country. The band's clean horn section was remarkable, and the band featured méringue tunes that gained instant popularity. For example, in Martinique , several music groups such as Ensemble Abricot, Les Djoubap, Combo Jazz, Georges Plonquitte (fr) (Vini Dance Compas Direct) won over the public with the many tunes or compositions of Nemours. Later, Nemours became a favorite of Dominican president Joaquín Balaguer , who often contracted

925-676: The fanciness of the style. Although Raymond Gaspard (Nemours) had already started it in the 1950s, guitar players such as Michel Corvington (Les Corvington), Henry Celestin (founder of Les Difficiles de Pétion Ville), Robert Martino (Les Difficiles/Gypsies/Scorpio/Topvice...), Dadou Pasket (Tabou combo/Magnum Band), Jean Claude Jean (Tabou Combo/Super Star...), Serge Rosenthal (Shleu-Shleu), Hans Felix, (Les Ambassadeurs/ Volo Volo de Boston ), Ricardo/Tiplum (Les Ambassadeurs), Claude Marcellin (Les Difficiles/D.P. Express/Zèklè...), Police Nozile (Les Frères Déjean/D.P. Express...) and many more have created intricate, mostly rhythmic guitar styles that constitute

962-453: The mini-jazz is a reduced méringue-compas band. The movement started in the mid-1960s when young, small neighborhood bands played compas featuring paired electric guitars , electric bass, drum set-conga- timbales and two cowbells, one for the timbales and the other to be played with the floor tom; some use an alto sax or a full horn section, others use a keyboard or accordion. This trend, launched by Shleu-Shleu after 1965, came to include

999-500: The most distinctive characteristics of compas is the consistent pulsating tanbou beat, a trait common to many styles of Caribbean music . Compas Direct (which is a trademark registered in the United States by Nemours Jean-Baptiste’s heirs Dr Yves Nemours Jean-Baptiste and Mrs. Yvrose Jean-Baptiste) translates as direct beat . In Creole , it is officially spelled as konpa , but it is most popularly spelled with an "m" in place of

1036-417: The need to parade in costume to music, indoor confinement did not work well. The earliest known Carnival street parade was held on September 1, 1947. The Trinidad Carnival Pageant Committee was the founding force behind the parade, which was held in Harlem. The parade route was along Seventh Avenue , starting at 110th St. The first Carnival Queen was Dorothy Godfrey . The Committee raised money to finance

1073-515: The one or two incidents that took place at the parade. Additionally during the 2011 West Indian Day Parade in Brooklyn, New York City councilman Jumaane Williams along with a few others were arrested for walking along a closed-off sidewalk, after stating he had received permission to do so from other officers. Several violent incidents took place after the official end of the 2012 parade. In separate incidents, two people were fatally stabbed, and two others were shot. In 2013, two men were murdered and

1110-524: The parade itself would once again be cancelled due to COVID-19 uncertainties, but that it would still hold a mix of in-person and streaming events, including several being held at the Brooklyn Museum . Many calypso and soca songs from Trinidad make reference to the Labor Day Carnival, including "Gun Play in de Parkway" by Calypso Rose , "Melee (on the Eastern Parkway)" by Maestro, Labor Day Jam by

1147-412: The parade route in recent years, both during and following the parade. In 2003, a man was fatally shot and another was stabbed in the neck. In 2005, one man was shot and killed along the parade route. In 2006, one man was shot and another was stabbed. At the 2007 parade, there was only one official report of violence, when a man was shot twice in the leg. However, a different man (named Nathaniel Smith)

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1184-519: The parade. They sold advertisement space and boosters, that were printed in a Souvenir Journal for West Indies Day, a booklet which is a memento of that first parade. Jessie Waddell Compton is presented in the journal as the person "whose inspiration and enterprise" was owed to the formation of this committee. The committee consisted of Waddell Compton (Chairman), Ivan H. Daniel (Vice Chairman), Conrad Matthews (Treasurer), Roy Huggins (Secretary), and Robert J. Welsh (Assistant Secretary). Each member of

1221-441: The schooling of Antilleans to the méringue-compas or cadence rampa music style. Almost all existing Haitian compas bands have toured these islands that have since adopted the music and the dance of the méringue. From 1968 to the 1970s prominent bands like Bossa Combo, Volo Volo de Boston , Les Shleu-Shleu, Les Ambassadeurs, Les Vikings, Les Fantaisistes, Les Loups Noirs, Les Frères Dejean, Les Difficiles, and Les Gypsies have exerted

1258-590: The term East Indian West Indian . The OED now defines it simply as a citizen of any West Indies nation. Some West Indian people reserve this term for citizens or natives of the British West Indies only, to the exclusion of not just the Hispanophones, but also French and Dutch West Indians. This Caribbean-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Compas The word "compas" means "measure" or "rhythm" in Spanish, and one of

1295-472: Was crowned king. Another band, Orchestre Septentrional D'Haïti (or the Northern Orchestra of Haiti), was also popular during this time period and cemented the style of large orchestras as part of the northern signature of compas. The dance-style that accompanied compas in 1957, is a two-step dance called carré (square) introduced by Nemours Jean-Baptiste in 1962. As a méringue, a ballroom dance, compas

1332-405: Was shot and killed in the 2007 parade. In 2011 pre-dawn marches took a violent turn with the murder of one person, five instances of gunshot victims and three instances of stabbings coupled with sporadic shooting at crowds of people. Following the 2011 parade, Yolanda Lezama-Clark, The President of the West Indian American Day Carnival Association (WIADCA) and other New York City officials condemned

1369-588: Was so profound that to this day, Panamanians still consider compas (or what they call "reggae haitiano") part of their national music. Throughout the seventies, Tabou Combo remained on the Paris Hits Parade for weeks with their New York City album, and held performances attended by thousands in New York's Central Park. During the '80s, popular artist Gesner Henry, alias Coupé Cloué and his band Trio Select, successively toured West Africa and left sweet memories. He

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