Continued...

Karijazz: Many of Mozayik's fans feel confused and frustrated about the long silence on the circumstances that brought to the guilty plea of Welmyr. Why did you wait so long to talk about this? We would expect a press release that addressed the matter. Why was not there any when the events occurred?

Gashford G: Mozayik did not know any more than what the general public knew. What were we to say? We decided to wait to hear the final outcome of his fight with INS before anything or after speaking to him but that never happened. When I knew where he was being held, I wanted to go see him so I can speak to him, hoping he would tell us what he expected us to do. However, I was not sure if it was a good idea and wondered if I would be invading his privacy due to the fact I was told a different story. It would be embarrassing for him to see me pop up all of the sudden. I'm assuming the reasons he did not say anything to me in the first place was because of shame. Welmyr is a very private person.

The only thing we can do for now is let our fans see that we are still there to play music for them and that Welmyr's absence will not stop us from doing what we've been doing for these past eight years. We will be putting out a statement soon, but it will have more to do with informing them of the changes in the group, reasons behind it and future plans. At this point, I don't think there's a need to go deep into details regarding Welmyr.

Karijazz: Is there any further clarification you can give the fans and the public in general about what really happened? What does the future bear for him?

Gashford G: There's nothing else I can clarify regarding what happened because basically, I was not there. Maybe I could have heard his side of the story through his family but I've had no communication with them since a week or so after May 12 of this year. This may be hard for people to believe but this is the case. As far as what the future holds for him, it's in the hands of the judge who will decide if he stays in the country or if he gets deported. Either way, I hope he's able to continue using his God given talent.

Karijazz: Will there ever be a statement from Welmyr?

Gashford G: I don't know. Given the fact he's done so much for the Haitian music industry, a statement to the public would be ideal. I highly recommend it. It's the least he could do. He is loved and as a pianist, he has made a lot of people very happy. Welmyr's absence has left a huge void in the Haitian Jazz movement. Although there are other great Haitian jazz musicians and piano players in the movement that I admire, for me, there's only one Welmyr. He's unique, versatile, soulful and full of charisma. It's fun to watch him play. It's even more fun to play with him. I've been a huge fan of Welmyr since I was a teenager.

Karijazz: What is the official position of the Band (if any) on this unfortunate affair?

Gashford G: As of now, we have no position. We are not speaking for, nor representing Welmyr regarding his current issues. We can only speak of Welmyr the musician and what we've experienced being around him. As far as his legal issues, there's absolutely nothing we can say. It is obvious that the family prefers to keep it amongst themselves and they deal with it. This is something we must and will respect.

KariJazz: How is the band managing the transition with the new pianist? Can you tell us more about him and his integration in the band culture? I heard that he studied at Mac Gill University in Canada.

Gashford G: David Dormeus is doing great in the band. He's working so hard. He did not study at Gill University in Canada. His first formal training started in September of 2006 at The New School University in NYC. He's there on a full scholarship. He was born in Montreal. He got most of his piano playing experience in church. He's also done a lot of R & B work. At age 19, David started touring with different artists to places such as: Hong Kong, Morocco, Dubai, Thailand and other places. He's twenty-three years of age now. To tell you the truth, I never thought we would find another "Haitian" pianist good enough to replace Welmyr this soon. That's large shoes to fill!

A friend of mine had mentioned to me he knew a Haitian pianist that can play jazz and had nothing but good things to say about him. I wondered why I never heard about David before. I started to do my research and spoke to Haitian jazz trumpet player Gill Defay, who happens to be close friends with David. Gill gave me a lot of info and judging by what he told me, it was time for me to start scouting and see for myself how good David was. I contacted David and he invited me to come check him out at a jazz gig in the village (lower Manhattan). Markus and I went to check him out. It did not take me long to know this was the musician we were looking for. He was better than I expected and had such a great sound.

After his first set, we introduced ourselves to him and gave him an informal interview. He had a nice humble attitude. I invited him to jam with the band and he came down to our rehearsal. He picked up our music extremely quick and soloed through chord changes pretty well. This was far beyond what we expected. Eddy and I held some one on one rehearsals with him so that we can teach him some of our compositions and go over the charts before rehearsing with the full band. He picked up pretty fast. After he did his first gig with the band, we knew we had to make a decision soon. It was now or never. Talent like this does not come by that easily. On Nov 18th 2007 before our performance at SOB'S, we officially invited him to become a member of the group. He had already considered himself to be part of the family. That kind of attitude says a lot to us and creates good chemistry. David is currently learning a lot of our tunes. I'm just focusing on getting him more and more Mozayik gigs under his belt. He's picking up the tunes amazingly fast. He has a bright future ahead of him.

Karijazz: According to the pictures shot on the 18th of November at SOBs, you have also a saxophonist (Grant Langford). Does new blood mean new direction for the band? Sax and Guitar playing melodies in unison…Oh man!

Gashford G: Grant is someone we call to play with us every now and then. Depending on the event, Mozayik would include a singer, additional percussionist or a sax player to perform with us. As a professional jazz saxophonist, Grant gives Mozayik another dimension. On that particular performance at SOB's, we had him play on two of our new arrangements and the vibe was amazing! He killed on the melodies and solos! I'm looking forward to having him as a guest on the next project.

Karijazz: Sounds great ! Will the new release expected for 2008 be launched as announced? Do you have a release date already?

Gashford G: Right now, we are working on the music and have been performing some of them live. We don't have a set date for the release yet since we have not gone into the recording studio yet. All of our focus is on releasing a new album in 2008. Especially with the recent changes in Mozayik. Welmyr's absence had slowed the process six months and we would have probably been in the studio by now. We had music we haven't worked on since he was with us. We are moving forward now.

Karijazz: And Karijazz wants to reiterate its support in this difficult moment. How do you see the future of the band?

Gashford G: I see our future being positive and as long as we stay focused, it will be full of accomplishments. I think being a consistent band for eight years is pretty good. There were people that didn't think we would last this long. When you love something, you take care of it so it lasts. We have two more years to reach ten years as a band. I'm looking for us to do something special. For now, we are just going to keep working so we can spread our music far and wide and get Haitian jazz the recognition it deserves to get in the mainstream jazz music industry. We hope our music inspires a new generation of Haitian jazz musicians to produce quality music.

Karijazz: Indeed, the band had already influenced many young musicians in the jazz field. Do you have any plan for Mozayik to be in concert in Florida?

Gashford G: We are currently working on Florida dates for early 2008. We should have confirmations soon. You guys will be the first to know once we have dates confirmed!

Karijazz: Thanks again for your time.

Gashford G: Hey, it's the least I can do for all the hard work Karijazz puts in to promote and support Haitian jazz. It's been a pleasure. Anytime!


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Karl Joseph
December 15, 2007