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First Serenade Band: the Pointe Michel band that spans the whole history of bouyon

Published October 20, 2026

First Serenade Band is one of the three names the reference works place at the head of bouyon: the Continuum encyclopedia and the genre survey article name WCK, RSB and First Serenade as the prominent groups of the style born in Roseau in the late 1980s. But where WCK is the documented creator, First Serenade is the survivor: an eleven piece band that started out playing in a church in the 1980s, from the village of Pointe Michel, honoured with a lifetime achievement award at the 1999 World Creole Music Festival, reunited in 2018 after losing its instruments in Hurricane Maria, and still active in 2026, with a bouyon single under a 2026 copyright, “Take Yuh Foot”, and a headline slot at Ti Vilaj Kwéyòl on October 20, 2026. This profile follows what the opened sources establish, from the platform albums of 1994 to 2016 to the 2018 concert described minute by minute, and also says what they do not give: no exact founding year, and no complete member list.

The third name of the foundation: what the references say

Every history of bouyon starts with a trio of names. The genre survey article, drawing on the reference work Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, writes that the prominent bouyon groups are Windward Caribbean Kulture, known as WCK, Roots, Stems and Branches, known as RSB, and First Serenade. The Dominica chapter of the same encyclopedia sets out the division of roles: among the leading bouyon bands are WCK, RSB and First Serenade, and it describes First Serenade as an older band that spans almost the entire history of popular music in Dominica. None of these sources credits First Serenade with creating the genre: creation belongs to WCK, formed in 1988, which fused cadence-lypso with the island jing ping. First Serenade holds the other place, that of the band that was already there and accompanied the style along its whole length.

The reference guide GuideDM, in its survey of the musicians who shaped the sound of Dominica, phrases that role in one sentence: the Serenade Band, that is First Serenade, and Effects Band helped refine and reimagine the bouyon sound. Refine and reimagine: the wording matters. This is not the founding gesture of 1988, but the long haul work of a stage band that took the newborn bouyon, played it in full formation for decades, and evolved it together with the rest of its repertoire, cadence-lypso, soca, zouk and calypso. That is the role the sources attribute to the band, less spectacular than an invention and rarer than one.

A third source, the Music of Dominica article kept in the 2007 Schools Wikipedia selection, places the band in the decade before the word bouyon. In the 1980s, it writes, cadence-lypso declined, zouk dominated, and soca, the music of Trinidad, was also popular, producing bands like RSB, Windward Caribbean Kulture and First Serenade. The band is therefore first a band of the Dominican soca era, before becoming a bouyon band when WCK wired the rhythms of jing ping and lapo kabwit into the machines. That seniority explains the encyclopedia formula: a band that spans almost the whole popular history of the island cannot have been born with bouyon, it predates it.

Meet the creator of the genre on our WCK page, the context of the beginnings on our old school bouyon page, and the full timeline in our history of bouyon.

Pointe Michel, a church, eleven musicians: the origins as the sources tell them

The band geographical anchor is given by its own presentation. The description of its official YouTube channel says that the First Serenade Band emerges from the village of Pointe Michel, on Dominica south western coast, by the Caribbean Sea. Pointe Michel is a village in the parish of Saint Luke, south of Roseau: the band is therefore a village band that became a national band, the classic path of Dominican bands, and its stage name keeps the trace of that local scale, a serenade being, in the island tradition, music offered through the village, from house to house.

The musical starting point is given by Agence France Presse, in a report on the 2018 edition of the World Creole Music Festival carried by the international press. First Serenade is described there as an eleven piece Dominican band that started off playing in a church in the 1980s. Eleven musicians and a church start: two facts that structure the whole file. The eleven piece format explains the live reading of the band, with a full horn section, two singers and a complete rhythm section, and the church start explains its social longevity, a band born inside a village institution, rehearsed and held by the community before it was a stage business.

On the founding date, the sources give ranges that converge without ever settling. The Mondo Local report on the 2018 festival writes that the band was formed over 34 years ago, which places the birth no later than the mid 1980s. The Richès Karayib report on the 2022 edition speaks of an almost 40 year old band, which points to the same starting point. And the Continuum encyclopedia, published in 2005, already treated it as an older band spanning almost the entire popular history of the island. This profile chooses no year: it keeps the 1980s decade, the church start and the village of Pointe Michel, the three facts the opened sources support together.

The band official presentation insists on one more trait, its versatility. According to the text of its channel, the band has produced fourteen compact disc albums, on which can be heard zouk, reggae, bouyon, soca, salsa, calypso and soukous, all styles the band says it can perform comfortably. That list is not decoration: it matches exactly what witnesses of its concerts describe, a single set crossing cadence-lypso, bouyon, zouk and calypso. First Serenade is a dance and festival band in the full Caribbean sense of the term, with bouyon as a central register, but not the only one.

The live sound: synchronised horns, two singers, one unbroken medley

The richest live document in the file is the Mondo Local report on the 2018 World Creole Music Festival, the twentieth edition of the festival. First Serenade opened the Friday night there, and the witness describes a legendary Dominican band, high in energy, in a unique blend of cadence-lypso, bouyon, soca and zouk. The same text delivers the two institutional facts of the file: the band received a lifetime achievement award during the 1999 edition of the festival, and it had released over 20 albums to date, including a recent 2018 single. A career award as early as 1999, at the third edition of a festival created in 1997: the Creole institution therefore ranked First Serenade among its classics at a moment when the band already had some fifteen years on stage.

The description of the 2018 set works as a technical sheet of the First Serenade sound. The set leaned towards soca and calypso, with a strong Dominican element carried by the percussion and drums, the cowbell and the bass drum drawing local rhythms over a cadence foundation. Above that, a horn trio of trumpet, trombone and saxophone fired highly synchronised riffs, which the witness counts among the most expressive horn sections he had witnessed at a live event. The two lead singers crossed the stage with synchronised dance steps. And the whole set held in one extended medley, each song leading seamlessly into the next, running through cadence-lypso, bouyon, zouk and calypso, before a closing Carnival medley pushed the horn section to the front of the mix.

The band trombonist, Christopher Dangleben, gives the musicians version in the AFP report on the same edition. He says he loves the fusion of the music and the way it has evolved over the years, and lists the current instrumentation: drums, keyboards, trumpets, trombones and saxophone. He adds the band editorial line, as he phrases it: Creole music is the national identity, and their lyrics promote peace, humanity and their island. The same report recalls the matter of bouyon according to the band: a blend of traditional jing ping with bele, reggae and soca. With First Serenade, bouyon is therefore not a studio product: it is a stage register, played by eleven musicians, between the cadence of the elders and the carnival medleys.

Read about the festival that made the band a classic on our World Creole Music Festival page, and about the band traditional register on our cadence-lypso page.

The platform catalog: from Rough Up de Session in 1994 to Serenade and Friends in 2016

The band digital catalog, as the Shazam pages document it record by record, begins in the mid 1990s, under the name The First Serenade Band and on its own label, First Serenade Band. First album recorded: Rough Up de Session, in 1994, with “Bef La”, written by Stanley Winston and Eric Bardouille. The band official channel still carries “Bef La” on video, and the record still circulates in soca DJ medleys: it is the oldest platform trace of the band, and it confirms that the band was already recording at the moment when Dominican bouyon reached its first peak.

In 1995 came Try a Ting Nuh, the best documented album of the early catalog. Shazam attaches to it “Jungleist Passe”, at 155 BPM, written by Eric Bardouille, and “One Two Three”, at 146 BPM, written by Adrien Mitchel, which the official channel presents under the long title “One Two Three (Under De Mango Tree)”. The speeds state the register: 146 and 155 BPM, the tempo of the Dominican fete, between fast soca and bouyon. The Continuum encyclopedia completes the decade through its discography of the island, which lists an album by the band titled “Chant Dem”, released in Dominica in 1997 under its own name. No song page of that album was opened during this research, and this profile therefore cites it as a discography entry, without attributing any songs to it.

The run continues without a major gap. In 1999, the album Red Heat carries the title track of the same name, at 149 BPM, written by Maxime Darroux. In 2002, the album Jus’ Like Dat carries “Jus’ Like Dat”, at 160 BPM, the fastest tempo in the recorded catalog, written by Lloyd Jno Baptiste, a name that will become central in the band recent period. In 2005, Me Water Coming lines up “Ah Feeling Nice”, at 144 BPM, written by Stanley Winston and Carlton Winston, and “Thunder Clap”, at 155 BPM, written by Rhamadine Phillip. The writing credits therefore rotate from album to album, Stanley Winston, Eric Bardouille, Adrien Mitchel, Maxime Darroux, Lloyd Jno Baptiste, Rhamadine Phillip: the band works like a village workshop where several pens sign, and not like the vehicle of a single author.

The last album of the platform run is Serenade and Friends, dated February 1, 2016, whose opened page is “Calypso Medley, Vol. 3”, written by Simon Bique, Cleve Jean Jacques, Eric James and Peter Hubert. The Shazam artist page also gives the list of the band most played songs, which draws its current canon: “Calypso Old Mass Medley”, “People Fete”, “One Two Three”, “Enjoy Your Life”, “De Wiper”, “Culture Rhythm”, “Charle Lamour”, “Easy Feeling”, “Donkey Tricks” and “Lesse Mwen”. On the album counts, this profile gives both published figures without merging them: fourteen compact disc albums according to the band own presentation, over 20 albums according to Mondo Local in 2018. The gap probably comes from the formats counted, compact discs on one side, all releases on the other, but no source explains it, and it is therefore left open.

After Maria: the 2018 reunion, then the stages from 2022 to 2026

The gravest moment of the file is also the best told. In September 2017, Hurricane Maria devastated Dominica. The AFP report on the 2018 festival says that First Serenade reunited for the festival after losing their instruments in the hurricane. The twentieth edition of the World Creole Music Festival, in October 2018, one year after the storm and on the eve of the fortieth anniversary of independence, therefore counts as a return: the band that had received the festival career award in 1999 came back to the same stage, with replaced instruments, to open the first night. Mondo Local, which does not mention the hurricane, confirms the rest: intact energy, a set without a dead moment, an audience held from the first medley to the last.

What follows is a continuous presence on the bills of the Creole season. Richès Karayib, in its report on the 2022 edition of the festival, ranks the band, by then almost forty years old, alongside WCK, TK International, Midnight Groovers and Signal Band among the Dominican talents on the bill. In 2025, the published festival programme places First Serenade on the second night, Saturday October 25, the night of the Bouyon Assembly, alongside WCK and the names of the new generation. The band official channel keeps the video traces of that edition: “Millennium Train” and “O La E Ye” live at WCMF 2025, and backstage footage of the band warming up on “Enjoy Your Life”.

In 2026, the presence tightens further. The official calendar of the twenty sixth edition of the festival, carried by the press, lists First Serenade Band among the participants of the Belles Combo Benefit Concert on October 3, 2026. And on Tuesday October 20, 2026, the day this profile is published, the programme of Ti Vilaj Kwéyòl, the Creole village of the independence celebrations at the Botanic Gardens in Roseau, bills First Serenade at 4:20 PM with the label “Bouyon legends”, and presents it as one of Dominica most beloved bouyon bands, bringing its serenade hits for the family crowd. The band channel also carries a Ti Vilaj Kwéyòl live from 2025: loyalty to the Creole village is therefore an annual appointment, not an isolated appearance. A band formed in the 1980s that still holds the family headline slot on the very day, forty years later, has few equivalents in the genre.

The bouyon single era: Take Yuh Foot, Real Mas, and the limits of the file

The band recent period is read on its official channel, which shows a band that has moved to the regime of the year tagged bouyon single, like the new generation. The channel lines up “Bouyon Rhythm”, tagged Bouyon 2025, “Dancing Time” with Rangerman, tagged Bouyon 2025, then “Real Mas”, tagged Bouyon 2026, and the best documented record of the run, “Take Yuh Foot”, released under a 2026 copyright of the band. Around those recent records, the channel maintains the old catalog on video: “Enjoy Your Life”, whose official video is the most watched record on the channel together with “Riches of Dominica”, the collaboration with Halibut, then “Charle Lamour”, “Donkey Tricks 96”, “Pa Goumen 97” and “De Whinery 96”, the vintage years of the records shown in the titles themselves.

“Take Yuh Foot” deserves the detail, because its official description is the most complete credit sheet of the band to date. The record is written by Lloyd “Lloydie” Jno Baptiste, whom the description presents as the lead singer of the band, the same Lloyd Jno Baptiste who already signed “Jus’ Like Dat” in 2002: twenty four years separate the two credits of the same singer and writer. Production is credited to Logically Don Productions and Maskman, arrangement to Donavan Gabriel, mixing and mastering were done at Logically Don Productions, riddim production goes to Arade “Maskman” Moses, artwork to KimmieDesignz, and the vocals were recorded at Dernel Green, in his studio that the source spells DernzMuzsik. The description presents the record as an infectious bouyon riddim made for dancing from start to finish: the live medley band therefore now works exactly like the singles scene, with a named riddim producer, arranger and engineer. Read what that studio means for the current scene on our Dernel Green page.

The limits of the public file remain real, and this profile states them to close. No opened source publishes the complete list of the eleven musicians, nor the exact founding year, nor a followed official biography: the named people are the writers of the song pages, trombonist Christopher Dangleben quoted by AFP in 2018, and lead singer Lloydie, named by the official 2026 description. The January dates of the album pages are read here as platform year markers, not as release days. The published album counts vary, fourteen compact discs according to the band, over twenty albums according to Mondo Local. And the band role in the foundation of bouyon must stay at its right measure: a prominent group and a refiner of the sound, according to the references, in the shadow of the creating gesture of WCK. The listening, though, is not lacking: start with “Bef La”, “One Two Three” and “Jungleist Passe”, continue with “Enjoy Your Life” and “Riches of Dominica” with Halibut, and finish with “Take Yuh Foot” and “Real Mas”, then place the band in our bouyon playlist and on our bouyon soca page.

Frequently asked questions

Where does First Serenade Band come from?

From the village of Pointe Michel, on Dominica south western coast, according to the band official presentation on its YouTube channel. Agence France Presse adds that this eleven piece band started off playing in a church in the 1980s. No opened source gives a more precise founding year: Mondo Local counted over 34 years of existence in 2018, and Richès Karayib spoke of an almost 40 year old band in 2022.

What is First Serenade Band role in the birth of bouyon?

A prominent and refining role, not a creating one. The Continuum encyclopedia and the bouyon survey article name WCK, RSB and First Serenade as the prominent groups of the genre, with creation belonging to WCK, formed in 1988. GuideDM writes that the Serenade Band and Effects Band helped refine and reimagine the bouyon sound, and the encyclopedia describes First Serenade as an older band spanning almost the entire history of popular music in Dominica.

How many albums has First Serenade Band released?

The two published figures do not match, and this profile gives both. The band presentation speaks of fourteen compact disc albums. Mondo Local, in 2018, counted over 20 albums, including a recent single that same year. The albums documented record by record on the platforms run from Rough Up de Session in 1994 to Serenade and Friends in 2016, through Try a Ting Nuh, Red Heat, Jus’ Like Dat and Me Water Coming, plus Chant Dem in 1997 in the discography of the Continuum encyclopedia.

Which First Serenade Band records should I hear first?

The canon drawn by the platforms and the official channel: “Bef La” from 1994, “One Two Three” and “Jungleist Passe” from 1995, “Jus’ Like Dat” from 2002, “Ah Feeling Nice” from 2005, “Enjoy Your Life”, “Riches of Dominica” with Halibut, then the recent records “Take Yuh Foot”, under a 2026 copyright, and “Real Mas”, tagged Bouyon 2026. Our bouyon playlist places those records inside the Dominican wave.

Does First Serenade Band still perform?

Yes, and the recent bills prove it. The band played the second night of the World Creole Music Festival 2025, its channel publishes live footage from that edition, it appeared at the Belles Combo Benefit Concert on October 3, 2026, and the Ti Vilaj Kwéyòl programme bills it on Tuesday October 20, 2026 at 4:20 PM at the Botanic Gardens in Roseau, with the label bouyon legends. In 2018, it had reunited for the festival after losing its instruments in Hurricane Maria.

Who are the musicians of First Serenade Band?

No opened source publishes the complete list of the eleven musicians. The documented names are credits: Lloyd “Lloydie” Jno Baptiste, lead singer according to the official description of “Take Yuh Foot” in 2026 and writer of “Jus’ Like Dat” in 2002, Christopher Dangleben, trombonist quoted by AFP in 2018, and the writers of the song pages, among them Stanley Winston, Eric Bardouille, Adrien Mitchel, Maxime Darroux and Rhamadine Phillip.

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