Ronald Rubinel

Aside from Michel Alibo, there is no Antilles musician with a longer list of musical credentials, both live and on record, than Ronald Rubinel. He was a staple of touring Haitian bands in the 70s, who was heard adding rare keyboard parts to soukous recordings by Loketo and the other superstar Zairian bands. In the Antilles, he was a cadence star in the '70s and a zouk star in the '80s through to today. He is also the catalyst behind Martinique's most exciting carnival creation of the past two years, Ethnikolor. Besides playing on nearly as many zouk releases as the members of The Zouk Allstars, he has released a handful of his own recordings, always featuring a Who's Who of Antilles stars. Bal Boutche may be the best introduction.