“We were all shocked on the 12th, when it happened. Everyone came into the office and said 'What can we do?',” says Francois Mauger from Mondomix, the Paris-based world music and culture media. 

Raising money seemed the most obvious way to help. A quick flick through the contacts book and the Mondomix team came up with the idea of a compilation of Haitian music, downloadable on their website.

The result is “SOS Haïti – Help Haïti to rebuild itself”: 14 tracks presenting a panorama of Haitian music from the great classics like Toto Bissainthe to field recordings, troubadour, folk and voodoo funk.

All the artists (Michael Benjamin, Ti Coca, Belo, Melissa Laveaux, Carimi…) and recording companies have donated the songs and proceeds from sales of the album online will benefit two NGOs.

Mondomix chose Alterpresse, an independent news agency and the Réseau Culture Haïti (Haiti Culture Network).

Contacts in Haiti had told them Alterpresse was a good, independent source of news but it had lost everything in the earthquake.

“All their buildings, their computers, office equipment, paperwork […] they have nothing left,” explains Mauger.

As for the Haiti Culture Network, Mondomix was drawn to the network aspect, a good way of spreading out aid between music and the arts more generally (theatres, venues…).

The funds will help HCN draw up an inventory of all the cultural venues that have been destroyed in the earthquake, helping Haitians get funding for reconstruction work through the European Union.

“It will also help set up links between Haïti and Europe to make sure Haitian artists are helped and welcomed in France” adds Mauger.

As for the compilation itself, Mondomix regrets that due to time constraints and problems of securing rights, they weren’t able to get Tabou Combo - one of the great compas bands - on the album. Compas is Haiti’s consummate dance music, close to the zouk it gave birth to in neighbouring French West Indies, but with more brass sections.

There’s a wealth of good music nonetheless. Two field recordings show how important Haiti’s vodou (voodoo) tradition still is. Maromet de Balan is a Mandingo vodou ceremony where musicians perform what was originally an Islamic song.

“Haiti is a kind of museum in the open air, of African traditions in America,” says Mauger. “The Haitian population is often isolated, so they’ve kept rhythms and words.”

And even modern, urban musicians like Melissa Laveaux who was born in Haïti but has lived most of her life in Canada, keep certain vodou beliefs alive. In the short introduction to her song Koudlo, Laveaux says she hopes Haiti will rise up, helped by both the dead and the living.

What’s striking in the album, whether it’s Belo, an RFI discovery in 2006, Michael Benjamin or the troubadour Ti Coca is the number of references to Haiti itself. And remember all the songs were recorded before the earthquake struck.

“It seems that Haitian people are very willing to do something for their community," says Mauger. "Most songs talk about Haïti lever (Rise up, Haiti), Haïti bouger (Get on, Haiti), Haïti chérie (Darling Haïti), and it’s incredible to hear so much love for their country.”

Not least with all the problems it’s had since independence in 1804. Weighed down by huge debts to France, ruled by a series of dictators, Haiti has remained poor and, some would say, blighted by history.

Yet this hasn’t stopped it producing an extraordinary wealth of artistic talent.

One of Haiti’s greatest ambassadors was the late singer, composer and actress Toto Bissainthe. She died in France in 1994 but always kept close ties with her native country. Her songs often paid homage to the Haitian working class and rural communities in particular.

The album features Papa Danmbalah, a beautiful, rather soothing lullaby. You don’t have to understand Creole to feel a sense of resilience and pride in being Haitian in that song.