Chris Combette
Chris was born in Guyana in 1955, into a Martinican family. Third in a family of six boys, he learned the guitar by watching his older brothers after school. Passionate about the bass guitar, he joined his first group, the “Agils”, founded in the family bosom by teenagers: Chris Combette is fourteen, his little brother Charles is on percussion, two cousins ​​are on the guitar, on drums and vocals. College students host surprise parties and perform covers, their favorite repertoire is that of a successful West Indian-African orchestra, Rico Jazz.
Then come the 70s, the era of balls and the great vogue of konpa in Haiti. In several groups, including the "Thunders" he is a bassist and hosts evenings punctuated by all the musical influences of the Caribbean: bossa nova, konpa, calypso, mazurka, biguine, etc. The epic continues with the group's memorable balls " Power 8", he is always on bass... while preparing for his baccalaureate.
Chris left Martinique in 1975 to study computer science in Montpellier. With his DUT in his pocket, he keeps moving from one side of the Atlantic to the other. He left to teach mathematics in Guadeloupe, familiarized himself with percussion and remained particularly influenced by the “gwo ka” drum. Back in Paris, he frequented several groups as a bassist and guitarist while working in IT. He wrote his first song “Pas ça” in 1979 and took a liking to composition. After another year of teaching in Guyana, he returned to Paris and prepared for his master's degree in computer science. Then he returned to Martinique for a year, where he was the bass player of the group “Cristal”, with Franck Donatien (Taxi Créole), Tony Chasseur, Pipo Gertrude (Malavoi), Philippe Joseph (Kassav’) and continued teaching.