The title of Nathalie Joachim’s upcoming sophomore album “Ki moun ou ye” asks “Who are you” or “Whose people are you?” in Haitian Creole. These answers remain elusive for the cross-cultural musician, even after a Grammy nomination and tenure track at Princeton, the nation’s top-ranked university.
“It’s a big question to ask yourself, and maybe one that I will always be discovering,” said Joachim. “But I will say that this album did help me recognize that all of the pieces of us—the good, the bad, and the ugly—are pieces that are possible to be contributing to a reimagined sense of [the] present and future for ourselves. It’s worth discovering who you are. It is a worthwhile journey to discover the value of your life for yourself. To define that for yourself is a big part of coming into adulthood.”
Her own journey started in Brooklyn, making music with her grandmother. Joachim quickly developed aptitude for the flute and was fast-tracked in Juilliard’s prep programs by age 10. She soon performed professionally, penciling in a glittering future as a classically trained flutist. But as Joachim progressed, the urge to explore her “creative identity” grew.
Ultimately, life took her in three directions musically. Along with performing and composing, Joachim also teaches composition full-time at Princeton University. She said her careers feed into one another, allowing her to grow in all three fields simultaneously. By 2020, she earned a Grammy nomination for her debut album “Fanm d’Ayiti” in the world music category.
Now Joachim is back with “Ki moun ou ye,” which debuts next Friday, Feb. 16. Her world-class flute abilities are still present, but they’re joined by some friends, including strings, drums and electronic sounds.
Anchoring the instruments is Joachim’s living singing voice, which she explained belongs only to her, but “contains pieces” of everybody who came before her.
In fact, ancestral connection plays a key role in her musical self-discovery. While crafting the album, Joachim retreated to a remote village in southern Haiti, to the farmhouse that her family has called home through seven generations. The stay helped her interpret her personal Black American experience.
“We are very migratory global people at this point, so almost none of us have roots that go that far back,” said Joachim. “As a Black person, this idea of having a very clear understanding of where my family has been for a very long time is different [from] most Black American experiences.”
The new release also serves as a homecoming to New York City for Joachim, whose tour makes stops at the Schomburg, MoMA, and Carnegie Hall for a pair of performances.
As for what her listeners should expect?
“I hope that it stands as an example of harnessing this notion of reclaiming yourself—for yourself—and I hope that it provides people a lens through which they can maybe discover that for [themselves] on their own,” said Joachim. “But I think more than anything, I hope that it gives them some good music to listen to.”
Tandy Lau is a Report for America corps member who writes about public safety for the Amsterdam News. Your donation to match our RFA grant helps keep him writing stories like this one; please consider making a tax-deductible gift of any amount today by visiting https://bit.ly/amnews1.