This Sunday, October 9, 2022, at 3:50pm local time (GMT-4), “Guadeloupe la 1ere” television station will premiere in full the “Homecoming Concert” of the Caribbean rock band “Grand Baton.” [The concert will be available for replay directly on their website following the broadcast. See links below.] JC Maillard explains:

Grand Baton, founded in 2004 in Paris by Guadeloupean JC (Jean-Christophe) Maillard—who later relocated to New York City—is deeply rooted in the culture of the Gwoka music [of Guadeloupe] and was developed from a study of ka drum patterns and a reflection on how they could shape a new rock music, with the intention to follow, in a similar way, the cultural process that shaped the Creole language (also central to the original work of Grand Baton). 

In 2012, Grand Baton brought their music back to its roots and to the people of Guadeloupe. The final show of this tour was filmed and is the testimony of this reunion. Grand Baton is the only true deep experiment unifying a Caribbean drum tradition and rock music.

Grand Baton features:

• JC Maillard (guitar, vocals), from Guadeloupe
• Arnaud Dolmen (drums, Ka), from Guadeloupe
• Thierry Arpino (drums), from France
• Didier Juste (Ka), from Guadeloupe
• Fabrice Fanfant (bass) from Guadeloupe

For more information, in French, see https://www.francetvpro.fr/contenu-de-presse/38989785

See a trailer of the concert: https://youtu.be/304injMf3aw

For more about JC Maillard, see http://jcmaillard.com/epk/