When the Drum is Beating

Haiti was once a rich, opulent country: the pearl of the Caribbean. Now, it is one of the poorest countries on Earth. For more than 60 years, the band Septentrional - the musical pride of Haiti - has been making life more bearable. Their music, a mix of Cuban Big Band and Haitian Voodoo, is uplifting and swinging, while their texts deal with everyday problems ("My girlfriend won't straighten her hair.") Singing and dancing are a way to forget the poverty and unemployment, and put aside the country's unbelievably tragic and violent past, if only for a moment. Haiti has been fighting for hundreds of years - against occupying forces from foreign countries, dictatorial regimes, and the violence of nature. It was once the first country to successfully throw off the shackles of slavery and become the first independent black nation state. Nowadays, "In Haiti you always expect something bad to happen," as one member of the band puts it. His words are tellingly illustrated by images of the earthquake of 2010. But the band plays on, and the people of Haiti need them now more than ever. "We were not discouraged before and we are not discouraged now," one of the musicians says. And the music reverberates on, long after the final credits have rolled.