Chris COMBETTE
Chris COMBETTE
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Singer-composer-poet-producer Christian COMBETTE was born in French Guyana on the northern coast of South America, but his parents soon returned to their former home on Martinique in the French West Indies, and he was raised there. The Caribbean is a hotbed of languages and cultures and Chris grew up absorbing a wealth of influences. He learned how to play fretted instruments by studying the fingering techniques of the musicians he saw around him. He actually began playing as a member of a high school band in his teens.
Chris got hid first professional break as a sideman, playing bass and then guitar with some of Martinique's most respected musicians, including the sultry crooner Tony Chasseur and the Rasta banjo maestro, Kali. He forged his own style with a band that he satirically dubbed "Silence"," but eventually decided to go solo. He went to France to complete his education and then moved back and forth between Guyana and the Continent for many years, constantly honing his craft. During a decade-long stint in Paris, he held onto a day job as a math teacher while maintaining a high profile in the burgeoning French world music club and studio scenes, playing with a host of musicians from Africa and the Caribbean. He lived this double life until the mid '90s, when he finally committed himself solely to music.
His first album, Plein sud (Straight South), was released in 1995 and attracted rapturous notices, heavy radio airplay and launched his reputation in his home market. Plein sud was nominated by SACEM (the French equivalent of ASCAP) in five separate categories. Chris ultimately won the award for "Songwriter of the Year," an astonishing feat for a new artist.
His second album, Salambô (Déclic) was released in 1997 and is an expression of Chris' profound identity as a Creole. The title cut is a tribute to African soldiers who died for France and were then forgotten by those they had fought for. The songs have a subtle, charming lilt that contrasts with their intensely rhythms core and thoughtful lyric content, and Chris sings them in a lightly applied, seductive tenor. Chris' early collaborators, Tony Chasseur and Kali, appear as guest artists, along with the Reggae sensation, Dixie Culture, who toast up a storm on two tracks. Chris' own band was recorded studio-live with virtually no overdubs and they do full justice to the Martiniquan keyboardist Thierry Vaton's ardent and sensitive arrangements.
Salambô has garnered enthusiastic print reviews and the title track and "Kilibibi" have charted all over Europe and the Caribbean. Chris COMBETTE was a Radio France International Découverte '97 finalist and won in the Groove category at the 6th International Video Festival with a clip of the song, "Salambô." Finally, his appearance at the influential South by Southwest music industry conference in Austin, Texas in March 1998 created tidal waves of buzz and a strong demand for his recordings and for tours in North America.
Chris COMBETTE now resides in his birthplace of French Guyana but logs plenty of miles due to his busy touring and recording schedules. He appeared as a guest artists on the Martiniquan supergroup MALAVOI's new release, Marronage. His 1998 duet with KASSAV's Jocelyne BEROARD is a huge hit in the islands and in France and there are plans to release it shortly in North America. His albums are available nationally from World Music Distribution in California.