Jacques Yves ‘Jeanba’ Jean-Baptiste, founding member of legendary Shleur Shleur Haitian Kompa bands, dies at 77

Jacques Yves “Jeanba” Jean-Baptiste, of the East 25th Street Block Association and original NYPD 67th Precint Block coordinator — both in Brooklyn — and one of the founding members of the legendary Shleur Shleur Haitian Kompa bands, died on Friday, March 22, his daughter, Christina Jean-Baptiste said. He was 77.

Christina told Caribbean Life on Sunday that her father was “surrounded by family until having taken his last breath.”

She said Jean-Baptiste was also one of the percussionists in the Shleu Shleu band, one of the more influential Haitian Konpa bands.

“To equate it to American culture, it would be comparable to Earth, Wind and Fire,” said Christina, stating that Shleu Shleu was a slang term for mini skirt in Haiti during the ‘60s.

“Modern-day Konpa artists to date continue to sample their music, as well as my father’s tempo,” she added, disclosing that her father spent over 20 years with the Shleu Shleu band.

Christina said Jean-Baptiste was born May 3, 1946, at L’Hôpital General in Port-au-Prince, the Haitian capital, to Lilia Sanon and Alius Jean-Baptiste.

She said her father was “lovingly known by his bandmates” as “Jeanba.”

“(He) wasn’t only just a member of the band, but, more so, a brother to each member,” Christina said.

She said her father was an original member of the Haitian Kompa band, Les DiJnns (pronounced “Jeans”), from 1964 to 1965, where he played the tam tam (also referred to in English as the cowbell) – along with bandmates Yves-Arsene Appolon, Gary Resil, Leslie Couradain, brothers Eddie Gideon and Fanfan Gideon, and Wilfred Jean-Jacques.

Christiana said Jean-Baptiste was contacted by lifelong best friends, Smith Jean-Baptiste and Hugues “Dada” Jacaman, to join Shleu Shleu after most of the band members migrated to the United States to form the New York extension of Shleu Shleu.

She said said Jean-Baptiste left Les DiJnns “to take the reins from Franky Jean-Baptiste, after joining Shleu Shleu in New York, in 1970, where he played the tam tam, bass drum and conga drums.”

Christina said her dad was renowned for his signature “2-3-9-3 tempo on the congas, which was and still has a significant global influence on contemporary Kompa music to date.”

While in Shleu Shleu, Jean-Baptiste toured Guadeloupe, Paris, Curaçao and French Guyana, among other places, Christina said.

She said Jean-Baptiste’s “beats were instrumental in the development of over six albums, spanning from Franky Tête Chauve, Recontre Joe Trouillot, Acé Frapé, Cé La Ou Yé, and more.”

After over 20 years of playing in the band, Christina said Jean-Baptiste passed “the torch” to Joseph “Chinois” Savius after experiencing back pain from an accident.

“He and Chinois equally developed a longstanding friendship, in which he initially mentored Chinois in his early stages of integrating into the band,” she said.

Outside of band life, Christina said Jean-Baptiste was more commonly known as “Yves.”

She said “he made his life” in the Little Haiti section of Brooklyn, with his wife, Marie Evelyne, and their two daughters, Alexandra and Christina.

“He was very passionate about having strong family ties and establishing a positive impact on society,” Christina said. “He took profession as a bookkeeper and worked in the arts, all while fervently serving as an auxiliary police officer of the 67th Precinct until his retirement.”

He also served as president of the 300 East 25th Street (Greenest Block in Brooklyn) Block Association for one year “in which his legacy was forging relations between the block association and the 67th precinct to increase safety and awareness in the area,” Christina said.

“Until his final moments, he was equally concerned about the quality of life for all the community,” she said.

Besides his wife and daughters, Jean-Baptiste is survived by his brothers, Hervé, Anthony, Ehmil, Frantzy St. Louis, Jean-Robert St. Louis, Claude St. Louis; sisters, Marie Grecia Denis and Edith; and many other relatives, friends, colleagues and bandmates in Shleu Shleu and the Haitian music world.

Jean-Baptiste was memorialized at Frantz Daniel Jean Funeral Home on Friday, April 12.

Christina said Haitian elected officials, such as Assembly Member Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn and Council Member Farah Louis, attended the viewing and mass services “and spoke in memory of ‘Jeanba’ and his contributions to society.”

Jean-Baptiste was interred the next day at Cypress Hills Cemetery on the Brooklyn-Queens corridor, Christina said.

“He was celebrated among close family and friends, with a live performance by his bandmates in Shleu Shleu the same day,” she said.