Issa El Saieh: Maëstro and Legend/ A Portrait of My Pal, His Times and His Music by Mats Lundahl and Carl Louis Saint Jean is an indispensable source for detailed information about Haitian music in the middle of the 20th century. For those interested in transnational dimensions of jazz or big band music in the Caribbean, Latin America, or other corners of the world, it also provides an interesting case study of the rise of modern dance clubs, localized forms of jazz, and discourses of authenticity in national music. While the presence of jazz music in Haiti predates Issa El Saieh's musical career, emerging during the US Occupation, much of Port-au-Prince's social and cultural history is revealed in this detailed account of Issa El Saieh's life. Issa's pivotal role in bringing bop and big band innovators from the US to assist in his orchestra helped bring modern jazz sensibilities to Haitian music. Through the various members of his orchestra, such as Ernest Nono Lamy or Raoul Guillaume, these jazz influences percolated into successive forms of popular Haitian music, particularly compas. In short, Issa El Saieh's band was vital for the development of Haitian music, a nascent recording industry, and the cross-fertilization of the local with new sounds from US jazz.
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