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Chances are that if you live in Miami-Dade County, you have at one time or another heard the swirling, merengue-tinged rhythms emanating from homes in Caribbean neighborhoods or rising from strip malls that seemingly contain only a beauty parlor and a Haitian video store. Most likely what you are hearing is kompa (a.k.a. compas direct), a ballroom-influenced sound that has been developing in Hispañola since the Fifties, incorporating elements of soca, salsa, and calypso and eventually evolving into cadence rampa and zouk. This year’s Compas Fest, organized by longtime Miami promoter Noel & Cécibon Productions, falls just two days after Haitian Flag Day and features Djakout Mizik, T-Vice, Kreyol La, CaRiMi, Tropicana, and Zin, among other stars of contemporary Haitian music. At this year’s fest, get a better feel for the food, music, and cultural passion of the people of the struggling island nation.
