Born Pierre Féquière Joseph, on October 17, 1937 in Terrier-Rouge, “Gros Monsieur” adopted the name Giordany given by his godfather, Jolicoeur Joseph. He made it his stage name, his artist name. Like many stars, he exercised his talent in the church choir and shone in a theatrical performance as the main actor in the role of sentry.
At the age of 15, he returned to Cap-Haitïen to continue his studies and continued to sing in the choir of his church. A little later, he joined the Citadelle du Nord orchestra under the direction of Jacques Montpremier and Jean Martel Dorsainvil. It was in this group that he met his friend Hervé Casséus, who used to play with the Tropicana orchestra when he needed an accordionist. When the Citadelle du Nord orchestra disappeared, Hervé definitively joined the Tropicana orchestra. He then invited Giordany to join him. The latter hesitated. Charlemagne Pierre Noël and Emmanuel Turenne, musical director and maestro respectively at the time, managed to convince him.
Thus in March 1968, Giordany Joseph entered the Tropicana orchestra of Haiti and distinguished himself with French songs, boleros and especially potpourri. His first medley was “solamente una vez”. Among the great Capois singers, Giordany was a sure reference, his voice filled the orchestra in all its compartments. He had become a charming singer with French songs and his boleros, of which he alone had the secret. In his style, he was unique. The artist was an extraordinary lyricist. He added memorable texts to the Tropicana repertoire such as: “Rosemarie”, “Marie Madelaine”, “Rosie” and “Philomise” that Charlemagne and Larivière had orchestrated. His favorite text was “Le Nègre”,
An institution is worthless without men. Its fame and existence are conditioned by the discipline, performance and experience of its members. Over the years, it is called upon to renew its frameworks to maintain a certain standing, fight against competition and improve the quality of its services to the population. No institution can cross two generations with the same team. Certain changes are necessary in fact; others are caused by death, illness and also by personal conviction.
We do not know an institution if we do not know its history. We do not know the latter if we do not know that of the men who compose it or who gave birth to it. We must permanently return to this glorious past to camp these different actors, who are the pride of the people of the North, and Tropic fanatics in particular.
To be 50 today, the orchestra started from scratch with people with no experience, but driven by the desire to learn and the will to serve. Along the way, they turned out to be studious and successful students until they became stars that shine everywhere. The interchangeability of the actors has not changed anything in the structure and striking force of the Tropicana orchestra, which claims to be the orchestra of all generations.
Its pioneers who started and who by force of things are no longer in control, we must talk about them. You should not consume the juice without talking about the fruit. This youth who runs after the Tropicana orchestra must know those who started, those who laid the foundation stone of this citadel that we all worship. Tropic has a story, it has to be written. The story of its stars which shone one after the other until their disappearance must also be written
nne is nobody without nobody. This publication was made possible thanks to the combined efforts of several personalities, including the hub Ms. Emila Hilaire, who harmonized the reports despite the difficulties; the tireless engineer Joubert Constant, who spared no effort to achieve this goal; our friend Rilou Hilaire, who put all the logistics at our disposal with his technical advice and the “Phébé” (important piece) boss Paul Pierre my dear sponsor, a man in the field who can not escape anything and who has does all the coordination.
Finally to the artist himself who spontaneously cooperated in the production of this text. We thank him for lending his voice over all these years to telling us scenes from everyday life that made the Tropicana orchestra one of the very first in Cape Town, and for helping to emancipation of Haitian art. Giordany Joseph, you deserve a country. May your name be engraved in gold letters in the annals of the Tropicana orchestra of Haiti and on this cultural heritage, which is also your work and may future generations know that you were one of the columns of this colossal work that is the Tropicana Orchestra which has survived two generations with honor, pride and merit and which is preparing to face many others!
To all these people who allowed us to highlight, on the one hand, the Tropicana orchestra which has been performing tirelessly for 50 years and which has achieved a certain notoriety in Haitian music and, on the other hand, artist Giordany Joseph, a monument that we tend to forget, who enjoys our esteem and who represents one of the ancient glories that is the pride of the orchestra, we thank them. May they find here the expression of our deep gratitude! Jacques Louis Etienne
