Webert Sicot

The story so far.

Written and edited by Smokiller

Webert Sicot was a Haitian saxophonist, composer and bandleader born in Port-au-Prince in 1930, according to Wikipedia, and one of the two names at the center of konpa's founding story. He played alongside Nemours Jean-Baptiste in Conjunto International, and their later split, The Haitian Times notes, sent fans into decades of argument over who really invented konpa dirèk. The rivalry produced Team Nemours and Team Sicot camps, and Sicot answered jabs from his old partner with the sharp hit Deux Guidons. After going solo in the early 1960s he called his style cadence rampa to set it apart, and Wikipedia credits tours of the Caribbean with his brother Raymond for making cadence popular in Dominica, Guadeloupe and Martinique. Recordings that survive online include Marchande Poules from 1961, Carnaval Cadence Rampa from 1962 and Wachacha from 1976. He died in February 1985.