The French Copyright Society has honored Cadance legend, Gordon Henderson, in a ceremony at the company’s headquarters in France after 50 years of active presence in the Société des Auteurs, Compositeurs et Éditeurs de Musique (SACEM).
Henderson joined SACEM in 1974 and reached the highest rank of a “permanent member” in 1999, a status obtained through a set income threshold.
“I am proud and honoured to be honoured today alongside a single other Caribbean composer in the person of Martinican Alex Frankfurt, member of the famous Gibson Brothers,” Henderson said. “The African continent is well represented and I look forward to seeing Caribbean creativity also prominently highlighted at the SACEM Museum.”
Henderson, who is based in Paris, is the first Creole Musician to sign to a major French record label and is known as the Godfather of Cadence-Lypso.
Born in Portsmouth, Henderson was the leader and founder of the famous musical group, Exile One and the one who coined the name Cadence-Lypso for a genre of music that revolutionized modern Creole music worldwide.
He has been described as one of the finest Creole music writers, composers, and performers. His legacy as a Creole music writer/composer/performer includes the late 1960s formation of Voltage Four, 1970 lead singer of the group Les Vikings in Guadeloupe. In 1973, Henderson recorded his first single entitled ‘Love’ with Les Viking.
“‘Love’ was a huge success,” he stated.
He later formed Exile One together with Fitzroy Williams, Viviane Wallace, Julie Mourillon, and others and in 1973 created Cadence-Lypso music.
The band has been described as the most exportable Creole band in the Caribbean. Henderson has been dubbed a musical genius, innovator, and visionary and he has won many awards at home and in the Caribbean.
Among them are a national meritorious award in Dominica for Exile One, a Golden Drum, two lifetime achievement awards from the Dominica Festivals Commission, one with Exile One, a lifetime achievement award from LIME, a lifetime achievement award from the NCCU, a recognition award from SACEM Martinique, a national SACEM award in France for becoming a “isociétaire définitifi”, A CAIO award, a Caribbean Heritage Trailblazer award in Washington DC, USA, an ADNExUS legends award in New Jersey, two AfriCar music awards in the Ivory Coast and Gabon, Africa, and a Caribbean Music award in Paris, France. Henderson was also very instrumental in establishing the World Creole Music Festival in 1996.
He is presently in the final editing stage of his documentary film co-produced with SPEKTAK.TV from Guadeloupe and will be on tour this summer in Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Lucia, Réunion Island, and Miami.
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