Tabou Combo Sets Off a Haitian Explosion

Tabou Combo’s weekend performance at the Ukrainian Culture Center proved again that command of dynamics is the chief element distinguishing the cream of the Third World pop crop. The band’s tempo shifts and fresh melodic lines, however brief, constantly reinvigorated material that otherwise might have struck Western pop fans as too similar.

Those dynamic interludes were the only things the 11-piece Haitian ensemble from Brooklyn had going for it early in its hour-plus set Friday. Battling a balky mix that obscured any subtleties (particularly the feathery lead guitar of Elysee Pyronneau) in its lightlytextured compas style, Tabou Combo was pleasantly engaging but hardly riveting.

But the set exploded when the group kicked into a greatest-hits medley greeted with joyful howls of recognition by the substantial Haitian contingent in the audience. The unison vocal chants and punchy horn punctuations, Gary Rezil’s biting second guitar, and percussion climaxes triggered by drummer Herman Nau coalesced in a 30-minute finale of frenzied dance-floor activity.