Kassav'

Kassav’ emerged in the late 1970s between Guadeloupe and Martinique, with Pierre-Édouard Décimus, Jacob Desvarieux and Freddy Marshall at its core. It began as a musical laboratory before becoming a band known for a settled line-up featuring Jocelyne Béroard, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Jean-Claude Naimro, Georges Décimus and Claude Vamur. From the outset, Kassav’ developed a sound that brought together Caribbean and Antillean rhythms, notably gwoka, biguine, bèlè, compas and cadence, in a modern musical approach centred on dance, choruses, brass and Creole vocals. This synthesis became known as zouk, a genre whose defining features the band established early on with albums such as Love and Ka Dance in 1979, Lagué mwen in 1980, Ayé in 1984, Vini pou in 1987, Majestik Zouk in 1989, Tékit izi in 1992, Difé in 1995, Nou la in 2000, Ktoz in 2004, All U Need Is Zouk in 2007 and Sonjé in 2013. Performing across the Antilles, Africa, Europe, Japan and the Americas, Kassav’ secured zouk a lasting place on major stages while several of its members also pursued solo careers. Following the deaths of Patrick Saint-Éloi in 2010 and Jacob Desvarieux in 2021, Kassav’ continues with a renewed line-up, carrying forward a repertoire that has become central to the history of Creole music.