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Orchestre Tropicana d'Haïti
L'Orchestre Tropicana d'Haïti est issu de l'Orchestre Caraïbes qui avait pris naissance dans le nord du pays à la fin des années 1950. C'est en mars 1963 lors d'une réunion à laquelle assistèrent quelques musiciens et fans de Caraïbes au Yanvalou Night Club qu'est venu l'idée à Bazile Cobty de rebaptiser le groupe Orchestre Tropicana d'Haïti, nom tiré d'un night club à Cuba que Cobty avait l'habitude de fréquenter.
La première répétition de l'Orchestre nouvellement formé a eu lieu le 24 mars 1963 dans une maison appartenant à Cobty. À cette époque, la musique française et la musique latine étaient très populaires en Haïti, et déjà dans le Nord il y avait un autre groupe très influent, l'Orchestre Septentrional.
Sept ans après sa formation soit en 1970, l'Orchestre Tropicana d'Haïti a produit son premier disque où on retrouve des titres comme Zoklo et Ti Zo chanté par Giordany Joseph sous la commande du maestro Emmanuel Turenne.
Coupé cloué
Jean Gesner Henry (10 May 1925 – 29 January 1998), known professionally as Coupé Cloué, was a Haitian footballer, singer, guitarist, and bandleader. He was known for defining a style of Haitian compas music he called kompa mamba, and for the sometimes bawdy innuendo used in his songs. During his career, he was one of Haiti's most prominent musicians, and found much success in West Africa as well.
As a young man, he received a classical music education and worked as a cabinetmaker before becoming a professional football player. It was from football, playing defense for the Port-au-Prince club Aigles Noirs, that he acquired his nickname, "Coupé Cloué" or "cut and nailed".
He began performing on guitar in 1951, and in 1957 he formed the band Trio Crystal, which he later renamed Trio Select, along with another guitar player and a maraca player. Their first album, one of the dozens Henry released during his career, was released in the late 1960s. In the early 1970s the group expanded from its original three, and renamed itself Ensemble Select. That decade also saw an increase in his use of racy spoken preaching and storytelling in addition to singing during songs; this became one of his trademarks.
In 1978 Coupé Cloué toured extensively in Africa, greatly increasing his international prominence. His popularity in West Africa was especially boosted by similarities between the rhythms and sounds of Henry's music an African soukous music. It was there that Henry earned the nickname, Roi Coupé (or "King Coupé"). During the 1980s and early 1990s, Henry continued to perform and record prolifically.
Henry died of diabetes in January 1998, having only retired from performing the previous month. He was mourned in Port-au-Prince by a day-long outdoor funeral celebration, attended by thousands of people, including the interim Minister of Culture.