Joseph Omicil, Jr, a.k.a. Jowee Omicil, is a Haitian-Canadian jazz musician. He has worked in the past with artists such as Roy Hargrove, Pharoah Sanders, Tony Allen, Kenny Garrett, Jacob Desvarieux, Glen Ballard, Harold Faustin, Michel Martell, etc. He hosted Quincy Jones’ 85th birthday celebration at Montreux Festival. He also starred in the Netflix series The Eddy, produced by Damien Chazelle, and Le temps d’aimer, directed by Katell Quillévéré (Cannes Festival 2023). The Bois-Caïman ceremony was Haiti’s first major collective uprising against slavery. On his new album, SpiriTuaL HeaLinG: Bwa KaYimaN FreeDoM SuiTe,Joweeperformshisancestors’revolutioninhisownway.Joweebroughttogetherallhisinnertubes,soprano,alto,tenor,wood,clarinets, piccolo flute, cornet, that blows, that winds, that rumbles. This recordis an incantation, a therapy, it cleanses the world by drawing on the fantasizedmemory of the Haitian revolution. There are Freedom Suites by Sonny Rollins,Max Roach and others. Prayer music, music to break the chains in your headand on your wrists, music of black power and white magic. For Jowee, a kidfrom Montreal, son of a Haitian pastor, who sang Jesus in all the tones, andthen Michael Jackson, and then 2Pac, who learned jazz from Ornette Coleman,the ceremony necessarily has the taste of free. This record is a healing hour-longimprovisation.
