INSPIRATION
a f t e r h o u r s

Every Friday/ 21&over/$10 allnight/12-7am
Uplifting House Music and Classics
with resident Jose Marquez

Special guest Friday 5/20/05

Exclusive L.A. appearance!
Jephté Guillaume (Tet Kale/Spiritual Life)

INSPIRATION is located @ Soul Folks Cafe
613 Imperial St. Downtown L.A. 90021
www.inspiration-la.com
(mixes now available for download)

So who is Jephte?? If ya don't know...now ya know! :p
Born in Haiti, but uprooted to Brooklyn with his family during the Duvalier regime, Jephté Guillaume is a unique addition to the trajectory of Haitian musicians such as Boukman Eksperyans, whose music transforms Vodun spirituality and African ancestry into something universally understood. "Everywhere I go, people ask me about the spirituality in my music - they may not know Kreyol, but they sing along." True to his roots, Jephte's lyrics come from Haitian folk and devotional chants, offering praise to the ancestors and calling for the listeners to get up and connect to their spiritual homes. Like Nigeria's Fela Kuti, and Cameroon's Manu Dibango, Jephté Guillaume builds a bridge between American Soul, Jazz, and music traditions that come directly from the Haitian experience. "The Haitian drums are everywhere, just like the Spirits themselves," he says. It is these Spirits who pervade the Tet Kale sound.

Jephté's solo career was launched in 1994, with the release of his first hit single "Onè Respè". His next hit single, "The Prayer (Priyè- a)", found its way into DJ rotations around the world, emerging from New York clubs like Body and Soul, "Little" Louie Vega's Dance Ritual, The Shelter and Brooklyn's Bang the Party as an instant underground success. This success was cemented with a stunning performance by Jephté Guillaume and the Tet Kale Orkestra at Body & Soul's Central Park Summerstage celebration in the summer of 1999. His critically acclaimed self-produced debut album "Voyage of Dreams" was released to universal praise and astonishment in 1998, following the international success of several 12" singles for Spiritual Life Music, which helped to establish the label as a global musical force to be reckoned with. And his work has already appeared on a host of compilations on labels such as Nuphonic, Island/Hannibal, React, JVC Japan, Wave (Body and Soul compilation Volume 1 & 2), Sony/Rhythmix France (Trip do Brasil I & II) , Avex, Polygram/Motor, Chrysalis France, Life Line Japan and Flower Japan.

Jephté has spent the last few years on the club circuit, making his mark on the deep house movement. A sought-after bassist and multi-instrumentalist who has played with a wide range of major artists, from R&B (Groove Theory) to nu-soul (Mary J. Blige) to Hip-Hop (Refugee All-Stars Band, Slick Rick) to Acid Jazz (Abstract Truth), to Pop (98 degrees, No Mercy & Sting) to Haitian Raggamuffin (Papa Jube) to French Reggae (Tonton David) to French Hip-Hop Reggae (Real Kila) and Gospel (Timothy Wright, The Daughtry Singers of the House of the Lord from Brooklyn) he is obviously serious when he says, "Wherever there is music, I am there."