KAMBOU SIA / AFP
The group Kassav', here during a concert in Ivory Coast in Abidjan in 2009, in the presence of Patrick Saint-Élie (in the background, in a black T-shirt in the middle of the yellow smoke).
DEATH – A little over three years after the disappearance of Jacob Desvarieux, the Kassav' group has just lost another of its eminent members, Patrick Saint-Élie. On Wednesday December 11, several media outlets, including Radio Caraibes International, announced the death of the percussionist at the age of 63.
Rhythmic pillar of the legendary formation, Patrick Saint-Élie greatly contributed to the success of Kassav'. He was the percussionist for twenty years, from 1995 to 2015. Date on which he left the zouk group for personal reasons, before being replaced by Boris Reine Adelaide between 2015 and 2017, then by a duo composed of Mickael Lordelot and Dominique Tauliaut.
Originally from Fort-de-France, where he was born in 1961, Patrick Saint-Élie has been immersed in percussion since his early childhood, already banging on tin cans at the age of 7. In 1981, he met Marcé with whom he founded the group Toumpak, before joining the André Aliker Sermac center where he passed on his passion for music for ten years.
The reasons for the death of the artist, also heard in several other musical groups such as Palaviré, Akoustik Zouk and Hugh Charlec, have not been revealed.
“Sound the drum up there”
“We were very touched to know that his health had deterioratedtells one of his close friends, the artist Josélita Germany, to Radio Caraibes International. We are very affected and during all these last weeks, we have accompanied him. We didn't have much hope. We could already see the face a little from the other side. »
On Facebook, other artists paid tribute to him. This is the case, for example, of Dédé Saint Prix, a recognized singer of chouval bwa, traditional music in Martinique. “The last time I visited him at the Saint Joseph nursing home, it was with Edgard Lareney. Sincere condolences. Shared pain »he wrote on the social network.
“My dear Patrick, I keep beautiful things from youbreathes bassist Fanfant Thierry in turn. […] I still have the black ka with red strings that you brought me that day. Have a good trip my friend. Sound the drum up there. »
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The death of Patrick Saint-Élie comes three years after that of Jacob Desvarieux, one of the founders of Kassav'. A monument to the Antilles, the pioneering group in zouk has not stopped performing on stage, as evidenced by a recent concert at the Adidas Arena, in Paris, in 2024.
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