JONAS ATTIS

Vodou and rara musical traditions hold no secrets for this young singer-songwriter-composer born in Jérémie, the capital of Haiti’s Grand’Anse Department that has been nicknamed “The City of Poets” because it has been home to so many famous writers. There have been many musicians in Jonas Attis’s family, including his grandmother whom he adored and who lost her life the tragic capsizing a ferry called the Neptune, which he himself barely survived. Ordeals he has endured have shaped the artist he has become: sensitive and soulful with a zest for life, deeply rooted in tradition yet looking toward the future. His compelling arrangements create an extremely tantalizing roots-style music that is steeped in Haitian folklore, reggae, hip-hop and pop.