Gordon Henderson in concert
Cadence legend, Gordon Henderson who is celebrating 50 years in the music business, is among headliners of the 21st Edition of Dominica’s World Creole Music Festival, scheduled for October 25 to 27, at the Windsor Park Sports Stadium, Roseau, Dominica.
The founder of the world famous Exile One, Gordon will share the stage on the middle night of the festival with a galaxy of Cadence-lyspo stars, in what is expected to be a thriller of a night. The cadence legend who has been on a world tour to celebrate his golden jubilee in the music business will bring to the stage his vast repertoire, unique on-stage style and that special Exile One sound.
Gordon Henderson who was raised in the second town of Portsmouth on Dominica’s north-west coast, was a child prodigy who wrote and sang his own compositions from an early age. A calypso winner at his alma-mater, the Saint Mary’s Academy, Gordon would go on to play with a number of outstanding local bands during the early period of the 1970’s. In 1971, he would travel to Guadeloupe and join up with the then popular Vikings Guadeloupe, penning the highly popular soul track, Love, which would propelled him to instant stardom in the French West Indies. He would use his success with Vikings to attract a group of young exciting Dominican musicians, including Fitzroy Williams, Julie Mourillon, Vivian Wallace, Oliver Cruickshank and Kremlin Fingal with Guadelopean Pierre Labor, to form what became the creators of a new music genre, Cadence-lypso. Exile One would go on to produce many studio albums and live recordings, producing some of the outstanding Creole anthems of the time and inspiring a whole generation of Dominican musicians and bands to create and produce a wide repertoire of music especially in the late 70’s and 80’s. His classic hits over those five decades include monster tracks such as Nou Twavay pou Anyen, Don’t Bite the Hand that Feeds You, Jumbolo, Aki Yaka, Fresh/Fraiche, Rosita, Viel ou La, Diamant Kweyol, and so much more. The prolific singer-song writer has also penned hit songs for many other singers, including for Dominica’s Lady of Song, Ophelia.
As one of the founders and early pioneers of the WCMF, Gordon is coming back to the stage and to the event he helped to shape, to bring both his professionalism, world-class stature, his patriotic sensibility and distinct Creole music credentials to this unique musical experience. He is expected to be joined on stage by his long-time friends and musical colleagues, Fitzroy Williams on keyboards and Alex Sty Larocque on drums.
Patrons and festival lovers to the 2019 WCMF can therefore look forward to some thrilling music from Exile One and the maestro of Cadence music. Come join the excitement of more than 50 years of great music from Gordon Henderson, Linford John, Ophelia and the Cadence-All Stars on the middle night of WCMF 2019.
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About Dominica’s World Creole Music Festival: Dominica’s World Creole Music Festival celebrates the creole culture of creole speaking countries in the Caribbean, Europe and Africa. The Festival held annually in October, seeks to augment the creole month festivities and Independence celebrations held during this period as well as boost visitor arrivals to the island. The World Creole Music Festival features various musical genres to include Reggae, Zouk, Kompas, Cadence, Bouyon, Salsa, Dancehall/Hip Hop, Merengue, Soukous, Zydeco. The Festival is dubbed ‘Three Nights of Pulsating Rhythms’ for its wide repertoire of musical genres on showcase each night. Join us for the 21st World Creole Music Festival, October 25 – 27, 2019.
