Compas Direct – how did the name come about?

Nemours Jean-Baptiste had his first own band in 1955. The first compas direct track was produced in 1957. The name compas direct came into circulation in 1958. But how did the name come about?

1 Compas

The word compas goes back to the Cuban title La comparsa (Ernesto Lecuona). Pérez Prado's impulsive instrumental was often played on the radio in 1956. The result was an expression of a musical circumstance. As the Haitian language resists the Spanish consonant r, it became konpa, in the then common written form compas.1)

2 Compas

For Nemours Jean-Baptiste, the term compas had the following meanings: adopt the right standing; have the right attitude; stay on the right line – Kenbe konpa w; Maché sou konpa ou wi; Ou sou konpa w wi!. Or – Mache byen; Mache anfòm; Fè afè w kòrèk – doing the right thing.2)3)

3.1 Compas

One day, Nemours Jean-Baptiste was amazed when Kreutzer Duroseau (Kretzer), the band's tambourine player finally played the rhythm pattern correctly. Nemours shouted, “Kretzer, ou sou compas wi!” And they began to use the term compas ...2)

3.2 Compas Direct

... until the day Nemours Jean-Baptiste met René Diogène, the maestro of the Citadelle Orchestra, at the home of François Guignard, Nemours' early music teacher. René Diogène began to ridicule the compas thing from Nemours a little. Nemours then answered: “Compas is not only right, it's also direct.” This is how the name compas direct came about.2)

4 Compas Direct

The group experimented with the rhythm during a rehearsal in order to synchronize the bass (1-2), timbales (kata) and conga (5/10) in tempo. Maestro Nemours Jean-Baptiste usually calls out “Se yon compas!”. At the moment when everyone was synchronized, Kreutzer Duroseau called out: “Compas a direct, wi maestro!” This well-known exclamation ultimately led to the name of the music compas direct.4)

5 Compas Direct

One day, when they were visiting the Guignards, Nemours Jean-Baptiste spoke to François Guignard about the new rhythm. His son Edner Guignard, a pianist like his father, followed the conversation and Maestro René Diogène (Orchestre Citadelle) was also present. René Diogène said to Nemours in a derogatory tone: “Your music is too direct!” Nemours responded: “René, that's it! My compas is direct.”3)

6 Compas Direct

One day, Nemours Jean-Baptiste presented his new rhythm formula to a few friends at the Guignard family home. Kreutzer Duroseau played the new rhythm on congas. René Diogène, a trumpet player, then said to Nemours: “What you've just presented to us is nothing.”, “It's too simple, too direct, as exact as a compass.” René Diogène pronounced the word compass in a particularly mocking way. Nemours spontaneously replied: “Well, that's exactly what I want! I'm going to call my new rhythm ‘compas direct’.”5)

Compas Direct – that's how it was

Nemours Jean-Baptiste called his music compas direct. With the first evolution, the term compas became established as an abbreviated form. With the third major evolution, it was spelled konpa more and more often.
Nemour's music caused a great deal of enthusiasm on Les Antilles. His style lasted a few years longer there. The name was flexible: compas direct, cadence rampa, rythme compas, compas, rampa, cadence... and today kompa. The music was also popular in Suriname, where it was also called Shleu-Shleu for reasons.6)

Toujou sou konpa.

Text: Fedor Hüneke   
Sources:
1) P-Compas · Lionel Legros · 10-11-2022
2) Chat with maestro Jean Jean-Pierre · 05-15-2021
3) P-Compas · Jean Jean-Pierre · 10-31-2021
4) Chat with Reginald Delva · 05-05-2025
5) Konpa Encyclopedia · Jean Claude Vievens · Trafford 2008
6) Phone call with Wiliam Souvenir · April 2017

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