On March 19, 1966, maestro Henry Célestin and guitarist Robert Martino founded Les Difficiles de Pétion-Ville. The group originally included Henry Célestin (vocals, maestro), Pierre Emmanuel Charles (guitar), Robert Martino, Jean-Robert Hérissé (bass guitar), Freddy Burr-Reynaud, Sony Louis (drums), Billy Degand, and Marc Edmé. Aged between fourteen and sixteen, these young musicians recorded their first album, Ce La Vie, in 1970, featuring hits such as “Refuge Moin,” “Touninn,” “Mesdames Yo,” “Tue Lampe,” “Téléphone,” and “Kenscoff.” As Ed Rainer Sainvill notes in Tambours Frappés, Haïtiens Campés, these songs “established them as kings of the ‘string band’ sound, following Tabou’s exile.”

A disagreement between Jean-Robert Hérissé and Robert Martino led to Martino’s departure to form Les Gypsies de Pétion-Ville. Eddy Wooley replaced him, and the group recorded five additional albums until 1984.