Biography
Carole Maroule Demesmin artist from
the city of Leogane
Carole Maroule Demesmin is considered as one of the legendary performers of Haiti. Her first album, Carole Maroule, was released in the late 1970s. Later she released some other hit albums in 1980, 1987 and 1998. She along with few others of her generation was the first to break through the cultural barrier that had made it difficult for women to work as professional singers or musicians.
Demesmin is a unique blend of jazz and folk infused with percussive Vodou rhythms played on drums, rattles, conch shells, and gongs. The story of past and present of Haiti is found in her songs.
Carole Maroule Demesmin was born in the city of Leogane, Haiti.
Carole Maroule Demesmin
She went to schools for her early education in Port-au-Prince and Leogane. She moved to Boston in late 1960s after a short stay in New York for three months. In Boston Carole Maroule Demesmin first came in contact with a cultural group and met a prominent Haitian writer Jean Claude Martineau who wrote most of her early songs.
Demesmin sang songs of Jean Claude Martineau in her first two albums, Carole Maroule and Carole Men Rara, before she pursued her education at Berkeley College of Music in 197os. She won hearts of the crowds in her first concert in Boston where she sang Maroule for the first time.
In quest to know about the Haitian culture, Carole Maroule Demesmin returned to Haiti in the 1980s. She showed her interest in Vodou, the Haitian way of life. She spent a lot of time to discover the history of the Nation and the black. She took lectures in different colleges and universities in Haiti where she shared her experiences. Carole Maroule Demesmin is a singer who is still popular to people of all classes and all ages.
