|
Frisner Augustin
(“Ti Kelèp”), master
drummer from Haiti, passed away on Tuesday, Feb. 28, in
Port-au-Prince. Aged 63 years, Mr. Augustin had resided in
Brooklyn, New York, since 1972 and had been on a two-month visit
to Haiti. He died of a brain hemorrhage in Hopital Bernard Mevs
in Port-au-Prince.
Born in Port-au-Prince in 1948,
Mr. Augustin studied ritual drumming in the temples of Vodou, an
Afro-Haitian religion. As a young man he drummed for the
folklore companies of Lavinia Williams, Lina Mathon Blanchet,
and others. In 1972, he emigrated to New York with Jazz des
Jeunes, and he established himself as a master drummer in Vodou
rituals, as a performer for Haitian community festivals, and as
a drum instructor.
In 1981, Mr. Augustin took over
the artistic direction of the company La Troupe Makandal, and he
performed with the Troupe across the United States, in Europe,
and at the Tokyo Summer Festival. His recordings with Makandal (A
Trip to Vodou, Èzili, The Drums of Vodou, and
Prepare) feature his settings of traditional Afro-Haitian
dances. He has recorded as well for jazz artist Kip Hanrahan,
for the soundtrack of the Jonathan Demme film Beloved,
and most recently for Haitian American jazz drummer Andrew
Cyrille’s Route de Frères.
In addition to performing in
theaters, galleries, festivals, and educational venues, Mr. Augustin taught a workshop in Haitian drumming at Hunter College
since 1983, workshops for children and adults at sites in
Brooklyn, and classes, lecture-demonstrations, and residencies
through the Brooklyn Arts Council, City Lore, and the Carnegie
Hall Global Encounters program. Above all, his dynamic drumming
tempted the spirits to the Vodou houses of New York.
Keenly aware of the negative
stereotyping of Vodou, Maestro Augustin used his drum to recast
the mystery of Afro-Haitian spirituality from a positive
perspective. Because of his dedication, he received a People's
Hall of Fame award from the cultural center City Lore. In 1999,
the National Endowment for the Arts awarded him a National
Heritage Fellowship, the United States’ highest honor in the
traditional arts.
Friends, loved ones, students,
and fans remember Frisner Augustin for his beaming smile, the
boundless energy and verve of his performances, and his vast
knowledge of the Afro-Haitian music and dance repertory. He
started from humble beginnings, and from early on he told
people, “I’m going to play the drum to help my family.” In an
interview following a performance at Manhattan’s Town Hall in
1989, he spoke of the spiritual aspects of his performance
philosophy. “I look at the audience’s faces to see who really
believes in the spirit and then know what to play for them. If I
see someone not too happy, I’ll make them happy with the drum.”
Robert Palmer of the New York Times called him “a
spectacular drummer,” and filmmaker Jonathan Demme dubbed him
“the Arnold Schwarzenegger of transcendental drumming.”
Mr. Augustin performed his last
concert at the Institut Français d’Haiti in Port-au-Prince on
February 16, 2012. One can see and hear his passion for his
cultural roots in excerpts from his last performance uploaded to
his YouTube channel (http://bit.ly/ArZZiG), and a number of
other uploads on the channel attest to his virtuosity as a
performer and a teacher. As per his wishes, he was buried in his
family’s mausoleum in the Cimitière de Port-au-Prince on Mar. 3,
two days after what would have been his 64th
birthday.
Frisner Augustin is survived by
his children, Garry Augustin, Gregory Augustin, Dominique
Augustin Rosa, Johnny Augustin, Nicholas Breland, Niguel
Breland, and Courtney Mathurin; his father Julien Augustin; his
sister Marie Lourdes Augustin; his grand-niece Tania Elias; his
cousin Marie Louis; and his second cousins Lin Deats and Stanley
Louis.
La Troupe Makandal is spearheading plans for a
memorial in New York City in Mr. Augustin’s honor at a date to
be announced in the coming days.You may put yourself on
Makandal’s contact list by emailing makandal@earthlink.net or by
calling 718-953-6638. |
