Sam Castendet

Samuel Sabinus Castendet was born on December 30, 1906 in Sainte-Marie, Martinique. He learned alone to play the clarinet and came to Paris in 1924 to work as a mechanic in aviation. His destiny changed in October 1931 when it was proposed to replace Alexandre Stellio during the last three weeks of "L'Exposition Coloniale" (Colonial Exhibition). From then on, his life will be guided by music. Sam Castendet plays in the Caribbean cabarets of Paris and then leaves early 1932 for a long tour in the south of France and Switzerland. In 1935, he conducted the dance orchestra "Le Mikado" in Paris and played at " Grand Hôtel Normandy " at "Le Touquet" in 1936. He was taken prisoner by the Germans in 1940 and escaped to Paris where he resumed his musical activity , Notably at " La Brasserie de La Cigale ". After the war, Sam Castendet animated from 1946 to 1951 the cabaret "La Canne à Sucre" in Montparnasse with Al Lirvat on the trombone and Maurice Noiran on the clarinet. From 1950, he recorded exclusively for the Columbia label. In 1952, for a year he directed his own cabaret "Le Fort-de-France", rue Molière in Paris. In 1954, it was a triumphant tour of Africa. In 1956 he played for King Farouk of Egypt. In 1959, 1960 and 1961, Sam Castendet animated with Anatole 'Barel' Coppet the carnival of Fort-de-France. He retired from music in 1965 to become a chauffeur in a ministry. Beginning in 1980, Sam Castendet spent a discreet retirement in La Rochelle. He died on January 18, 1993 in Martinique, a few months after a stroke during a stay in his native island. Sam Castendet marked the fifties by recording popular successes immortal in 78" records.