Jean-Marc Monnerville - better known to music fans as Kali - was born in Fort-de-France, the capital of Martinique, on 21 February 1956. His mother was a writer and primary school teacher; his father a professional musician who had formerly played with the African Band in Paris. The young Jean-Marc thus grew up in a creative, musical environment. As for his stage name Kali, Jean-Marc adopted this in his childhood, calling himself after the famous chick cartoon character Kalimero

Kali's musical career began in earnest when his father sent him to France in the early 70's to study music. The teenage Kali, heavily into percussion in the early days of his career, earnt valuable musical experience performing with several different groups before going on to form his own at the age of 19. His first group Gaoule was symbolically named after a notorious slave massacre carried out in the French West Indies in the 17th century.

By the time Kali formed his second group 6ème Continent in 1979, he had adopted a full-on Rasta style, growing a full head of dreadlocks. Playing a mix of reggae and traditional music from the French West Indies, Kali and his new group soon made a name for themselves on the French music scene. Indeed, 6ème Continent went on to record several hit singles. These included an iconoclastic version of the famous song "Adieu foulards" and "Reggae Dom-Tom", a hard-hitting single which evoked the difficult relationship between France and its former colony.

It was during his time with the group 6ème Continent that Kali took up the banjo, an instrument which has profoundly marked his music up to the present day.

In June 1983 6ème Continent rose to national prominence when they stepped in to replace the Nigerian singer Femi at the Fète de la Musique (the popular French music festival held every year on 21 June). Playing on an open-air stage erected on the Place du Trocadéro in the heart of Paris, Kali and 6ème Continent proved an enormous hit, getting the crowd dancing along to the rhythms of the French West Indies. Yet as 6ème Continent grew increasingly successful, a series of internal conflicts began to tear the group apart. And when the group’s record company CBS asked 6ème Continent to modernise their music and change their look, it proved to be the final straw. Kali decided it was time for the group to split up.

In 1987 Kali returned to Martinique where he began exploring his musical roots, ignoring the Zouk craze sweeping through the French West Indies at that time. Kali was not inspired by this modern dance craze, preferring to seek his inspiration in the traditional music of the French West Indies as represented by Eugène Mona, Loulou Boislaville and especially Alexandre Stellio, the legendary clarinet-player and composer who wrote so many of the famous biguine hits in the pre-war years. Kali explored this musical heritage on his solo albums "Racines I" (released in 1989) and "Racines II" (1990), his original compositions fusing acoustic piano and banjo with percussion and synthesizers.

Having rediscovered his musical roots, Kali decided to stay in his homeland, moving into the family home at St Pierre de la Martinique. Yet Kali did return to Paris to give a memorable concert at the famous New Morning and the singer’s vibrant performance was captured on a new live album. But the event which really catapulted Kali to the forefront of the music scene was the 1992 Eurovision Song

Contest. For the 37th edition of the contest France chose to be represented by the Martiniquan-born singer and Kali thus followed in the successful footsteps of the Franco-Tunisian singer Amina (who had previously represented France at Eurovision). Kali’s performance of the song "Monte la rivié", taken from his 1992 album "Roots", earnt the singer 8th place in the contest.

The following year Kali was back in the media spotlight with a brand new single entitled "Ile à vendre". This was shortly followed by "Lese la te tounen" (Let the Earth Turn), an album which found Kali experimenting with resolutely committed lyrics and a more modern sound. Yet this new album got a rather lukewarm reception from the critics who found it rather bland compared to his earlier work. The critics’ unenthusiastic reviews did not prevent Kali from winning a prestigious award from Sacem (The French Association of Songwriters and Composers) in 1994, however. His song "Pan Patchew" was voted Best Song of the Year in the Music from the French West Indies category.

On his 1995 album "Débranché" (Unplugged), Kali reverted to a more traditional sound, getting rid of all electronic instruments and rediscovering a purely acoustic sound. "Débranché" included new versions of some of 6ème Continent’s best-known hits including the legendary "Reggae Dom-Tom". Kali’s controversial lyrics which had so angered conservatives and certain nationalists the first time round had certainly not lost none of their bite ("I belong to a very special race / I’m a nigger who was born in France’s overseas ‘department’ / And I’m heavily into the colonial style .... They bent over my cradle and covered me with the flag / Taking everything, even my destiny/ I’d have been better off born an orphan / Oh how many more generations will have to submit to this curse ? " ).

Kali returned to France to perform at MIDEM (the annual record industry fair held in Cannes) in January 1996. On 22 February he followed this with another impressive performance at the Paris venue Le Hot Brass (which closed in June 1997), before embarking upon a tour of la Réunion (1-10 March). In the autumn of 96 Kali was invited to perform in Zimbabwe where he joined other musicians celebrating the Centenary of the first anti-colonial insurrection. Kali and his group of musicians proved a huge hit on this occasion, the crowd loving this fusion of African and West Indian culture. Given his passion for Rasta music and culture, Kali must have felt perfectly at home in Zimbabwe where the Rasta King Bob Marley had played to celebrate the country’s declaration of independence in 1980.

Kali’s latest European concert dates back to 19 October 1996 when the singer gave a memorable performance at La Java, an intimate music venue in Paris.  

Two years later, the Martinican singer released "Racines IV". This album, based on the compositions of such artists as Stellio, Leona Gabriel, and Eugène Mona, celebrated the artist’s comeback to traditional West Indian music since 1992.

Being now 45, the artist considers himself as less tormented and more sedate than in his youth. He now wishes to remain closer to his home country and roots, trying to escape the pervasive influence of globalization and over consumption in today’s world. He also endeavours to hand his love of West Indian culture down to younger generations, putting on shows in Martinican schools in order to share his views on life and identity with the children there.

In 2002, Kali joined in the round of cultural events commemorating the centenary of the eruption of the Pelée volcano which wreaked havoc on Martinique in 1902. Kali produced his next musical offering "Bèlè Boum Bap" (released in July 2002) himself, claiming that the compilation was his way of building bridges between different generations and different musical styles. The artists featured on "Bèlè Boum Bap" ranged from rappers to adepts of more traditional rhythms such as "bèlè."

Around the same period, Kali headed off to perform at the "Pirineos Sur" festival in the Spanish Pyrenees. His performance at the Spanish festival was later released as the album "Live en Espagne" (2004).

The following year, Kali performed in the Guadeloupean capital, Pointe-à-Pitre, taking part in the "Akoustik Kreyol Project." This special one-off acoustic concert featured performances by a host of Caribbean stars including Dominik Coco, Kolo Barst, Beethova Obas and the group Soft. Kali returned to Guadeloupe in June 2006 to perform at the "Créole Blues" festival.

The fifth album in the "Racines Caraïbes" series appeared in November 2007. Announced as the final instalment of Caribbean Roots (launched twenty years previously), the album included guest performances by a number of major Caribbean stars including Jocelyne Beroard, Tanya Saint-Val, Emeline Michel and Ralph Tamar. 2007 also found Kali providing guest vocals on Raphaëlle Eva's second album, "C’est meilleur quand c’est chaud", which he also co-produced. Kali hit the road again in June and July 2008, appearing at several leading music festivals across France and Spain.

November 2008