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Bemol Jean Telfort was born to play music. The Good
News Is That The Bad News Was Wrong, his first solo project consists
of original tunes, that he composed and arranged himself preserving his
distinctive sound.
Bemol has written more than sixty songs and performed on more than fifty
albums in various capacities. His live performance credits include Guy
Dirosier, Gerard Duperrvil, Ansy Derose, Roger Colas and Max Pickion. He
is an accomplished arranger and composer with credits too numerous to
list. Bemol performs throughout South Florida and the Caribbean.
As a child growing up in Port Au Prince, Haiti, Bemol hungered to play
and create his own music. At the age of six he began to play the conga,
and at eight learned body percussion when he could not afford to buy a
drum set. At the ripe age of ten, he made his own guitar out of a gallon
jug, some wood, and nylon that he borrowed from his uncle. That guitar
was quite different from the regular ones and he tuned it and played it
in his own way. |
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The first time Bemol attempted to play a "traditional" guitar, he needed
assistance to find the "c" major scale. He was left handed and all the
guitars he created himself were done with that in mind…."Nobody had ever
seen anyone play like that…" he remarked. Bemol also purchased every guitar
book that he could get his hands on. A passion became his guide as he taught
himself to play his homemade guitar, conga and transformed his own body into
a living, breathing percussion instrument. Some times playing the guitar, he
gives an impression of conga sounds: as in the song "Solitude" for example.
He continued to hone his skills as a guitarist and created melodies unlike
any other. At the age of fourteen he became the leader of a Christian Band
that lasted for seven years and recorded four albums. While at home one day
he heard the soulful sounds of George Benson playing the guitar. After
hearing George Benson, Bemol would never be the same. He then started
spending a lot of time teaching himself Jazz and impressed people by playing
body music with only his hands, feet and body. |
Bemol decided it was time for him to leave his home and come to the United
States and put his lifelong dreams into motion. When he arrived, he brought
Rabordaille (Roots) music, a Haitian street sound that had never been
refined. He added other instruments like the guitar, and composed the drum
beat. He has created his own style and calls it Rabordialle or Roots music.
Another big influence on his musical style was Wes Montgomery. He has
combined the styles of these Jazz greats as a guide to refine his own unique
sounds. Bemol admits that his music has a certain amount of sadness and
melancholy woven into his complex melodies. In "Sadness Is My Best Friend",
he is a consummate perfectionist never quite satisfied, but always reaching
for greater heights.
In 1990, Bemol went to school, as a self-taught musician he sought to
correct mistakes and learns techniques to improve his playing ability. He is
now an accomplished musician, guitarist, bassist, conga player, composer,
arranger and bandleader. Once crazy to be like Benson or Wes Montgomery, he
came to realize that there could never be another Benson or Wes, finally he
has found his own style.
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