Martiniquais musicians

Henri Guédon (born May 22, 1944, in Fort de France in Martinique - died on February 12, 2006, in Paris, France after heart surgery) was a French percussionist from Martinique. His first band was called La Contesta and he organised it when he was 20. He was awarded a Maracas d'or the first year the awards ran. In 1983, Philippe Langlais invited him to compose a mix of classical and jazz with his orchestra, the resulting composition called Opéra Triangulaire. He was a judo champion 1963-65. Multiple albums fused Antillean rhythms with other music from around the world. Guedon was instrumental in exporting the new sound of 60s and 70s Latin -guaguanco, boogaloo, salsa, descarga - to France and the rest of Europe. When Guedon began placing his percussion instruments at the front of the stage in the style of his great influence Ray Barretto, French audience members found themselves shocked and intrigued. Soon enough, greats like El Conde and Pacheco were touring France. Were it not for Henri Guedon, Europe could have conceivably taken years to move forward from mambo and cha-cha-cha.

Thierry Moutoussamy (French pronunciation: [tjɛʁi mutusami], [tiʁi]; born 23 December 1972), better known as Lord Kossity (), is a French musician. His family is originally from Martinique but he was born in Paris, France and moved back to the French West Indies with his family when he was 11 years old. He began his career in the 1990s with the group Contrast, with his cousin, Dr G-Kill. He started incorporating ragga music with the zouk style later in the 1990s, and has since recorded a number of albums and collaborated with Suprême N.T.M., Vybz Kartel, Shaggy, Bounty Killer, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and Elephant Man.