Caribbean on Music Theory Print

Afro (genre)

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Influence#

According to George Torres, “the infectious rhythm of the Afro was used by American artists” such as Duke Ellington and Chuck Berry (in his song “Havana Moon”).

Notable examples#

The following afro compositions are often cited as the most representative of the genre. *“Babalú” (Margarita Lecuona) *“Tabú” (Margarita Lecuona) *“Bruca maniguá” (Arsenio Rodríguez) *“Drume negrita” (Ernesto Grenet) *“Drumi mobila” (Bola de Nieve) *“Ogguere” (Gilberto Valdés) *“Lacho” (Facundo Rivero) *“La culebra” (Obdulio Morales) *“Mata siguaraya” (Tío Tom) *“Rinkinkalla” (Juan Bruno Tarraza)

Afro-Caribbean music

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Local Caribbean#

Afro-Caribbean music began in the Caribbean as a result of the transatlantic slave trade and the creation of a neo-African culture among slaves. Afro-Caribbean music dates back as far as the 15th century, when the slave trade began. Although afro-Caribbean music existed for centuries, local recording and distribution officially began in the 1920s. Some of the earlier afro-Caribbean sub-genres to emerge included calypso, merengue, son, reggae and salsa. Due to multiple problems with production and distribution, music from the region struggled initially to gain global popularity.

Afro-Cuban jazz

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“Spanish tinge”—the Cuban influence in early jazz#

Although clave-based Afro-Cuban jazz did not appear until the mid-20th century, the Cuban influence was present at the birth of jazz. African-American music began incorporating Afro-Cuban musical motifs in the 19th century when the habanera gained international popularity. The habanera was the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African motif. The habanera rhythm (also known as “congo” can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the backbeat. Musicians from Havana and New Orleans took the twice-daily ferry between both cities to perform, and the habanera took root. John Storm Roberts states that the musical genre habanera “reached the U.S. 20 years before the first rag was published”. For more than a quarter-century in which the cakewalk, ragtime, and jazz were forming, the habanera was a consistent part of African-American popular music. “St. Louis Blues” (1914) by W. C. Handy has a habanera/tresillo bass line. The first measures are shown below. Handy noted a reaction to the habanera rhythm included in Will H. Tyler’s “Maori”: “I observed that there was a sudden, proud and graceful reaction to the rhythm…White dancers, as I had observed them, took the number in stride. I began to suspect that there was something Negroid in that beat.” After noting a similar reaction to the same rhythm in “La Paloma”, Handy included this rhythm in his “St. Louis Blues,” the instrumental copy of “Memphis Blues,” the chorus of “Beale Street Blues,” and other compositions." Jelly Roll Morton considered the tresillo/habanera (which he called the Spanish tinge) to be an essential ingredient of jazz. Morton stated, “Now in one of my earliest tunes, ‘New Orleans Blues’, you can notice the Spanish tinge. In fact, if you can’t manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz—Morton (1938: Library of Congress Recording).” An excerpt of “New Orleans Blues” is shown below. In the excerpt, the left hand plays the tresillo rhythm, while the right hand plays variations on cinquillo. Although the origin of jazz syncopation may never be known, there’s evidence that the habanera/tresillo existed at its conception. Buddy Bolden, the first known jazz musician, is credited with creating the big four, a habanera-based pattern. The big four (below) was the first syncopated bass drum pattern to deviate from the standard on-the-beat march. As the example below shows, the second half of the big four pattern is the habanera rhythm. In Early Jazz: Its Roots and Musical Development, Gunther Schuller states, The Cuban influence is evident in many pre-1940s jazz tunes, but rhythmically they are all based on single-celled motifs such as tresillo, and do not contain an overt two-celled, clave-based structure. “Caravan”, written by Juan Tizol and first performed in 1936, is an example of an early pre-Latin jazz composition. It is not clave-based. On the other hand, jazzy renditions of Don Azpiazú’s “The Peanut Vendor” (“El manicero”) by Louis Armstrong (1930), Duke Ellington (1931), and Stan Kenton (1948), are all firmly in-clave since the 2-3 guajeo provides the primary counterpoint to the melody throughout the entire song.

Aguinaldo (music)

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Venezuelan aguinaldo#

In Venezuela, aguinaldo is a genre of Christmas music and generally have six verses. It is played by “parranderos” or “aguinalderos” that announce their arrival in song and seek to gain entry to the community houses to relate the story of the birth of Christ, and to share in the joy of the message of Peace on Earth and to all People of Good Will. Aguinaldos are played with typical instruments such as the cuatro (a small, four-string guitar), furruco, and maracas. Other instruments often used are violin, guitar, tambourine, mandolin, bandol, caja (a percussive box instrument), and marímbula (an Afro-Venezuelan instrument). In exchange for the entertainment, “parranderos” are traditionally given food and drink: hallacas, panettone, rum and “Ponche Crema” (a form of alcoholic eggnog). Aguinaldos are also played at Christmas church celebrations. The composer Vicente Emilio Sojo compiled and harmonized more than 100 anonimous agunaldos and other folk songs, achieving a significant preservation of the country’s musical traditions.

Bachata (music)

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Instrumentations#

The typical bachata group consists of five instruments: requinto (lead guitar), segunda (rhythm guitar), bass guitar, bongos and güira. The segunda serves the purpose of adding syncopation to the music. Bachata groups mainly play a straightforward style of bolero (lead guitar instrumentation using arpeggiated repetitive chords is a distinctive characteristic of bachata), but when they change to merengue-based bachata, the percussionist will switch from bongo to a tambora drum. In the 1960s and 1970s, maracas were used instead of güira. The change in the 1980s from maracas to the more versatile güira was made as bachata was becoming more dance oriented.

Bachatón

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Background#

Bachatón is a mix of bachata and reggaetón. The histories of the two genres are described below.

Bachata#

Bachata is a genre of music that originated in the Dominican Republic in the early parts of the 20th century and spread to other parts of Latin America and Mediterranean Europe. It became popular in the countryside and the rural neighborhoods of the Dominican Republic. Its subjects are often romantic; especially prevalent are tales of heartbreak and sadness. In fact, the original term used to name the genre was amargue (“bitterness” or “bitter music”), until the rather ambiguous (and mood-neutral) term bachata became popular. The form of dance, bachata, also developed with the music. The earliest bachata was originally developed in the Dominican Republic around the early part of the 20th century, with mixed Cuban boleros which originated from Son with African elements, and Puerto Rican 18th century jibaro music combined with traditional Latin/Caribbean rhythms. During much of its history, bachata music was denigrated by Latino/Caribbean society and associated with rural backwardness and delinquency. The typical bachata group consists of five instruments: lead guitar, rhythm guitar, electric bass guitar, bongos and güira. The rhythm guitar is also known as a segunda and serves the purpose of adding syncopation to the music. Bachata groups mainly play a simple style of bolero (lead guitar instrumentation using arpeggiated repetitive chords is a distinctive characteristic of bachata), but when they change to merengue based bachata, the percussionist will switch from bongo to a tambora drum. In the 1960s and 1970s, maracas were used instead of güira. The change in the 1980s from maracas to the more versatile güira was made as bachata was becoming more dance oriented.

Baithak Gana

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Instruments#

In basic Baithak Gana there are three instruments, harmonium, dholak and the dhantal. The harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. The dholak is a double headed drum that originated in Northern India, however, it is still used in the folk songs from Pakistan or Nepal. The last instrument that is used in this style of music is the dhantal which serves as the rhythmic piece of the ensemble, it consists of a long steel rod which is then “struck” by a U-formed piece, the origin of this device is unclear, as it may have been brought by the Indian indentured-laborers. The origin of the dhantal was formed from the use of a long steel rod with an almost-enclosed circle tip at the end used in the yoke of bull-driven carts that were used to transport sugar cane to guide the bulls. The U-shaped handle piece was derived from the use of a horse shoe.

Bélé

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As a dance#

The bélé dance formed from a combination of traditional African dance styles and Caribbean influences due to the changed landscape, musical instruments, and tumultuous lifestyle. It may be the oldest Creole dance of the creole French West Indian Islands, and it strongly reflects influences from African fertility dances. It is performed most commonly during full moon evenings, or sometimes during funeral wakes (Antillean Creole: lavèyé). In Tobago, it is thought to have been performed by women of the planter class at social events in the planters’ great houses, and the dress and dance style copied by the enslaved people who worked in or around these houses http://www.trinidadexpress.com/news/Birthplace-of-the-bele-112487054.html .

Big Drum

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Origin#

All big drum celebration is accompanied by the boula drum. The word boula can refer to at least four different drums played in the Caribbean music area. The Guadeloupean boula is a hand drum, similar to the tambou bèlè, and is used in gwo ka and special occasions likes wakes, wrestling matches and Carnival celebrations. It is a hand drum that plays low-pitched sounds and is played single-handed and transversally. The boula of Carriacou is also a hand drum, now most often made of rum casks. It is also called the tambou dibas, and is used in the Big Drum tradition. The boula of Trinidad and Tobago accompanies the stick-fighting dance called kalenda, and is a double-headed barrel drum, played open-handed.

Biguine

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History#

Two main types of French antillean biguine can be identified based on the instrumentation in contemporary musical practice, called the drum biguine and the orchestrated biguine. Each of these refers to characteristics of a specific origin. The drum biguine, or bidgin bèlè in Creole, comes from a series of bèlè dances performed since early colonial times by the slaves who inhabited the great sugar plantations. Musically, the bidgin bèlè can be distinguished from the orchestrated biguine in the following ways: its instrumentation (cylindrical single-membraned drum (bèlè) and the rhythm sticks (tibwa); the call-and-response singing style; the soloist’s improvisation, and the nasal voice quality. According to a study by Rosemain (1988), the biguine figured in fertility rituals practiced in West Africa, but its ritual significance has since disappeared in Martinique.

Bolero

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Origins#

In Cuba, the bolero was perhaps the first great Cuban musical and vocal synthesis to win universal recognition. In time, this dance music spread to other countries, leaving behind what Ed Morales has called the “most popular lyric tradition in Latin America.” The Cuban bolero tradition originated in Santiago de Cuba in the last quarter of the 19th century; it does not owe its origin to the Spanish music and song of the same name. In the 19th century there grew up in Santiago de Cuba a group of itinerant musicians who moved around earning their living by singing and playing the guitar. Pepe Sanchez is known as the father of the trova style and the creator of the Cuban bolero. Untrained, but with remarkable natural talent, he composed numbers in his head and never wrote them down. As a result, most of these numbers are now lost, but two dozen or so survive because friends and students wrote them down. He was the model and teacher for the great trovadores who followed.

Bomba (Puerto Rico)

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History#

The roots of the bomba tradition can be traced to the Asante people of Ghana. The word bomba is derived from the Akan and Bantu languages of Africa. Bomba was developed by West African slaves and their descendants on sugar plantations in Puerto Rico during the early European colonial period. Despite lacking a shared language due to their varied origins, they found common ground in music. Cane workers used music and dance to release feelings of sadness, anger, and resistance; they were also used to communicate and plan rebellions and were integrated into baptism and marriage celebrations. The first documentation of bomba dates to 1797, when botanist André Pierre Ledru described his impressions of inhabitants dancing and singing popular bombas in . Distinct regional styles of bomba developed across Puerto Rico, each possessing its own characteristics. For example, the style performed in Ponce is distinguished by the use of large drums which are mounted vertically. Bomba was also significantly shaped by Haitian influences. The music of Haitian slaves, many of whom were brought to Puerto Rico during the Haitian Revolution, contributed to the rhythm typical to bomba in Mayagüez.

Bouyon music

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Origin#

Bouyon blends jing ping, cadence-lypso and traditional dances, namely bèlè, quadrille, chanté mas and lapo kabwit, mazurka, zouk and other styles of Caribbean music.

Jump up#

In 1987, Exile One recorded a Chanté mas and Lapo Kabwit song, “L’hivernage”, commonly referred to as the yo. The French Antilleans referred to the beat as “jump up music” because of its carnival style sound. This jump upbeat was later modified to become bouyon or modern soca music. (As printed on Exile One’s album “creole attitude”). In Guadeloupe and Martinique, “Jump up” refers generally to bouyon music.

Cadence rampa

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Ethnology#

Cadence rampa literally means rampart rhythm.

History#

Webert Sicot left Nemours Jean-Baptiste’s compas band and called his music cadence to differentiate it from compas especially when he took it abroad, and so the rivalry between Sicot and Nemours created these names. Sicot created a new rhythm, cadence rampa, to counter compas, but it was only in a spirit of competition. The rhythm of cadence rampa was identical to compas except for the addition of the second drum that sounded on every fourth beat. In the 1930s several biguine artists from Martinique and Guadeloupe moved to France, where they achieved great popularity in Paris, especially in the wake of the colonial exhibition in 1931. Early stars like Alexandre Stellio and Sam Castandet became popular in Paris. Between the 1930s and 1950s, the dance beguine was popular among the islands’ dance orchestras. Its popularity abroad died relatively quickly, but it lasted as a major force in popular music in Martinique and Guadeloupe until Haitian cadence and compas took over in the 1950s. In the later part of the 20th century, biguine musicians like clarinet virtuoso Michel Godzom helped revolutionize the genre. The signature sound of the biguine is the interplay between the clarinet and trombone, both solo and as a duet, which can still be heard today throughout Antilles music, from the most traditional forms like cadence or the pop sounds of today’s zouk. The Sicot brothers, Maestro Webert Sicot and composer Raymond Sicot, are well regarded in the Caribbean for their rigorous harmonic skills. They introduced the méringue-cadence to the Caribbean, specifically the French Antilles of Martinique and Guadeloupe around 1962, from where it spread to Dominica. From the 60s to the 70s, Dominica, Guadeloupe and Martinique were replete with cadence bands like Selecta, La Perfecta, Les Aiglons, Grammacks, Exile One, Les Vikings de Guadeloupe, and Abel Zenon et son combo.

Cadence-lypso

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History#

Dominican contemporary music, that is the music played by the dance bands from the 1950s, has played a very important role in Dominica national life. Dominica musical landscape has seen many changes in the intervening period from 1950. In the forties and fifties, there were bands such as the Casimir Brothers of Roseau. The Swinging Stars emerged at the end of the fifties. Their music was a dance-oriented version of many kinds of Caribbean and Latin popular music. By the beginning of the 1960s, calypso and Trinidadian steelpan became the most popular styles of music on Dominica, replacing traditional Carnival music like chanté mas and lapo kabwit, particularly in the capital Roseau. Many of the traditional carnival songs were performed in the new calypso beat. Calypsonians and calypso monarch competitions emerged and became extremely popular. It was in the 1960s that the trend towards drawing on original music, traditional music and songs of Dominica began. This was probably best exemplified by the music of the Gaylords and to a lesser extent, De Boys and Dem. Gaylords unleashed a string of hits such as “DouvanJou”, “Ti Mako”, songs in Dominican Creole French as well as powerful nationalist songs in English, as “Lovely Dominica” and “Pray for the Blackman”. These songs were performed to calypso rhythms and later the new reggae beat coming out of Jamaica. Early recording stars from this era included Swinging Busters, The Gaylords, De Boys an Dem and Los Caballeros, while chorale groups also gained fans, especially Lajenne Etwal, Siflé and the Dominica folk singers. These early popular musicians were aided by the spread of radio broadcasting, beginning with WIDBS and later Radio Dominica. The emergence of radio, first WIDBS and later Radio Dominica helped to spread the music. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the influence of rock, soul and funk music from the United States was reflected in Dominican contemporary dance music. New groups originating from mainly the high school student population emerged. Groups such as Every Mother’s Child, Woodenstool and Voltage Four specialized in rock and funk. The Latin-rock music of Carlos Santana and Afro-rock music of Osibisa became powerful influences on our younger bands, and were very popular in the dance halls.

Calypso music

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Etymology#

It is thought that the name “calypso” was originally “kaiso” which is now believed to come from Efik “ka isu” (“go on!”) and Ibibio “kaa iso” (“continue, go on”), used in urging someone on or in backing a contestant. There is also a Trinidadian term “cariso” that means “old-time” calypsos. The term “calypso” is recorded from the 1930s onwards. Alternatively, the insert for The Rough Guide to Calypso and Soca (published by World Music Network) favours John Cowley’s arguments in Carnival, Canboulay and Calypso: Traditions in the Making, that the word might be a corruption of the French carrouseaux and through the process of patois and Anglicization became caliso and then finally “calypso”; however, Cowley also notes that the first mention of the word “calypso” is given in a description of a dance in 1882 by Abbé Masse.

Caribbean music in Canada

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1960s and 1970s#

Beginning in the mid-1960s, a wave of Caribbean musicians, especially but not exclusively from Jamaica, began to move to Toronto. Some of these, such as Jay Douglas, Jo Jo Bennett and Jackie Mittoo, pioneered the development of a reggae scene in the city, while others, such as Wayne McGhie, performed rhythm and blues, soul and funk in accordance with the dominant Toronto sound of the era.

1980s#

Caribbean music began to actively break through into the Canadian cultural mainstream in the 1980s when Parachute Club, a band who incorporated reggae and soca rhythms into a mainstream new wave dance-pop style, broke through to mass popularity with their 1983 hit single “Rise Up”. Their success in turn paved the way for reggae and dub poetry artists such as Leroy Sibbles, Lillian Allen, Messenjah, Clifton Joseph and Sattalites to break through to larger audiences; the Juno Awards, Canada’s primary music award, introduced an award for Reggae Recording of the Year in 1985. Parachute Club percussionist Billy Bryans, whose interest in Caribbean music had been influential in the introduction of reggae and soca elements into the band’s sound, also went on to become Canada’s first prominent and influential promoter and producer of homegrown Caribbean and Latin American music, producing albums for and managing numerous artists and acting, according to Brazilian Canadian singer-songwriter Aline Morales, as “a bridge between world music and the Canadian music scene”.

Cariso

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Chantwells#

The “chantwell” is another incarnation of the African “griot” tradition. On the Caribbean plantations African griots became chantwells, preserving the tribe’s history and traditions orally. They would sing to contemporary and mythical heroes and to the Gods. They would also preserve the complex oral traditions of West Africa with songs of derision, praise, satire, and lament. At first the chantwells were mostly women because the males were targeted for destruction on the plantation. On Emancipation the tradition continued and the chantwells would sing call-and-response chants called lavways lionizing and cheering on champion stickfighters. This form of music gradually evolved into the modern calypso. Calypso music was developed in Trinidad in the 17th century from the West African Kaiso and canboulay music brought by African slaves imported to that Caribbean island to work on sugar plantations. These enslaved Africans were stripped of all connections to their homeland and family and not allowed to talk to each other. They used calypso to mock the slave masters and to communicate with each other. As calypso developed, the role of the griot (originally a similar travelling musician in West Africa) became known as a chantwell and, eventually, calypsonian. As the country became urbanized chantwells became more and more a male function but the portfolio remains the same. The chantwell is the Call, the tribe and the audience is the Response.

Cha-cha-chá (music)

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Origin#

The creation of cha-cha-chá has been traditionally attributed to Cuban composer and violinist Enrique Jorrín, who began his career playing for the charanga band Orquesta América. According to the testimony of Enrique Jorrín, he composed some danzones in which musicians of the orchestra had to sing short refrains, and this style was very successful. In the danzón “Constancia”, he introduced some montunos and the audience was motivated to join in singing the refrains. Jorrín also asked the members of the orchestra to sing in unison so the lyrics might be heard more clearly and achieve a greater impact in the audience. That way of singing also helped to mask the poor singing skills of the orchestra members. In 1948, Jorrín changed the style of a Mexican song by Guty Cárdenas, called “Nunca”, composing a separate part for the trio or montuno of danzón; and in 1951 he composed a signature cha-cha-chá, “La engañadora”. Jorrín noticed that most of the dancers had some trouble with highly syncopated rhythms and therefore he simplified the musical texture of his pieces, using as little syncopation as possible. The novel cha-cha-chá style was born from melodies that were very easy to dance.

Chanté mas

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The French#

The French were known to have celebrated this ‘freedom of the flesh’ prior to the Lenten season since the 4th Century. The Africans however, being enslaved in the Caribbean, were known to have carnival since emancipation in 1838. It is no wonder people have argued whether the festival is of historical or religious origin. Truth is though, this festival, as celebrated in Dominica, is a combination of both history and religion. The Europeans, most of whom were Roman Catholics, had celebrated carnival as the day before they would stay away from meat, as well as all fleshly desires.

Chouval bwa

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History#

The Martinique bèlè is a legacy of the slave music tradition. The bélé itself is a huge tambour drum that players ride as though it was a horse. It is characterized, in its rhythm, by the “tibwa” (two wooden sticks) played on a length of bamboo mounted on a stand to the tambour bèlè. Added to the tambour bèlè and tibwa are the maracas, more commonly referred to as the chacha. The tibwa rhythm plays a basic pattern and the drum comes to mark the highlights and introduce percussion improvisations. It is organized in a certain way, the first entry of the singer ( lavwa ) and choir ( lavwa Deye or “answer”). Then the “Bwatè” (player ti bwa) sets the pace, followed by bèlè drum. Finally, the dancers take the stage. A dialogue is created between the dancers and the “tanbouyè” (drummer). The “answer” plays opposite the singer, the audience can also participate.

Chutney music

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History#

The term chutney is derived from the Hindi word chatni, referring to South Asian condiments made of spices. The contemporary fusion of genres that led to chutney music was created around the 1940s by Indo-Caribbean people of the West Indies, whose ancestors originally were brought to the region from the Hindi Belt as indentured labourers by the British, intended to replace slaves working on sugar plantations after slavery was abolished in the region. There were no recordings of chutney until 1968, when Ramdew Chaitoe, of Suriname, recorded an early rendition of the music. The album was called King of Suriname and all of the songs were religious in nature. However, Chaitoe soon became a household name with East Indians, not just in his native Suriname but throughout the Caribbean. Although the songs were religious in nature, all had a distinctly danceable sound. For the first time, Indo-Caribbeans had music that spoke to them personally, and was not specifically Indian, African, or European or American in style/roots. This was a breakthrough for East Indian Caribbean music, but the fame was shortlived. Chutney music exploded, again, after 1968, with the singer Dropati releasing her album Let’s Sing & Dance, made-up of traditional wedding songs. The record became a huge hit within the Indo-Caribbean community, gaining exposure for chutney music as a legitimate form of music, and uniting Indians, regardless of their birthplace. 1969 was a turning point for chutney music, when record producer Moean Mohammed recorded Sundar Popo with Harry Mahabir’s BWIA Orchestra. Sundar Popo modernised the music by including western guitars and early electronics into his music. Although Popo became known as the “King of Chutney”, the art of singing songs in “chutney” style was introduced by a singer named Lakhan Kariya, from the town of Felicity, Chaguanas who preceded Sundar Popo. Other artists, such as Indo-Trini artist Sam Boodram, followed in his footsteps, adding newer and modern instrumentation into songs. Chutney music, until then, remained a localised genre in Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Suriname.

Chutney soca

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History#

Chutney soca is a prime example of how Indo-Trinidadians have established roots in Trinidad and have created an original, syncretic artform. This fusion was originally pioneered by Lord Shorty in the 1960s and 1970s and its later branding resulted from the intervention of Indo-Trinidadians into soca music in the 1980s, the addition of chutney soca to the island’s musical life signified a consolidation of the East Indian influence on Trinidadian culture and politics, particularly during the 1990s. It was during the 1980s and 1990s that Trinidadian musicians, performing in the popular style of calypso and its offshoot, soca, began to incorporate Indian themes into their lyrics. A significant example of this is the song “Sundar Popo”, by Black Stalin. This song, whose whimsical lyrics concern a veteran Indian singer, won Black Stalin the coveted Calypso Monarch Prize in February 1995. Although it was neither in chutney style nor in Hindustani, “Sundar Popo” was labelled chutney soca because of its theme. Similar efforts followed in the wake of 30 May 1995, which marked the anniversary of the first arrival of “indenturees” in Trinidad and was designated by the island’s government as Indian Arrival Day. Chutney soca’s rise in popularity through the mid to late 1990s was expedited by its changing role in Trinidad’s Carnival celebration. The 1995–96 Carnival season saw the establishment of the Chutney Soca Monarch Competition and the performance of a number of chutney socas during the calypso soca competition by creole musicians, including Marcia Miranda, Tony Ricardo, Chris Garcia, Brother Marvin, and Luta. Embraced as it was by non-Indian performers, who abandoned formal Indianisms, sang solely in English and emphasized the soca beat, chutney soca became a national fad.

Compas

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Etymology and characteristics#

The word “compas” means “measure” or “rhythm” in Spanish, In Creole, it is officially spelled as konpa, but it is most popularly spelled with an “m” in place of the “n” (as in kompa) even though it is considered a botched spelling translation that resulted from a phonetic misunderstanding between French and Haitian Creole, the latter with a newly standardized orthography which has only been established since 1979 that contains no m-sounding consonants before b’s and p’s unlike in French.

Conjunto

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Mexican#

Mexican conjunto music, also known as conjunto tejano, was born in south Texas at the end of the 19th century, after German settlers introduced the button accordion. The bajo sexto has come to accompany the button accordion and is integral to the conjunto sound. Many conjuntos are concentrated in the Southwestern portion of the United States, primarily in Texas and California. In Mexico, the term conjunto is associated with norteño and tejano music. Since tejano was bred out of norteño music originally, this association is not entirely false. However, due to various cultural and socioeconomic developments in the 1900s, norteño musicians began trailblazing the tejano genre as a tangent to conjunto. In the United States and Mexico, a conjunto band is composed of four main instruments: the button accordion, the bajo sexto, an electric bass, and a drum set. The place of the electric bass was first filled by the tololoche, or contrabass, until it was replaced in the 1950s. They are popular in northern Mexico and southern Texas. German and East European settlers brought their accordions, waltzes and polkas to the region, which were adapted by the local population. Texas accordion player Flaco Jiménez is probably the best-known conjunto musician in the United States, with a career spanning sixty years and earning him six Grammy awards.

Criolla

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Cuban folk music

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Classification of genres#

During the 1960s, a methodological organization was consistently applied to the Cuban popular music; and that methodology, called of the “generic complexes” was mainly based on the works of Cuban musicologist Argeliers León. In his book Del canto y el tiempo, León divided the study of Cuban popular music in several sections presented in the following order: Música yoruba, Música bantú, Música abakuá, Música guajira, El son, La rumba, La guaracha, La canción y el bolero, Música instrumental, De la contradanza al danzón, al chachachá and Hacia el presente, en el presente. Dr. Olavo Alén says about the “generic complex system”: “In his book Música Folklórica Cubana as well as in his opus masterpiece Del canto y el tiempo, he (León) shows us a panoramic view of our music departing fundamentally from the description of the original genres of Cuba. But those divisions proposed by Argeliers didn’t pretend to be as rigorous as a scientific organization that would be in compliance with the classificatory principles of coherence, exclusivity, exhaustivity and most importantly, dichotomy.” According to the Cuban popular music “Generic complex theory”, Cuban folk music is classified as follows: * Punto cubano Complex, with its variations Punto libre y Punto fijo. * Rumba Complex, with its components Yambú, Guaguancó, Columbia, Conga and Comparsa. * Danzón Complex, with its variants Contradanza, Danzón, Danzonete, Mambo and Cha-cha-chá. * Son Complex, with its modalities Changüí, Sucu-sucu and Guaracha. * Canción Complex, with its variants Bolero and Filin. The “Generic complex theory” has been refuted since long time ago by renowned musicologists such as Leonardo Acosta, which explains in his article titled “About the Generic Complexes and other matters”: According to Cuban composer and musicographist Armando Rodríguez Ruidíaz: From the elaboration and fusion process of the first Spanish song-dances with sesquiáltera rhythm that arrived in Cuba, such as the Sarabanda and Chacona from the 16th century, three main lines of generic evolution originated, which may be classified as follows: 1 – sung dances, which include in chronological order, the punto guajiro and the zapateo, the Cuban guaracha, the rural rumba, the urban rumba, the Carnival conga, the son, the danzonete, the Salon rumba, the Salon conga, the danceable bolero, the son montuno, the mambo, the chachachá, the songo and the timba. 2 – dances, comprised by genres such as the Cuban contradanza, the danza, the danzón and the danzón-mambo. 3 – songs, comprised by the habanera, the bolero cubano, the guajira, the clave, the criolla, the tango congo, the pregón and other hybrid genres such as the guaracha-son, the guajira-son, the bolero-son, the lamento-son, the criolla-bolero, the bolero-danzón, the canción-habanera and the canción-bolero.

Cuban hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early days: Importation#

The importation of Cuban rap is debated, but many argue that it was brought from Miami. Rap hit Cuba approximately a quarter century ago, gaining popularity in the 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union. However it existed among young moneros, who had a tremendous oral ability and linguistic creativity. At the beginning of establishing Rap in Cuba rap like rock was perceived as a foreign import and while it was never forbidden, neither was it promoted or encouraged" The Cuban government changed its perceptions about hip hop during 1999 when they declared it as an authentic expression of Cuban culture. In addition the government formed the Agencia Cubana de Rap (The Cuban Rap Agency) that provides state-run record label and hip hop magazine, and began supporting the annual Cuban Hip Hop festival. Cuban rappers injected a renovating energy into Cuban music that was taken from hip hop culture. Rap in Cuba began to emerge precisely during the gangsta rap period in the United States which included artists like 2Pac, Notorious B.I.G, Ice-T, Snoop Dogg and many more influential gangster rappers. https://www.angelfire.com/pr/red/cuba/cuba_anti_racism.htm This exclusion from night life led to the importance of house parties where raperos were able to establish their own “underground” hip hop scene. The financial constraints of tourist geared night clubs that only accept dollars or venues that cost up to the equivalent of a standard monthly Cuban salary for entry also aided in the significance of house parties in the Cuban hip hop scene. In the mid-1990s, the music scene was one of the most promising for Cubans to meet tourists and gain possible access to much needed hard currency. Hip-hop developed new dance moves involving the ‘solo’ female body: the despelote (all-over-the-place) and tembleque (shake-shudder) and the subasta de la cintura (waist auction). These moves define a solo female dance style which involves fast movement and turning/swirling of the area from below shoulders and chest to pelvis (as if one was hula hoop-ing or belly dancing). Often accompanied by hand and body gestures mimicking self-pleasuring, it constituted a noticeable change in dance style, of women dancing to be ’looked at’ both by their partners, by other prospective partners, and by other spectators, using their body as a major asset. This was in contrast to traditional dancing such as normative couple dancing.

Cuban rock

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The 1950s#

The strong influence of American music on the younger Cuban generations paved the way for the introduction of rock & roll in the island during the 1950s. Many Cuban artists sung versions of American songs translated to Spanish, as it was also happening in Mexico. although electrically-amplified treses were already being played by musicians such as Senén Suárez. The repertoire of Los Llopis consisted of a combination of American and rock pieces, such as “See You Later, Alligator” and “Rock Around the Clock” by the Bill Haley group, with other Cuban and Hispanic pieces like “Goza mi Guaracha”, “Maquinolandera” and “La pollera colorá”. Los Llopis also succeeded in Spain, where they established their residence for some years and introduced pachanga, a new Cuban rhythm with an influence from the Dominican merengue. In 1959 Luisito Bravo bursted into the Cuban musical scene with songs such as Neil Sedaka’s “Oh Carol” and the Italian song “Tiernamente (Torna a Surriento)” (covered by Elvis Presley as “Surrender”, reaching 500,000 record sales by 1961. Other solo artists followed Luisito Bravo, such as Rogelio Sanzarini and Jorge Bauer, as well as groups such as the Satélites of Antonio María Romeu and the Tony Taño band.

Cuban rumba

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

According to Joan Corominas, the word derives from “rumbo”, meaning “uproar” (and previously “pomp”) and also “the course of a ship”, which itself may derive from the word “rombo” (“rhombus”), a symbol used in compasses. In the 1978 documentary La rumba, directed by Óscar Valdés, it is stated that the term rumba originated in Spain to denote “all that is held as frivolous”, deriving from the term “mujeres de rumbo”. Alternatively, in Cuba the term might have originated from a West African or Bantu language, due to its similarity to other Afro-Caribbean words such as tumba, macumba, mambo and tambó. The terms rumbón and rumbantela (the latter of Galician or Portuguese origin According to non-etymological sources, rumba could be related to “nkumba” meaning “navel” in Kikongo, which refers to a dance characterized by the joining and rubbing of navels. This dance was integral to the celebrations of the Kingdom of Kongo, a historical region that spanned present-day Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Angola. Due to its broad etymology, the term rumba historically retained a certain degree of polysemy. By the end of the 19th century, Cuban peasants (guajiros) began to perform rumbitas during their parties (guateques, changüís, parrandas and fiestas patronales). These songs were actually in the form of urban guarachas (not proper rumbas), which had a binary meter in contrast to the ternary meter of traditional rural genres such as tonada and zapateo. Similarly, in Cuban bufo theatre at the beginning of the 20th century, the guarachas that were sung at the end of the show were referred to as rumba final despite not sharing any musical similarities with actual rumba.

Dancehall

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Lead#

Dancehall is named after Jamaican dance halls in which popular Jamaican recordings were played by local sound systems. It both refers to the music and dance style. It faced criticism for negatively influencing Jamaican culture and portraying gangster lifestyles in a praiseworthy way.

Early developments - Early 1970s#

Dancehall music, also called ragga, is a style of Jamaican popular music that had its genesis in the political turbulence of the late 1970s and became Jamaica’s dominant music in the 1980s and ’90s. It was also originally called Bashment music when Jamaican dancehalls began to gain popularity. Social and political changes in late-1970s Jamaica, including the change from the socialist government of Michael Manley (People’s National Party) to Edward Seaga (Jamaica Labour Party), Themes of social injustice, repatriation and the Rastafari movement were overtaken by lyrics about dancing, violence and sexuality. Though the revolutionary spirit was present in Jamaica due to this social upheaval, the radio was very conservative and failed to play the people’s music. It was this gap that the sound system was able to fill with music that the average Jamaican was more interested in. Alongside this music was the addition of the fashion, art, and dance that came along with it. This made Dancehall both a genre, and a way of life. In contrast to roots reggae, which aimed for respectability and international recognition, dancehall did not hesitate in dealing with the day-by-day realities and basal interests of the average Jamaican—especially that of lower classes—and observing society in a provocative, gritty, and often vulgar manner. Since this put spreading via radio out of the question, dancehall initially gained popularity only through live performances in sound systems and specialized record dealing. Dancehall’s violent lyrics, which garnered the genre much criticism since its very inception, stem from the political turbulence and gang violence of late 1970s Jamaica. In the early days of dancehall, the prerecorded rhythm tracks (bass guitar and drums) or “dub” that the deejay would rap or “toast” over came from earlier reggae songs from the 1960s and 1970s. Ragga, specifically, refers to modern dancehall, where a deejay particularly toasts over digital (electrical) rhythms.

Dancehall pop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early developments#

As the sub-genre of its fathering music style dancehall, dancehall pop combines instrumental reggae and drum patterns of Jamaican sounds with the vocal melodies and catchy lyrics of pop music. The name of the genre itself is also credited to Jamaican music lifestyle, where artists and producers would play music from sound systems in local dancehalls. The socio-political changes after the 1970s government change in Jamaica affected dancehall styles, where lyrics moved away from political protest and more towards partying lifestyle. The dancehall genre trend of reusing beats, also known as “reworking”, is also still evident in dancehall pop as well, with many artists sampling old school dancehall track instrumentals––colloquially known as “riddims”. the dancehall pop genre combines rhythm and sounds from across in the Caribbean including that of soca, calypso and reggaeton. The fusion between dancehall and pop is attributed to the early digitisation of musical production in Jamaica, where the format of pop music––such as the melodic verse-chorus structure and repeated choruses––could be combined with the fast-paced instrumental rhythms of dancehall. Dancehall pop music did not make its mainstream arrival into the music industry until the early 2000s. Dancehall and soca songs such as Kevin Lyttle’s “Turn Me On” and Rupee’s “Tempted to Touch”, both released in 2002 and 2003 respectively, are examples of the early combinations of the digital pop style and Caribbean rhythms into the western music scene. It was dancehall pop artist Sean Paul, who released his second studio album Dutty Rock in 2002, including the hit singles “Get Busy” and “Gimme the Light” that put the genre on highly rated chart positions, with the album reaching a peak position of number 4 on the US Billboard 200. Sean Paul’s collaboration on the album with at-the-time rising pop star Beyoncé, titled “Baby Boy”, reached number 1 on the US Billboard Hot 100. This marked the beginning of the mainstream dancehall and pop fusion. Barbadian singer-songwriter Rihanna then released her debut dancehall pop single in 2005, “Pon de Replay”, which reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100 and UK Singles Chart. The genre had a small absence from the pop charts and then reemerged again in the 2010s with numerous Caribbean artists such as Kranium, Konshens, and Popcaan entering the dance-pop music charts. As these artists curated their names in the music industry, chart-topping pop artists like Drake, Rihanna, and Major Lazer incorporated the dancehall pop sounds into their respective hit singles “One Dance”, “Work”, and “Boom” which each gained top 20 spots on the US Billboard Hot 100. Drake’s dancehall pop and rap inspired track “One Dance” became a best-selling and chart-topping single, giving credit to the genre within the mainstream music scene. Named as the “song of the summer”, and spent over two months as number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, largely contributing to the mass-audience recognition of dancehall pop.

Danza

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Danza in Puerto Rico#

Danza is a form of music that can be varied in its expression. The Puerto Rican national anthem, La Borinqueña, was originally a danza that was later altered to fit a more anthem-like style. Danzas can be either romantic or festive. Romantic danzas have four sections, beginning with an eight-measure paseo followed by three themes of sixteen measures each. The third theme typically includes a solo by the bombardino and, often, a return to the first theme or a coda at the end. Festive danzas are free-form, with the only rules being an introduction and a swift rhythm. The first part of the romantic danza, the paseo, had 8 measures of music without a fixed rhythm (a snare drumroll may be played as background), when the couples circled the room elegantly, giving the lady the opportunity to display her beauty. The second part, called the merengue, grew from the original 16 measures to 34, in 1854. Here the couples held each other in a proper stance and executed turns that looked very much like a waltz. While the origins of the danza are murky, it probably arose around 1840 as a sort of reaction against the highly codified contradanza and, according to Cuban sources, was strongly influenced by Cuban immigrants and their habanera music. The first danzas were immature, youthful songs condemned by the authorities, who occasionally tried ineffectively to ban the genre. In Puerto Rico, the genre continued evolving until it was taken up by the young pianist Manuel Gregorio Tavárez, who had just arrived from his studies in Paris, and took it to a new artistic level. His disciple, Juan Morel Campos, adopted it also and developed it further to its maximum expression, composing more than 300 danzas, most of them masterpieces of an exquisite beauty. The danza that evolved was inspired mostly by women and romance and their titles reflected that change.

Danzón

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The danzón developed from the habanera, a creolized Cuban dance form. By 1879, the year Las alturas de Simpson composed by Miguel Failde (leader of the Orquesta Faílde) was first performed in Matanzas, Creation of the new danzón form is generally attributed to Faílde. The classical composer Manuel Saumell has also been cited as a key figure in its delineation.

Precursors: figure dances#

The English contradanza was the predecessor of the “habanera”, also known as danza criolla. Out of this Creole genre, the Habanera, was born in 1879 another Cuban genre, called danzon, a sequence dance, in which all danced together a set of figures. The first use of the term danzón, which dates from the 1850s, is for just such a dance. Havana’s daily paper, El Triunfo, gave a description of this earlier danzón. It was a co-ordinated dance of figures performed by groups of Matanzas blacks. The dancers held the ends of colored ribbons, and carried flower-covered arches. The group twisted and entwined the ribbons to make pleasing patterns. This account can be corroborated by other references, for example, a traveler in Cuba noted in 1854 that black Cubans “do a kind of wreath dance, in which the whole company took part, amid innumerable artistic entanglements and disentanglements”. This style of danzón was performed at carnival comparsas by black groups: it is described that way before the late 1870s. Faílde’s first danzóns were created for just such sequence dances. Faílde himself said “In Matanzas at this time there was a kind of square dance for twenty couples who carried arches and flowers. It was really a dance of figures (sequence dance), and its moves were adapted to the tempo of the habanera, which we took over for the danzón.”

Dembow beat

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

At the beginning of the 1990s, there existed several closely related Jamaican-origin dancehall riddims revolving around a “boom-ch-boom-chick” sound such as the “Bam Bam riddim” or the “Fever Pitch riddim”. One of these riddims was “Fish Market”, also known as the “Pocoman Jam riddim”, produced by Jamaican duo Steely & Clevie in 1989. This riddim was then used in the 1990 song “Dem Bow” by Shabba Ranks, of which the name “dembow” was taken, becoming known as the “Dem Bow riddim”. The same year, it was reworked by producer Dennis the Menace in “Pounder (Dub Mix II)”, the B-side of the vocal version “Pounder” performed by Bobo General and Sleepy Wonder. “Dub Mix II” is the version that was later sampled by Puerto Rican artists in the early 1990s to 2000s, as well as the “dem bow” name being used to describe the entire nascent genre that would eventually come to be known as reggaeton. As reggaeton was beginning to form, it also employed the tresillo pattern that is common in Latin American music. The term “dembow” today commonly refers simply to the drum beat of reggaeton, which, while retaining its core “boom-ch-boom-chick” sound, has stylistic variations.

Descarga

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Origins: son, filin and jazz#

During the 1940s, the term descarga was commonly used in the music scenes of Cuba to refer to performances of jazz-influenced boleros in an improvised manner. This was part of the so-called filin (feeling) movement spearheaded by artists such as José Antonio Méndez, César Portillo de la Luz, and Luis Yánez. At this time, however, the term descarga began to be used in a different way to describe jam sessions based on the son montuno and other Afro-Cuban rhythms.

Dominican dembow

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Dominican rock

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Subgenres of Dominican rock#

The styles of rock bands from the Dominican Republic differ greatly. Not only is there regular Spanish pop rock, there are also subgenres such as alternative, punk, and metal. Most songs are sung in Spanish, though some bands (like ALF, Mithril, and 42-01 for instance) also sing in English. The band ALF is considered the pioneers of Emo Punk in the Dominican Republic.

Live#

Although the rock scene stays local and rarely goes international, it is large within the Dominican Republic, especially in the nation’s capital, Santo Domingo. Several bands as JLS (Spain), Transporte Urbano (U.S.A & Cuba) Sister Madness (Canada), ALF (USA), Pericles (USA, Costa Rica), Dark Miracle (USA), Cevix (Santo Domingo/USA), Los Pérex (USA, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panama) La Armada (USA, Puerto Rico, Mexico), Bocatabú (USA, Puerto Rico), Futuros Divorciados (USA, Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Panamá), Dronk (USA) and Santuario (Puerto Rico) have traveled to other countries to play. Many concerts are held in the indoor auditorium of the Domínico Americano, a local school. Bands of many different genres of Dominican rock play there. Some artists who have played there are “spam”, González, Sociedad Tabú, Shido, TKR, Toque Profundo, Cronicas del Eco, and Nux. Within the punk scene, there are a few venues which are regularly used for concerts. One of the most popular venues was Donde L’Abuela, a house which is regularly volunteered for concerts, as well as a small bar called Stilo Club, where bands such as Los Pérex, La Reforma, La Armada, Pericles, Shido and Mulligan have played. Nowadays, there are venues like Shots Bar, Cinema Café, Casa de teatro, Hard Rock Café Santo Domingo, Hard Rock Café Punta Cana which serves as the actual rock scene.

Dub music

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Name#

The use of the word dub in a recording context originated in the late 1920s with the advent of “talking pictures” and referred to adding a soundtrack to a film; it is an informal abbreviation of the word double. Over the next 40 years or so the term found its way into audio recording in general, often in the context of making a copy of a recording on another tape or disc. It was in this sense that the term was first used in the Jamaican recording industry: new recordings were often initially copied onto one-off acetate discs, known colloquially as soft wax or dub and later as dubplates, for exclusive use by sound system operators; playing a song as an exclusive recording on a sound system was a good way for a producer to test the potential popularity of a recording before committing to the pressing of hundreds or thousands of copies of singles for retail sale. Initially, these acetates would simply be the standard recording of a song that was yet to be released on a single; around 1968–69, however, they started to be exclusive mixes with some or all of the vocal mixed out. Producer Bunny Lee notes: Yeah… it was really VERSION those days it wasn’t dub yet beca’ it was jus’ the riddim. One day an incident: Ruddy’s (sound system operator Ruddy Redwood) was cutting dub, an when it start, Smithy (recording engineer Byron Smith) look like ‘im start bring on the voice and Ruddy’s say: no, mek it run and ‘im take the whole backing track off it. ‘Im say, alright, run it again, and put in the voice. ‘Im didn’t do no more like that yet. After describing how Redwood then had his deejay first play the vocal version and then the instrumental version at a dance, and how popular this novelty was, Lee continued: The next day now, ‘im start it and just bring in the riddim. Or… down in the tune, bring a little voice and drop it out again… yes. Ruddy use to handle that part himself, drop in the voice and drop it out. All Smithy do was cut the dub… It is possible that the existing use of the word dub for other meanings in Jamaica around the time of the music’s origin may have helped to cement its use in the musical context. The most frequent meanings referred to either a form of erotic dance or sexual intercourse; such usage is frequently present in names of reggae songs, for instance, of the Silvertones’ “Dub the Pum Pum” (where pum pum is Jamaican slang for female genitalia), Big Joe and Fay’s “Dub a Dawta” ( is Jamaican patois for daughter). I-Roy’s “Sister Maggie Breast” features several references on sex: I man a-dub it on the side Say little sister you can run but you can’t hide Slip you got to slide you got to open your crotches wide Peace and love abide However, all three of these songs were recorded after the use of dub for a style of remixing was already prevalent.

Dub poetry

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Political nature#

Dub poetry has been a vehicle for political and social commentary, with none of the braggadocio often associated with the dancehall. The odd love-song or elegy appears, but dub poetry is predominantly concerned with politics and social justice, commonly voiced through a commentary on current events (thus sharing these elements with dancehall and “conscious” or “roots” reggae music).

Notable albums#

Dub poetry has established itself as a major form of black popular art and its breakthrough was made through Linton Kwesi Johnson’s (LKJ)’s seminal album Dread Beat an’ Blood, which was released in the UK in 1978. Oku Onuora’s Reflection In Red in 1979 was the first Jamaican recording of a dub poem, followed by Lillian Allen’s Revolutionary Tea Party and Benjamin Zephaniah’s Rasta, both produced in 1983, and many others from the early 1980s onwards such as Anti Social Workers ‘Positive Style’ produced by leading dub producer The Mad Professor on Ariwa Records.

Extempo

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Art of extempo#

It is characterised either by the “single tone”, consisting of four-line stanzas or the “double tone”, which has eight-line stanzas. There are four basic melodies common to extempo: “Sans Humanite”, “Matilda”, “Miss Mary Ann”, and “Big Bamboo”. The most widely used is “Sans Humanite”. Another characteristic of extempo is that the performer must be able to think quickly since the subjects are handed out on the spot and the lyrics are then improvised.

Fungi (music)

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The Fungi Band#

The components of a fungi band or “scratch band” include: *Ukulele *Banjo *Bongos *Guitar *Bouble bass or bass guitar *Keyboard *Calabash *Güiro *Washboard *Triangle *Saxophone

Themes#

Themes explored in fungi music include love and relationship, folklore, the basis of Virgin Islander oral history, on topics ranging from church life to smuggling rum as well as current events and social commentary.

Mood#

Fungi music is usually very festive, even humorous, as it is made for dancing. Band perform at a variety of events including weddings, festivals, parties as well as in restaurants and hotels. There is a definite melody and rhythm and the lyrics are meaningful, as the songs tell stories from the past. These stories are reminders of the life the people of the British Virgin Islands lived. In the British Virgin Islands, fungi music is popular during such events as the British Virgin Islands Music Festival and in both the U.S. and British Virgin Islands, the music is part of the school curriculum.

Guaguancó

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Percussion#

battery of three conga drummers: the tumbao “salidor” (lowest), tres dos (middle, playing a counter-clave), and quinto (highest, and lead drum). These parts may also be played on cajones, wooden boxes.
claves usually played by a singer
guagua ( catá) (hollowed piece of bamboo)
maraca and/or a chekeré playing the main beats Other instruments may be used on occasion, for example spoons, palitos (wooden sticks striking the side of the drum), and tables and walls played like drums.

Clave#

Rumba clave is the key pattern (guide pattern) used in guaguancó. There is some debate as to how the 4/4 rumba clave should be notated for guaguancó. In actual practice, the third and fourth stroke often fall in rhythmic positions that do not fit neatly into music notation. Triple-pulse strokes can be substituted for duple-pulse strokes. Also, the clave strokes are sometimes displaced in such a way that they don’t fall within either a triple-pulse or duple-pulse “grid”. Therefore, many variations are possible.

Guajira (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Guajira de salón, or guajira-son#

From the 1930s, the guajira was refined and popularized by the singer and guitarist Guillermo Portabales, whose elegant style was known as guajira de salón or guajira-son. This is nothing but another case of synonymy within the Cuban popular music, because in spite of being named as guajira, the style of his songs was nothing else but those of the Cuban Son and Bolero-Son; although their lyrics were always related to rural themes. Since the thirties until his death in a traffic accident, in 1970, Guillermo Portabales sang and recorded numerous guajiras de Salón through North and South America with great popular acclaim. Other renowned performers of guajira-son were Celina González, Coralia Fernández, Ramón Veloz y Radeúnda Lima. One of the most famous guajiras-son is the , composed by Joseíto Fernández and internationally popularized during the 1960s by the American folk singer Pete Seeger.

Guaracha

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early uses of the word#

Though the word may be historically of Spanish origin, its use in this context pertains strictly to the scope of Cuban music. These are excerpts from reference sources, in date order: A Latin American carol “Convidando está la noche” dates from at least the mid 17th century and both mentions and is a guaracha. It was composed or collected by Juan Garcia de Cespedes (1620–1678) in Puebla, Mexico. This is a typical Spanish guaracha, a musical style that was popular in Caribbean colonies. The lyrics say: “Happily celebrating, some lovely shepherds sing the new style of juguetes for a guaracha. In this guaracha we celebrate while the baby boy is lost in dreams. Play and dance because we have fire in the ice and ice in the fire.” The Gazeta de Barcelona has a number of advertisements for music that mention the guaracha. The earliest mention in this source is #64, dated 11 August 1789, where there is an entry that reads “…otra del Sr. Brito, Portugues: el fandango, la guaracha y seis contradanzas, todo en cifra para guitarra…”. A later entry #83, 15 October 1796, refers to a “…guaracha intitulada Tarántula…”. All of these comments make reference to the genre of Guaracha music, but whether they are of the same type is not quite clear. The usage of the word guaracha is rather vast, implying on occasion “to have a good time”. A different sense of the word includes “joke” or “to have fun”. Other definitions include: *“Báile de la gentualla casi desusado” (dance for the rabble, somewhat old-fashioned). Leal comments on this: “The bailes de la gentualla are known on other occasions as bailes de cuna where people of different races mix. The guaracha employs the structure soloist–coro, that is to say, verses or passages vary between the chorus and the soloist, improvisation occurs, and references made to daily matters, peppered with crafty witticisms.” *“Una canción popular que se canta a coro… Música u orquesta pobre, compuesta de acordeón o guitarra, güiro, maracas, etc”. (a popular song, which is sung alternately (call & response?)… humble music and band &c). *“Cierto género musical” (a particular genre of music).

Gwo ka

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History#

The Gwo Ka musical practice emerged in the 17th century during the transatlantic slave trade, as a result of a creolization process: adaptation to surrounding context and assimilation of European cultural elements. African slaves of Guadeloupe used to gather to play drums, sing and dance. The use of any kind of drum was at that time forbidden by the Code Noir. As a consequence, slaves used a vocal technique called bouladjèl, which imitates drums. At that time, Gwoka practice was directly linked to agricultural work, especially sugar cane, coffee and banana cultivation. Post 1946, along with anti-assimilation and anti-colonialism movements, Gwoka spread throughout the island, which marks the beginning of its rehabilitation process. As a consequence, in 1988, lawyer and nationalist activist Félix Cotellon created the Festival de Gwoka Sentann in the city of Sainte-Anne without the support of the municipality. Studies and symposiums were held on the occasion. In 1981, local musician Gérard Lockel published the Traité de Gwoka modên, the first attempt to formalize this musical genre. He claimed that Gwoka was atonal, breaching with western conventions and tastes. By affirming the modality of Gwoka, he situated this music style within the realm of African musical traditions. Paradoxically, under Lockel’s leadership, Gwoka was transformed from a participatory music played outdoors to a presentational music played on stage with European and North American instruments. Musical research show that the instrument can find its roots in the drums and songs of the West African countries (Guinea gulf, Congo…). From the diverse music and dance of their homelands, the slaves elaborated a communication tool, a new form of art, like the creole language: the Gwo Ka. This musical genre is characterised by an African typology: - repetitive form - improvisation - physical movements linked to music - a response between a soloist and choir - a syncopation weak times

Haitian hip-hop

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Foundations (1980s-1990s)#

Rap Kreyòl emerged during the final years of the Duvalier family dictatorship, a totalitarian hereditary dynasty that lasted nearly the latter half of the 20th Century. In the late1980s, Master Dji (George Lys Herard) released songs such as “Vakans” and “Sispann”, sparking a movement that would last generations. Early Rap Kreyòl groups and artists established the Haitian hip-hop movement as a medium for political expression, anti-corruption critique, and a tool of democratic mobilization. Often, hardcore beats are used while the artist raps in Haitian Creole. Rap kreyòl has been part of the Haitian culture since the early 1980s with groups such as Original Rap Staff, King Posee, Rap Kreyòl S.A., Masters of Haiti, Fighters, Blackdo, Fam-Squad, Supa Deno, Prince Berlin, Fantom, Toby Anbakè and Muzion attaining prominence, but lately has become very popular with Haitian youth. Another notable group from the 1990s is Black Leaders. The impact of Black Leaders and its members is lasting. Though known primarily for his role in Black Leaders, Don Roy is still an active contributor to Haitian music across many genres. Since the peak of his notoriety, Don Roy has chosen to create in other genres. While still working in a production capacity in genres such as Rap Kreyòl and Reggae, Don Roy has chosen to create and work with prominent artists of the modern roots/Rasin movement. Many Haitian Rap Kreyòl artists have had rough childhoods and difficult living conditions producing rappers who address socio-economic topics in their lyrics. Though similar to mainstream American hip hop in that materialistic imagery is portrayed or lyricized, the negative aspects of less fortunate Haitian society, such as topics concerning slum life, gang warfare, the drug trade, and poverty, are much more.

Haitian Vodou drumming

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Religious and cultural history and context#

Through the involuntary mass dispersion of slavery, the traditional West African Vodun religions went through the process of Religious syncretism between Roman Catholicism. Due to mass dispersion of the West African population from its indigenous territories, the colonial plantation system created and influenced the Haitian Vodou’s ecotheological perspective. The relationship of Vodou’s belief system lies heavily on ecological systems. The interest in ecotheological ethics are the base of beliefs in Vodou religion, these ethics are ancestor worship, nature spirits, and natural processes such as birth, death, weather, and fertility. In April 2003 Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide officially recognized Vodou as a religion in Haiti. Due to the negative stigma that surrounds the Haitian Vodou, The Haitian government has had a history of previously persecuting those who practiced the religion. Vodou in Haiti was often used as a scapegoat for the country’s issues. This misunderstanding and negative stigma can be noted back to the nation’s founding. The dispute over the validity of the religion, was both beyond and within Haiti.

Jing ping

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

The Dominican quadrille generally has four figures, the pastouwèl, lapoul, lété and latrinitez. Some regions of Dominica, such as Petite Savanne, are home to local variants such as the caristo. Many quadrilles are found across Dominica under a wide variety of names. In addition to the standard quadrille, the lancer is also an important Dominican dance. Accompaniment for the quadrille is provided by a four instrument ensemble called a jing ping band. Jing ping bands are made up of a boumboum (boom pipe), syak or gwaj (scraper-rattle), tambal or tanbou (tambourine) and accordion. The double bass, violin, banjo and guitar are also sometimes used. Bamboo flutes led the jing ping ensembles before the 1940s, when accordions were introduced. The Dominican flute tradition declined as a result, despite their additional use in serenades, until being revived after the National Independence Competitions.

Kontradans

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The “contredanse,” the French-renamed country dance as indicated in a 1710 dance book called Recuil de Contredance, began in the English courts and was imported to Haiti via France (Brittany) through colonial rule and had been incorporated with African influences in Saint-Domingue. Contredanse flourished as it took on this creolized form establishing strong traditions in Haiti that would later influence variant forms throughout the Caribbean.

Origins#

The usage of the drums, poetic song, antiphonal song form, and imitations of the colonial elite dance were the elements that had already begun to transform the contredanse.

Kumina

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Definition#

Kumina is also known as Pukkumina or Pocomania, although the latter term is largely pejorative. It is a form of Jamaican Revivalism. It has also been described as a “dance tradition”. It is mostly associated with the parish of St. Thomas in the east of the island. However, the practice spread to the parishes of Portland, St. Mary and St. Catherine, and the city of Kingston.

History#

Kumina emerged through the practices of indentured labourers who were brought to Jamaica from the Kongo region of central Africa after the abolition of slavery. In the second half of the 19th century it syncretised with Myalism. Kumina differed from Zion Revivalism in rejecting the belief that the Bible should be the central authority behind worship.

Latin jazz

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

“Spanish tinge”—The Cuban influence in early jazz and proto-Latin jazz#

African American music began incorporating Afro-Cuban musical motifs in the 19th century, when the habanera (Cuban contradanza) gained international popularity. The habanera was the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African motif. The habanera rhythm (also known as congo, tango-congo, or tango ) can be thought of as a combination of tresillo and the backbeat. Wynton Marsalis considers tresillo to be the New Orleans “clave,” although technically, the pattern is only half a clave. “St. Louis Blues” (1914) by W. C. Handy has a habanera-tresillo bass line. Handy noted a reaction to the habanera rhythm included in Will H. Tyler’s “Maori”: “I observed that there was a sudden, proud and graceful reaction to the rhythm…White dancers, as I had observed them, took the number in stride. I began to suspect that there was something Negroid in that beat.” After noting a similar reaction to the same rhythm in “La Paloma”, Handy included this rhythm in his “St. Louis Blues”, the instrumental copy of “Memphis Blues”, the chorus of “Beale Street Blues”, and other compositions. Jelly Roll Morton considered the tresillo-habanera (which he called the Spanish tinge) to be an essential ingredient of jazz. The habanera rhythm can be heard in his left hand on songs like “The Crave” (1910, recorded 1938). Now in one of my earliest tunes, “New Orleans Blues,” you can notice the Spanish tinge. In fact, if you can’t manage to put tinges of Spanish in your tunes, you will never be able to get the right seasoning, I call it, for jazz—Morton (1938: Library of Congress Recording). Although the exact origins of jazz syncopation may never be known, there is evidence that the habanera-tresillo was there at its conception. Buddy Bolden, the first known jazz musician, is credited with creating the big four, a habanera-based pattern. The big four (below) was the first syncopated bass drum pattern to deviate from the standard on-the-beat march. As the example below shows, the second half of the big four pattern is the habanera rhythm. It is probably safe to say that by and large the simpler African rhythmic patterns survived in jazz … because they could be adapted more readily to European rhythmic conceptions. Some survived, others were discarded as the Europeanization progressed. It may also account for the fact that patterns such as tresillo have . . . remained one of the most useful and common syncopated patterns in jazz—Schuller (1968). The Cuban influence is evident in many pre-1940s jazz tunes, but rhythmically, they are all based on single-celled motifs such as tresillo, and not do not contain an overt two-celled, clave-based structure. “Caravan”, written by Juan Tizol and first performed in 1936, is an early proto-Latin jazz composition. Mongo Santamaría recorded ever green “Watermelon Man” in 1962. Hank Mobley, Kenny Dorham, and Willie Bobo released latin jazz albums. Willie Bobo fused jazz, latin, and R&B music.

Latin trap

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Latin trap is a subgenre of Latin hip hop, generally taking influence from Southern hip hop, Hip-Hop in general, and possibly influenced by Sound Cloud rap as well as already established Puerto Rican genres like reggaeton and Urbano music. Vocals include a bend of rapping and singing using synthesizers and autotune in Spanish or in Spanglish, while still maintaining the trap style sonic circuitry. The lyrics in Latin trap are often about street life, violence, sex, drugs, and people who pride themselves in living on the other side of the law.

Maroon music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Mento

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origin#

Mento is a distinct acoustic style of traditional or folk music, which orginated in Jamaica during the 19th century. Enslaved musicians were occasionally required to play music singing European folk songs, which had a significant influence on the development of mento. Some of Jamaica’s oldest cultural traditions and dance forms including jonkunnu, quadrille, burru and Maypole, which emerged during slavery and post-emancipation, feature mento music. By the late 1800s and early 1900s, mento had become a clearly recognizable Jamaican folk style and had consolidated as a genre, Noted ethnomusicologist, Dr. Daniel T. Neely, described mento as: According to former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, who had researched Jamaica’s folk music extensively:

Merengue music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

The origins of the music are traced to the land of El Cibao, where merengue cibaeño and merengue típico are the terms most musicians use to refer to classical merengue. The word Cibao was a native name for the island, although the Spanish used it in their conquest to refer to a specific part of the island, the highest mountainous range. The term merengue cibaeño is therefore partially native and so merengue might also be a derivation of a native word related to song, music, dance, or festival. Merengue was first mentioned in the mid-19th century with the earliest documented evidence being newspaper articles. Some of the articles inform about a “lascivious” dance, and also highlight merengue displacing the Tumba. The genre had originated within the rural, northern valley region around the city of Santiago called the Cibao. It later spread throughout the country and became popular among the urban population. The oldest form of merengue was typically played on string instruments. When the accordion came to the island in the 1880s, introduced by German traders, it quickly became the primary instrument, and to this day is still the instrument of choice in merengue típico. Later, the piano and brass instruments were introduced to the genre.

Merengue típico

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early origins#

Merengue first appears in the Caribbean in the 1850s. The earliest documented evidence of merengue in the Dominican Republic are newspaper articles complaining about this “lascivious” dance displacement of the earlier tumba. Early merengue was played on stringed instruments, but the accordion came to the island in the 1880s, introduced by German traders, and quickly became the primary instrument in merengue. Up until the 1930s, the music was considered immoral. Its more descriptive and colorful name, perico ripia’o (literally “ripped parrot” in Spanish) is said to have been the name of a bordello in Santiago where the music was played. Moralists tried to ban the music and the provocative dance that accompanied it, but with little success. Dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo brought accordionists with him on the campaign trail, and once he took power, he ensured that merengue was embraced as a national music by all classes of Dominicans.

Merenhouse

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Early development in the 1980s and the 1990s#

The hybrid music known as Merenrap, Merenhouse, or Latin house was formed in the 1980s in New York City. Jorge Oquendo, an entrepreneur, encouraged artists to blend these genres. Lisa M mixed merengue with hip hop/rap in her second album released in 1990. Latin house, in turn, combines house, rap, Latin rhythms and Caribbean music.

Dominican migration to New York City in late twentieth century#

Dominican Merengue can be considered an expression of Dominican transnationalism, as there was a significant shift in the migration of Dominicans to New York in the twentieth century. As a musical hybrid, merenhouse was popular with a generation of bicultural youth growing up in New York with Dominican roots that combined both aspects of their culture. Merenhouse is also a symbol of national identity to Dominican Americans. The early 1990s saw a huge increase in immigration to the United States from the Dominican Republic due largely to the greatly deteriorating economic situation of the Dominican Republic in the 1980s and early 1990s. New York City saw the bulk of this initial Dominican population growth, and once those first Dominican immigrates got settled in, New York became the hub of Dominican culture in the US. “By 1990, an estimated 900,000 Dominicans — 12 percent of the country’s population — lived in New York City alone”. Dominicans also “tend to be more concentrated residing exclusively in barrios or ghettos like Washington Heights, Manhattan-Inwood, home to 59% of Dominicans registered by the INS”. This potent concentration of Dominicans all in one place allowed them to bring in their own culture while they assimilated into the melting pot of cultures found in New York. Merengue is one example of the many pieces of Dominican culture brought during this period of immigration, which was a key element to the creation of Merenhouse.

Méringue

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Méringue was heavily influenced by the contredanse from Europe and then by Afro-Caribbean influences from Hispaniola. The blend of African and European cultures has created popular dance music, music played on simple acoustic instruments by artists who don’t need theaters or microphones to show off their art. The term meringue, a whipped egg and sugar confection popular in eighteenth-century France, was adopted presumably because it captured the essence of the light nature of the dance where one gracefully shifts one’s weight between feet in a very fluid movement, animating the final section of the Haitian kontradans. It is said that the carabinier, a dance from Haiti originating back to the time of the Haitian Revolution, combined European dances accompanied by Kongo influences, deriving from a section of kontradans and is said to have evolved into the méringue. However, like almost all Latin American dances, the méringue can trace its origins back to the contredanse; the French dance that was hugely popular in Europe and the creolization of it by the use of the drums, poetic song, antiphonal song form, and imitations of colonial elite dance elements by the mulattos and the black slaves that had already begun to transform the genre.

Mozambique (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Cuban-style mozambique#

Mozambique (pron.: mo.sam.‘βi.ke) is a vigorous style of Cuban music and dance derived, like the conga, from music of Cuban street carnivals or comparsas. It was invented or developed by Pello el Afrokan (Pedro Izquierdo) in 1963.

Music#

Although the rhythm shares many characteristics with Sub-Saharan African music traditions, it does not have anything to do with music from the African nation of Mozambique. The Cuban mozambique features conga drums, bombos (bass drums), cowbells and trombones. See: “Mozambique Lesson in Cuba, 1985” (Pello el Afrokan), and “Mozambique Rhythm from Cuba” (Kim Atkinson). Izquierdo’s composition “María Caracoles” was later recorded by Santana on their 1977 album Festival. Izquierdo’s rhythm made its début in 1963 in Havana on the television programme Ritmos de Juventud, with the presenter surrounded by drummers so in tune with each other that they created a piano-like sound, while simultaneously performing the Mozambique dance.

Music of African heritage in Cuba

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Origins of Cuban African groups#

Clearly, the origin of African groups in Cuba is due to the island’s long history of slavery. Compared to the USA, slavery started in Cuba much earlier and continued for decades afterwards. Cuba was the last country in the Americas to abolish the importation of slaves, and the second last to free the slaves. In 1807 the British Parliament outlawed slavery, and from then on the British Navy acted to intercept Portuguese and Spanish slave ships. By 1860 the trade with Cuba was almost extinguished; the last slave ship to Cuba was in 1873. The abolition of slavery was announced by the Spanish Crown in 1880, and put into effect in 1886. Two years later, Brazil abolished slavery. Although the exact number of slaves from each African culture will never be known, most came from one of these groups, which are listed in rough order of their cultural impact in Cuba: # The Congolese from the Congo Basin and SW Africa. Many ethnic groups were involved, all called Congos in Cuba. Their religion is called Palo. Probably the most numerous group, with a huge influence on Cuban music. # The Oyó or Yoruba from modern Nigeria, known in Cuba as Lucumí. Their religion is known as Regla de Ocha (roughly, ’the way of the spirits’) and its syncretic version is known as Santería. Culturally of great significance. # The Kalabars from the Southeastern part of Nigeria and also in some part of Cameroon, whom were taken from the Bight of Biafra. These sub Igbo and Ijaw groups are known in Cuba as Carabali, p100 # Haiti immigrants to Cuba arrived at various times up to the present day. Leaving aside the French, who also came, the Africans from Haiti were a mixture of groups who usually spoke creolized French: and religion was known as vodú. # From part of modern Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire came the Gangá. # Senegambian people (Senegal, the Gambia), but including many brought from Sudan by the Arab slavers, were known by a catch-all word: Mandinga. The famous musical phrase Kikiribu Mandinga! refers to them.

Music of Curaçao

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Classical and traditional music of Curaçao#

The tumba is the most internationally renowned kind of Curaçao music. Tumba is the name of an African-derived rhythm, as are seú and tambú. The Curaçao-born composer Jan Gerard Palm (1831–1906) was the first composer to write music for the lyrics of tumba’s. There are traditional lyrics associated with different tumba songs, but they are sometimes scandalous and accusatory, and are thus not always sung. Tumba was known as early as the 19th century, and it is now a popular part of the Carnival Road March. Besides tumbas, there is a very rich tradition of Antillean waltzes, mazurkas, danzas and pasillos that are popular in Curaçao, Bonaire and Aruba. This music is often referred to as the Classical Music from Curaçao and Aruba. Well known composers of the Netherlands Antilles are Jan Gerard Palm (1831–1906), Chris Ulder (1843–1895), Joseph Sickman Corsen (1853–1911), Paul de Lima (1861–1926), Jacobo Conrad (1879–1918), Rudolph Palm (1880–1950), Charles Maduro (1883–1947), John Palm (1885–1925), Toni Palm (1885–1963), Jacobo Palm (1887–1982) Albert Palm (1903–1958), Edgar Palm (1905–1998), Wim Statius Muller (1930), Robert Rojer (1939) and Randal Corsen (b. 1972). Aruba is well known by its composers Rufo Wever (1917–1977) and Padu Lampe (b. 1925). Traditional work songs were very diverse on Curaçao, where they were sung in seshi (semi-Papiamento) or Guene. Lyrics were apentatonic. Tumba is the name of an African-derived rhythm, as are seú and tambú. Traditionally, Afro-Curaçaoan rhythms were often played in the muzik di zumbi style, which included instruments such as the benta (bow harp), gogorobi (rattlers) and flute, which created an ethereal sound. Tambú (sometimes called the Curaçao blues) was first sung by slaves (mostly women) expressing pain and sadness, usually accompanied by the tambú drum and the agan (a piece of iron or ploughshare) or chapi (a hoe), along with clapping (usually only by the women in the audience). Previously, drums were outlawed for slaves, and the bastèl, a large calabash in a water barrel, was used instead. It is accompanied by an erotic dance that involves no physical touching. The dance was so racy that the government and the Roman Catholic Church sought to end the practice. The seú was performed during the harvest festival during traditional times, but is now continued during annual parades in the city of Willemstad. Formerly the seú was a march through the fields, during which the workers brought the crops to the warehouses, the men playing drums, kachu and chapi, while the women carried produce on their heads. It was accompanied by a dance called wapa, which gracefully re-enacted the movements associated with planting and harvesting, often including work songs in Guene, the old slave language. As traditional agriculture began dying out with modern industrialization, the seú too began to fade away. The Curaçao Department of Culture now organizes an annual parade in Willemstad on Easter Monday, which sees as many as 2500 people or more participate.

Music of Haiti

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Karabiyen#

Karabiyen or Carabineer is a Haitian traditional dance style that is said to be created by Euphémie Daguilh, one of Dessalines’s friend. The dance is said to be created for the Haitian soldiers during the Haitian Revolution, and meant to be danced with their carabine strap to their back, hence the name. Dessalines himself was an excellent karabiyen dancer according to oral and written tradition. Karabiyen is named after carabine straps which Haitian soldiers used during the Haitian revolution.

Music of the Cayman Islands

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Music of the Dominican Republic

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Merengue#

Merengue is a musical genre native to the Dominican Republic. It has a moderate to a very fast 2/4 rhythm played on güira (metal scraper) and the double-headed tambora. The accordion is also common. Traditional, accordion-based merengue is usually termed merengue típico and is still played by living accordionists like Francisco Ulloa, Fefita la Grande, El Ciego de Nagua, and Rafaelito Román. More modern merengues incorporate electric instruments and influences from Jazz, Blues, Soul, and rock and roll. Choruses are often sung in a call and response form by two or three back-up singers, or more traditionally, by the musicians playing tambora or güira. Beginning in the 1960s, dancing became a part of the singers’ work with Johnny Ventura’s Combo Show format, and is now a staple of many of the genre’s biggest stars. Lyrically, irony and double entendres are common. Merengue continued to be limited in popularity to the lower classes, especially in the Cibao area, in the early 20th century. Artists like Juan F. García, Juan Espínola and Julio Alberto Hernández tried to move merengue into the mainstream, but failed, largely due to social prejudices. Some success occurred after nationalistic feelings arose among the Cibao elite who resented the U.S. occupation of the country from 1916 to 1924. Legend has it that at this time the faster () was slowed down to accommodate American soldiers who could not dance the difficult steps of the merengue; this mid-tempo version was called pambiche. Major mainstream acceptance started with Rafael Trujillo’s rise to power in the early 1930s. Dictator Rafael Trujillo, who seized the presidency of the Dominican Republic in 1930, helped merengue to become a national symbol of the island up until his assassination in 1961. Being that he was of humble origins, he had been barred from elite social clubs. He was therefore resentful of these elite sophisticates and began promoting the Cibao-style merengue, forcing all social classes to participate in the low-class dance. At Trujillo’s command, virtually all musical groups had to compose merengues praising Trujillo’s dictatorship, its guidelines and actions of his party. Trujillo even made it mandatory for urban dance bands to include merengue in their repertoire. Piano and brass instruments were also added in merengue-oriented big bands, a trend towards upward mobility popularizing by Luis Alberti’s group in Santiago de los Caballeros. On the other hand, merengue that continued to use an accordion became known (rather disrespectfully) as (‘ripped parrot’). It was because of all this that merengue became and still is the Dominican Republic’s national music and dance. In the 1960s, a new group of artists (most famously Johnny Ventura) incorporated American R&B and rock and roll influences, along with salsa music. The instrumentation changed, with accordion replaced with electric guitars or synthesizers, or occasionally sampled, and the saxophone’s role totally redefined. In spite of the changes, merengue remained the most popular form of music in the Dominican Republic. Ventura, for example, was so adulated that he became a massively popular and influential politician on his return from a time in the United States, and was seen as a national symbol. The 1980s saw increasing Dominican emigration to Europe and the United States, especially to New York City and Miami. Merengue came with them, bringing images of glitzy pop singers and idols. At the same time, Juan Luis Guerra slowed down the merengue rhythm, and added more lyrical depth and entrenched social commentary. He also incorporated bachata and Western musical influences with albums like 1990’s critically acclaimed .

Nueva trova

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Influences#

Nueva Trova was one aspect of the Pan-Latin American “new song movement” which tended to use lyrics that were self-consciously literary, formal and schooled. Another influence was that of filín (feeling), a romantic song movement of the late 1940s to the early 1960s. Pablo Milanés, for one, was a filín singer. At approximately the same time as the rise of Nueva Trova, similar musical genres across the world were increasing in popularity as part of a roots revival; these involved the popularization of traditional music welded with socio-political lyrics. Nueva Trova was most closely influenced by South American (especially Chilean) nueva canción, Spanish Nova Cançó, Bolivian canto nuevo, Portuguese canto livre and nova canção, and Brazilian Tropicalismo. At about the same time, Puerto Ricans like Roy Brown, Andrés Jiménez, Antonio Cabán Vale and the group Haciendo Punto en Otro Son also became popular. Though inspired by American protest artists like Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, Nueva Trova criticized the abuses of the United States government and its allies. Other major influences include The Beatles, Chilean revivalist Violeta Parra, Uruguayan singer-songwriter Daniel Viglietti and the Catalan protest singer Joan Manuel Serrat. In both Cuba and Puerto Rico, the politicized lyrics of Nueva Trova were very often critical of the United States; Puerto Rican singers were especially critical of Vieques’ continued use as a United States Navy training ground. Nueva Trova is defined, not only by its connection with Castro’s revolution, but also by its lyrics. The lyrics try to escape the banalities of life (e.g. love) by concentrating on socialism, injustice, sexism, colonialism, racism and similar ‘serious’ issues. Silvio Rodríguez, Noel Nicola, and Pablo Milanés became the most important exponents of this style. Carlos Puebla and Joseíto Fernández were long-time trova singers who added their weight to the new regime, but of the two only Puebla wrote special pro-revolution songs. The government gave support to musicians willing to write and sing anti-U.S. and pro-revolution songs. This was an additional incentive in a period when many of the traditional musicians found it difficult or impossible to earn a living. In 1967, the Casa de las Américas in Havana held a Festival de la canción de protesta (protest songs). Tania Castellanos, a filín singer and author, wrote ¡Por Ángela! in support of Angela Davis. César Portillo de la Luz wrote Oh, valeroso Viet Nam. Although Nueva Trova expressed the socio-economic issues of Cuba, later on some musicians chose to express these issues through Rap Cubano which they viewed as more pure and more to the street.

Pachanga

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Music#

Charanga is a type of traditional ensemble that plays Cuban dance music (mostly Danzón, Danzonete, and Cha cha chá) using violin, flute, horns, drums. José Fajardo brought the song “La Pachanga” to New York in the Cuban charanga style. The orquesta, or band, was referred to as charanga, while the accompanying dance was named the pachanga. The similar sound of the words charanga and pachanga has led to the fact that these two notions are often confused. In fact, Charanga has a lot of different meanings; it can refer to having a party, a musical ensemble, or the rhythm itself. Eduardo Davidson’s tune, “La Pachanga”, with rights managed by Peer International (BMI), achieved international recognition in 1961 when it was licensed in three versions sung by Genie Pace on Capitol, by Audrey Arno in a German version on European Decca, and by Hugo and Luigi and their children’s chorus. Billboard commented “A bright new dance craze from the Latins has resulted in these three good recordings, all with interesting and varying treatments.”

Palo music

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Instruments#

Palo music is played on long drums termed palos. The word palos means sticks, and therefore all Dominican palos drums are instruments made from hollowed out logs. The head of the drum is made of cowhide and it is attached to the log portion with hoops and pegs in the Eastern region, or with nails in the Southwest. There is a master drum (palo mayor) which is the large, wide drum played with slimmer drums (alcahuetes) alongside: two in the East or three elsewhere. Palos are usually played with guiras, which are metal scrapers. They may also be played with maracas, or a little stick used to hit the master drum, called the catá. The Dominican region in which the palos are played determines the form, the number of the instruments, and how they are played.

Pambiche

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Recordings#

Dominican accordionist El Prodigio released an album entitled Pambiche Meets Jazz in which he combined traditional merengue rhythms (most of the songs featuring pambiche) with American music styles such as jazz, rock and blues. Both pambiche and merengue are included in Jean Françaix’s suite “Cinq Danses Exotiques”. The Dominican songwriter Juan Luis Guerra has recorded several Pambiches, including the traditional merengue Juana Mecho (Soplando, 1984) and his recent releases Pambiche de novia (Privé, 2020). Other pambiches are the traditional Juan Gomero, Rafael Solano’s Dominicanita, Vicente Garcia’s Palm Beach, and Luys Bien’s Déjame Nacer.

Parang

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Performance#

In Trinidad, traditional parang music is largely performed around Christmastime, travel from house to house in the community, often joined by friends, neighbours, and family, using whatever instruments are at hand. Popular parang instruments include the Venezuelan cuatro (a small, four-string guitar) and maracas (locally known as chac-chacs). Other instruments often used are violin, guitar, claves (locally known as toc-toc), box bass (an indigenous instrument), tambourine, mandolin, bandol, caja (a percussive box instrument), and marimbola (an Afro-Venezuelan instrument). In exchange for the entertainment, parranderos are traditionally given food and drink: pasteles, pastelle, sorrel, rum and Ponche Crema (a form of alcoholic eggnog). While traditional house-to-house caroling tradition is still practised by some small groups and larger organized groups, modern parang music has also developed a season of staged performances called parang fiestas, held from October through to January each year, culminating in a national parang competition. Today, parang is especially vibrant in Trinidad and Tobago communities such as Paramin, Lopinot, and Arima.

Plena

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Origins#

The plena genre originated in Barrio San Antón, Ponce, Puerto Rico, around 1900. It was influenced by the bomba style of music. Originally, sung texts were not associated with the plena, which was rendered by guitar, accordion and pandero, but eventually, in 1907, singing was added. Plena was often called the periodico cantado or “sung newspaper” for the lower classes because it spread messages among people.

History#

The plena was a result of the mixing of the culturally diverse popular class, where their workplace, neighborhood, and life experiences met to create an expressive, satirical style of music. It became a way for the working class to gain empowerment through parody. Due to originating in the lower social class, it was regarded by the upper class as “a menace to public order and private property” and was for many years associated with people of la vida alegre (the merry life), referring to prostitutes, dancers, alcoholics, and moral degenerates. Singing and dancing of the plena often happened in cafetines, bars that frequently doubled as brothels and where interracial socializing and sexual encounters were free to take place. According to singers discussing the use of the plena, they stated it was song with lyrics that related to a current event. For example, if someone drowned or was killed, a plena would be written about it. , , , and were some plenas which became wildly popular. The eventual widespread acceptance of the plena can be attributed to the increased number of people joining the workforce, which led to a new demand for public leisure. It was still considered indecent by the upper class, who fought against its rising popularity. In December 1917, an ordinance was passed banning the dances from happening inside the city limits. It took another decade for the plena to gain widespread popularity throughout Puerto Rico and cross racial and cultural boundaries. Listening to plena at home and at neighborhood- or municipal-sanctioned celebrations became acceptable and was no longer considered morally tainted by “respectable” white upper class Ponceños. Eventually, with much whitewashing to make it more palatable to the masses, plena was embraced in earnest as a style of music that united Puerto Ricans. However, with the acceptance of the upper class, what began as a vitally important cultural identifier and personal expression of philosophy, community, and self to the lower class became an entertaining spectacle for the white upper class. By the 1930s, the plena was accessible to all through the radio and record industries.

Pregón

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Background#

Oral proclamations made in the street were an important form of mass communication throughout Europe and the Americas until the late 19th century, when other forms of communication emerged to replace the town criers. In Spain and Latin-America, those who read these proclamations were known as pregoneros and their speech as a pregón. Over time, the official town crier, who read public announcements sanctioned by governments, disappeared, but the street cries associated with itinerant vendors continued into the 20th century, and can still be heard in commercial marketplaces and fairs. Street vendors and their cries were known in medieval Europe. The numbers of street vendors working in urban areas increased markedly from the 17th century. These criers or street vendors filled the streets of many European cities including Paris, Bologna, Naples and Cologne. As the streets filled with hawkers, costermongers and other types of the itinerant vendor, competition between them intensified. In an effort to stand out, street vendors began to develop distinctive, melodic cries, which became a standard feature of street life. Each trade developed its own unique type of street cry; a distinctive set of words or a unique tune.

Punta

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Origins and historical context#

In their culture, the people refer to themselves as both Garinagu and Garifuna, with Garifuna mainly pertaining to their culture, music, and dance rather than using it to identify their people. There are a variety of possible origins of the puntas intended meaning for the Garifuna dance and music it represents. The word punta is a Latinization of an ancient West African rhythm called bunda, or “buttocks” in the Mandé language. They begin facing each other and the figure varies with the ingenuity of the dancers, but always represents the evolution of a courtship in which first the man pursues, and then the woman, while the other retreats; and ends only when one of them, from exhaustion or from lack of further initiative, admits defeat by retiring from the ring, to have his or her place immediately taken by another. More commonly were the religious or ancestral rituals, as those seen on the ninth-night wakes by anthropologist Nancie Gonzales during her fieldwork in Central America. If a death occurred at night, then the wake would begin early the next morning and continue all day, ending with a burial in the late afternoon. However, if the death were during the day, an all-night wake would ensue with people coming and going throughout, with prayers and drinking being a familiar sight.

Punto guajiro

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Description#

Punto is played by a group with various types of guitar: the Spanish guitar, the Cuban tres, the laúd and the tiple. The punto refers to the use of a pick (punteando), rather than strumming (rasgueado). There are three percussion instruments: the clave, the güiro and the guayo (also a scraper, but of metal). Singers form themselves into teams, and improvise their lines. They sing, or chant, an unvarying melody, with intervals between stanzas to give the singers time to prepare the next verse. Early compositions were sometimes recorded in print, as were the names of some of the singer/composers. Beginning around 1935, punto reached a peak of popularity on Cuban radio. Nothing was done to record their work, but as it happens, a stenographer, Aida Bode, was a fan of this genre, and she wrote down the verses as they were broadcast. Finally, in 1997, her transcriptions were published in book form. Celina González and Albita both sang punto in the first part of their careers, proving that the genre is still alive, though perhaps moribund in its original form. Celina has one of the great voices in popular music, and her supporting group Campo Alegre is outstanding. For aficionados, however, Indio Naborí (Sabio Jesús Orta Ruiz, b. 30 September 1922) is the greatest name in punto, for his decima poetry, which he wrote daily for the radio and newspapers. He is also a published author, with several collections of his poetry, much of which has a political nueva trova edge.

Rabòday

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Etymology#

First mentioned with Pouchon Duverger, the lead singer of Djakout in late 2000s. When Djakout music is performed in live events. Djakout music always plays short Raboday rhythm, with the help T Pouch, the keyboardist and T Reggie, the guitarist together they help created the sound of the Raboday. Pouchon Duverger always say ‘Men Raboday la’ each times you hear the keyboard or the guitar sound play. Pouchon Duverger is the creator of Raboday.

Ragga

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Origins#

Ragga originated in Jamaica during the 1980s, at the same time that electronic dance music’s popularity was increasing globally. It differs marginally from its dancehall predecessor “other than a slightly more aggressive attitude, and an alignment with the kind of concerns of its youthful audience”. Ragga spread to Europe, North America, and Africa, eventually spreading to Japan, India, and the rest of the world. Ragga heavily influenced early jungle music, and also spawned the syncretistic bhangragga style when fused with bhangra. In the 1990s, ragga and breakcore music fused, creating a style known as raggacore. Ragga also brought with its own fashion designers. Andrew Dunbar working in London produced designs, one of which showed at the Victoria & Albert Museum’s 1994 ‘Street Style’ Street Style exhibition. The term “raggamuffin” is an intentional misspelling of “ragamuffin”, a word that entered the Jamaican Patois lexicon after the British Empire colonized Jamaica in the 17th century. Despite the British colonialists’ pejorative application of the term, Jamaican youth appropriated it as an ingroup designation. The term “raggamuffin music” describes the music of Jamaica’s “ghetto dwellers”.

Rara music

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References#

McAlister, Elizabeth. Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and its Diaspora. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. Book on Rara in Haiti and New York City.

Rara tech

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Rasin

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Characteristics#

Rasin bands combine the Vodou ceremonial and folk music traditions with various musical styles. The Haitian Vodou musical tradition includes “cool” rada rhythms often associated with Africa and the “hot” petro rhythms that speak of a New World, and bands incorporate both styles in their music, although rarely in the same song. On top of the basic horn and drum rhythms, melodies are layered that include structure from rock and roll and jazz. instrumentation can include a variety of drums (including distinct rada and petro styles), rara horns, electronic keyboards, electronic drums, electric guitars, an electric bass, one or more vocalists, and other percussionists. Most song lyrics are written in Creole and often incorporate traditional Vodou ceremonial lyrics or poetry. Songs can speak to traditional Vodou themes such as spying and betraying, feeling lost or estranged, the need for judgement and justice, or the urge to reconnect with an ancestral homeland. Some songs are based on prayers directed to particular loa, or gods, while others may be ballads relating to Haitian mythology. Many songs contain multiple layers of meaning, and can be interpreted as social or political commentary. Songs often emphasize spiritual messages of tolerance, faith, justice, and universal love. The music is upbeat and rhythmic and, like Vodou ceremonial music, intended for dancing.

Reggae

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Origins and influences#

Reggae developed from earlier Jamaican genres including mento, ska, and rocksteady, and is rooted in traditional drumming styles such as Kumina, Pukkumina, Revival Zion, Nyabinghi, and burru. It incorporates elements of rhythm and blues, jazz, mento (a rural folk form that served as dance music and an alternative to church singing, which was conflated with calypso by the 1950s),

Musical characteristics#

Reggae is distinguished by a slower tempo than ska or rocksteady, a strong emphasis on the downbeat in the drum and bass, and short, staccato guitar or piano chords on the offbeat. The bass guitar plays a central role, with a thick, heavy tone and the high frequencies reduced to accentuate the low end. Call-and-response patterns are common, and the rhythm section often uses the bass as a percussion instrument, a feature carried over from rocksteady. Notable rhythm players include Jackie Jackson, Carlton Barrett, Lloyd Brevett, Paul Douglas, Lloyd Knibb, Winston Grennan, Sly Dunbar, and Anthony “Benbow” Creary. Vocals are often delivered in Jamaican Patois, Jamaican English, or Iyaric. Lyrical themes range from political and social commentary to religion, love, and leisure activities.

Reggae en Español

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Early developments#

Reggae as a musical genre has its origins in Jamaica, and it became popular throughout the 1970s in the black-immigrant communities of the other British West Indies, North America, and Great Britain. Jamaican reggae was embraced in Panama by the descendants of black workers that immigrated to the Isthmus during the construction of the Panama Railroad (mid-19th century), the railways for the banana companies (late 19th century), and the Panama Canal (early 20th century). Prior to the period of construction of the Panama Canal (1904–1915), most of the Afro-Caribbean communities in Panama were of Haiti descent, but with the construction of the canal these communities grew in diversity with immigrants from other parts of the Caribbean such as Jamaica, Barbados, Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti, Trinidad, Dominica, Puerto Rico, French and British Guyana and other Caribbean Islands. In 1977, a Guyanese immigrant who went by the nickname “Guyana”, along with a local DJ known as “Wassabanga” introduced for first time the reggae rhythms in Panama with lyrics in Spanish. Wassabanga’s music along with later interpreters such as Rastanini and Calito Soul, were perhaps the first remarkable cases of reggae en Español, at a time when many Panamanians were already developing a musical and spiritual bond with the Mecca of reggae music (Kingston, Jamaica), a bond catalyzed mainly by the call to arms issued by the music of Bob Marley. In 1984, Hernando Brin produced the first record in Panamá of reggae in Spanish on vinyl, called “Treatment”, In the early to mid-1980s, Panamanians like Renato, El General, Nando Boom, El Maleante and Chicho Man started to take Jamaican dancehall songs and beats, singing over them with Spanish lyrics, most of the time preserving the melodies and the rhythms. They also sped up riddims. This style was called reggae en Español or “Spanish reggae”. The music continued to grow throughout the 1980s, with many stars developing in Panama. Between the 1980s and 1990s, the Panamanian artist Chicho Man emerged as one of the greater exponents of Panamanian reggae. In the 1990s, the genre had grown in Panama. In 1991, singer Apache Ness with Papa Chan, Kafu Banton, Calito Soul, Wassa Banga, and Original Dan decided to join forces and create the foundation “One Love One Blood” singing about urban street experiences under the rhythm called reggae bultrón. In 1996 came artists such as Aldo Ranks, El Renegado, and Jam & Suppose who sang the hit “Camión Lleno de Gun”. Jr. Ranks and Tony Bull already had good records with late singer Danger Man and they formed the musical group called The Killamanjaros. Later in Panama, the romanticism had been mixed with reggae and reggae romántico (“romantic reggae”), now better known as “romantic flow”. Those who keep alive the reggae with romantic lyrics are the following: Flex (aka Nigga), El Roockie, El Aspirante, Kathy Phillips, Eddy Lover, Tommy Real, Makano, Catherine, as well as groups like Raíces y Cultura and La Factoría who became famous by the Panamanian producer Irving DiBlasio. In the year 1996, considered the golden age of Panamanian reggae, appeared the productions Los Cuentos de la Cripta and La Mafia by producer El Chombo, with songs like “Las Chicas Quieren Chorizo” (“The Girls Want Chorizo”) by Wassabanga, “El Cubo de Leche” by Jam & Suppose and “Estaban Celebrando” by Aldo Ranks. The Museum of Reggae in Spanish was inaugurated on April 19, 2023. It is located on Calle 13 in the Santa Ana neighborhood of Panama City. This museum was created by Raul Isaac Alvarez who is a fan of the reggae music. The idea behind the museum was to show Panama’s contribution as the pioneers of reggae in Spanish and how this country influenced others such as Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Central America. The Museum of Reggae in Spanish has recognized the 10 pioneers of the genre including El General, Rude Girl, Renato, Nando Boom, Chicho Man, Carmensita Anderson, Gringo Man, Apache Ness, Super Nandi and Principal.

Reggae fusion

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Origin#

Artists have been mixing reggae with other genres from as early as the early 1970s, but initially they were described using terms that joined the various genres they performed (e.g. “reggae funk”, “reggae pop”, “reggae-disco”). It was not until the late 1990s that the term “reggae fusion” was coined. The subgenre predominantly evolved from late 1980s and early 1990s dancehall music which instrumentals or “riddims” contained elements from the R&B and hip hop genres. Due to this, some consider dancehall artists such as Mad Cobra, Shabba Ranks, Super Cat, Buju Banton and Tony Rebel as pioneers of reggae fusion. For some of these artists, among them Buju Banton, reggae fusion became a staple throughout their careers. However, reggae fusion can be traced back to before the success of these artists, as far back as the late 1970s and early 1980s, with such songs as “Pass the Dutchie”, and the band Third World blazed the trail, finding international success with songs such as “Now That We Found Love” and “Try Jah Love”. Therefore, Third World can be seen as arguably the original pioneers of reggae fusion leading the way for groups such as UB40 and Steel Pulse. Although there were a few recognized reggae fusion artists in the late 1980s to mid-1990s, including the aforementioned acts in addition to others such as Sublime, Maxi Priest, Shinehead, 311, First Light, the Police and Inner Circle, their style of fusing genres was subtly done. Artists such as Diana King, Patra, Buju Banton, Ini Kamoze, Snow and Shabba Ranks followed in their footsteps, however, creating a less subtle fusion by further blending heavier Jamaican dialect as well as more hardcore and sexual lyrics in their songs. This led to a lot of crossover success for these artists with songs such as “Informer” and “Here Comes the Hotstepper” reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as topping charts all around the world. As the subgenre began to take shape, the mid- to late 1990s saw artists becoming more innovative as many began to mix genres that were not similar nor typically associated with reggae, such as techno and house, leading to the subgenre gaining a more distinctive following and really beginning to grow. This led dancehall artists who were trying to break into the U.S. market, to fuse the dancehall style of toasting or deejaying over softer and predominantly pop and hip hop instrumentals as well as to diversify the content of their songs while moving away from homophobic lyrics. Traditional dancehall acts, such as Shaggy and Beenie Man experienced commercial success in the American markets with the release of their albums in 2000. Shaggy had previously experienced multiple chart successes in the ’90s but it was his album, Hot Shot, that especially helped further propel the subgenre internationally, as his album spawned two number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, “It Wasn’t Me” and “Angel”. The early 2000s also saw Sean Paul achieve tremendous success internationally with singles such as “Baby Boy”, “Breathe”, “Like Glue” and “Make It Clap”, among many others. His albums Dutty Rock and The Trinity altogether spawned five top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hits between 2002 and 2006, including the number-one hits “Get Busy” and “Temperature”.

Riddim

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Definition#

Some classic riddims, such as “Nanny Goat” and “Real Rock,” both produced by Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, are essentially the accompaniment tracks of the original 1960s reggae songs with those names. Since the 1980s, however, riddims started to be originally composed by producers/beatmakers, who give the riddims original names and, typically, contract artists to voice over them. Thus, for example, “Diwali” is the name not of a song, but of a riddim created by Steven “Lenky” Marsden, subsequently used as the basis for several songs, such as Sean Paul’s “Get Busy” and Bounty Killer’s “Sufferer.” “Riddims are the primary musical building blocks of Jamaican popular songs…. At any given time, ten to fifteen riddims are widely used in dancehall recordings, but only two or three of these are the now ting (i.e., the latest riddims that everyone must record over if they want to get them played in the dance or on radio)…. In dancehall performing, those whose timing is right on top of the rhythm are said to be riding di riddim.

Ringbang

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Ringbang music#

In an attempt to popularise ringbang music and its underlying philosophy, Grant asked various recording artists to apply the word (which he trademarked) to some of their songs. Barbadian recording artists Grynner, Square One, Viking Tundah, and others recorded ringbang tracks for Grant’s record labels, Ice Records and Blue Wave Records. Among the ringbang albums on these labels were Fire in de Wave (1994), Ringbang Rebel Dance (1995), Ringbang Souljah (1996), and Ringbang Revolution (1997). On New Year’s Eve 1999, Grant hosted a concert in Tobago called Ringbang Celebration 2000, at which he performed with the Frontline Orchestra. The event drew approximately 11,000 people, and featured performances by artists from Antigua, Barbados, and Trinidad and Tobago. Calypso musician Lord Kitchener’s brief appearance at the event was his final time onstage, as he died the following February. In March 2003, Ice Records published Ringbang 4 Kids, a selection of songs intended for children of primary school age. The songs were performed by Barbadian singer Indra Rudder, who had previously sung backing vocals for several Ice Records tracks.

Ripsaw music

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External links#

Music in the Turks and Caicos Islands at Turks and Caicos Tourist Board
Ripsaw Music & Our Musical Heritage, by David Bowen, Cultural Officer, Turks & Caicos Tourist Board.

Rocksteady

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Characteristics#

The Jamaican musicians and producers who developed rocksteady had grown up learning and playing jazz and had played through ska. In a similar way to what happened at Motown, the musicians responsible for playing this new sound would go jam in a jazz club after work. Other influences were, most notably, American rhythm and blues–Fats Domino, Louis Jordan and many others– mento and African drumming. By the time rocksteady developed American soul music was popular, and that had an influence as well. The tempo became slower with the development of rocksteady than it had been in ska. The guitar and piano players began to experiment with occasional accents around the basic offbeat pattern. The slowing that occurred with rocksteady allowed bass players to explore more fat, dark, loose, slow tones than ska bass. The slower tempo and smaller band-sizes in turn led to a much larger focus on the bass line in general, which eventually became one of the recognizable characteristics of Jamaican music. In rocksteady, the lead guitar often doubles the bass line, in the muted picking style created by Lynn Taitt (as on “Run for Cover” by Lee “Scratch” Perry).

Salsa music

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Origins of the term Salsa#

The word Salsa means sauce in the Spanish language. The origin of the connection of this word to a style of music is disputed by various music writers and historians. The musicologist Max Salazar traced the origin of the connection to 1930 when Ignacio Piñeiro composed the song Échale salsita (Put some sauce in it). The phrase is seen as a cry from Piñeiro to his band, telling them to increase the tempo to “put the dancers into high gear”. In the mid-1940s, Cuban Cheo Marquetti emigrated to Mexico. He named his group Conjunto Los Salseros, with whom he recorded a couple of albums for the Panart and Egrem labels. Later on, while based in Mexico City, the musician Beny Moré would shout salsa during a performance to acknowledge a musical moment’s heat, making a connection with the hot salsa (sauce) made in the country. Puerto Rican music promoter Izzy Sanabria claims he was the first to use the word salsa to denote a music genre: In 1973, I hosted the television show Salsa which was the first reference to this particular music as salsa. I was using the term salsa, but the music wasn’t defined by that. The music was still defined as Latin music. And that was a very, very broad category, because it even includes mariachi music. It includes everything. So salsa defined this particular type of music … It’s a name that everyone could pronounce. Sanabria’s Latin New York magazine was an English language publication. Consequently, his promoted events were covered in The New York Times, as well as Time and Newsweek magazines. Sanabria confessed the term salsa was not developed by musicians: “Musicians were busy creating the music but played no role in promoting the name salsa.” For this reason the use of the term salsa has been controversial among musicians. Some have praised its unification element. Celia Cruz said, “Salsa is Cuban music with another name. It’s mambo, chachachá, rumba, son … all the Cuban rhythms under one name.” Willie Colón described salsa not as a precise musical style but a power to unite in the broadest terms: “Salsa was the force that united diverse Latino and other non-Latino racial and ethnic groups …Salsa is the harmonic sum of all Latin culture “. On the other hand, even some New York based artists were originally against the commercialization of music under that name. Machito said: “There’s nothing new about salsa, it is just the same old music that was played in Cuba for over fifty years.” Cuban musicologist Mayra Martínez wrote that “the term salsa obscured the Cuban base, the music’s history or part of its history in Cuba. And salsa was a way to do this so that Jerry Masucci, Fania and other record companies, like CBS, could have a hegemony on the music and keep the Cuban musicians from spreading their music abroad.” Johnny Pacheco, co-founder of Fania Records, gave his definition of the term “Salsa” during various interviews: “La salsa es, y siempre ha sido, la musica cubana” (“Salsa is, and always has been, Cuban music”). The marketing potential from the name was so big, that eventually both Machito, Puente, and even musicians in Cuba embraced the term as a financial necessity.

Seis

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Instruments#

The seis was made for a solo voice and accompanying instruments. The melodies and harmonies are simple, usually performed on the cuatro, guitar, bongó, and güiro, although other indigenous instruments are used depending on the available musicians. Spanish instrumentation and harmonies, typically from the Andalusian region, are prominent. In the 20th century, Afro-Caribbean aspects were included through the bongó, syncopated bass, and Cuban rhythms. These were especially used in studio recordings. There are different variations of the seis named after towns where they originated (for example, the seis fajardeño or seis de Fajardo), their composers (an example being the seis de Andino), the specific dance style (such as a seis chorreao), harmonic style (for example, the seis mapeyé), and type of text, which is often improvised ( a prime example being the seis con décima). The seis con décima is one of the types that is not danced to and it’s the slowest. The seis mapeyé or le lo lai is always in minor and the lyrics are about nostalgia.

Ska

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Etymology#

There are multiple theories about the origins of the word ska. Ernest Ranglin claimed that the term was coined by musicians to refer to the “skat! skat! skat!” scratching guitar strum. Another explanation is that at a recording session in 1959 produced by Coxsone Dodd, double bassist Cluett Johnson instructed guitarist Ranglin to “play like ska, ska, ska”, although Ranglin has denied this, stating “Clue couldn’t tell me what to play!” A further theory is that it derives from Johnson’s word skavoovie, with which he was known to greet his friends. Jackie Mittoo insisted that the musicians called the rhythm Staya Staya, and that it was Byron Lee who introduced the term “ska”. Derrick Morgan said: “Guitar and piano making a ska sound, like ‘ska, ska”.

Soca music

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Etymology#

“Soca” is a portmanteau of the words “soul” and “calypso”. The genre was defined by Lord Shorty as the “Soul of Calypso”. The word was originally spelled s-o-k-a-h by Lord Shorty. In a 1979 interview with Carnival Magazine, Lord Shorty stated that he “came up with the name soca. I invented soca. And I never spelt it s-o-c-a. It was s-o-k-a-h to reflect the East Indian influence.” The use of kah (the Hindi word for “divine”) referenced the genre’s Indo-Caribbean influence. However, s-o-c-a quickly became the popular spelling after a journalist, Ivor Ferreira, misspelled the name. The article, which included an interview with Lord Shorty, was published during the 1976 Trinidad Carnival season. The article said “Shorty is doing soca”. Lord Shorty confirmed the error, but chose to leave it that way to avoid confusion.

Son cubano

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Etymology and cognates#

In Spanish, the word son, from Latin sonus, denotes a pleasant sound, particularly a musical one. In eastern Cuba, the term began to be used to refer to the music of the highlands towards the late 19th century. To distinguish it from similar genres from other countries (such as son mexicano and son guatemalteco), the term son cubano is most commonly used. In Cuba, various qualifiers are used to distinguish the regional variants of the genre. These include son montuno, son oriental, son santiaguero and son habanero. The adjective soneado refers to songs and styles which incorporate the tempo and syncopation of the son, or even its montunos. Generally, there is an explicit difference between styles that incorporate elements of the son partially or totally, as evidenced by the distinction between bolero soneado and bolero-son. The term sonora refers to conjuntos with smoother trumpet sections such as Sonora Matancera and Sonora Ponceña.

Son montuno

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Background#

Son cubano developed in the late 19th century and soon became the most important genre of Cuban popular music. In addition, it is perhaps the most flexible of all forms of Latin American music, and is the foundation of many Cuban-based dance forms, and salsa. Its great strength is its fusion between European and African musical traditions. The son arose in Oriente, merging the Spanish guitar and lyrical traditions with Afro-Cuban percussion and rhythms. We now know that its history as a distinct form is relatively recent. There is no evidence that it goes back further than the end of the nineteenth century. It moved from Oriente to Havana in about 1909, carried by members of the Permanent (the Army), who were sent out of their areas of origin as a matter of policy. The first recordings were in 1918. There are many types of son, of which the son montuno is one. The term has been used in several ways. Probably the ‘montuno’ originally referred to its origin in the mountainous regions of eastern Cuba; eventually, it was used more to describe the final up-tempo section of a son, with its semi-improvisation, repetitive vocal refrain and brash instrumental climax. The term was being used in the 1920s, when son sextetos set up in Havana and competed strongly with the older danzones.

Songo music

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Timbales#

With songo, the timbales were expanded with the addition of a kick bass drum, and sometimes a snare drum and hi-hat. Songo uses a Cuban-style timbale/drum kit hybrid, which can be anything from standard timbales with kick, to a full drum kit augmented with timbales, woodblock, and various cowbells. Songo was the first Cuban popular dance rhythm to blend rumba and North American funk rhythms. The most basic songo bell pattern is an embellishment of the Matanzas-style cáscara pattern for guaguancó, traditionally played on a guagua (hollowed piece of bamboo). In both patterns the right hand (lower notes) plays the four main beats, while the left hand plays offbeats. The right hand is typically played on a closed hi-hat, woodblock, or cowbell. The left hand is typically played on the snare rim, snare, cowbell(s), or toms. The left hand portion of the pattern is expressed in a wide variety of melodic motifs, and timbres. See: “Songo Patterns on Drum Kit” (Changuito).

Spouge

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Sources#

Tahona

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History#

The word “tahona” initially described a type of single-headed hand drum with a body made of a wooden barrel and a goatskin head, larger than the tumbadora (conga drum). The ensembles, and ultimately the music itself, also adopted the term tahona. As a genre, tahona is considered a style of Cuban rumba, and together with yambú it is one of the oldest. However, it differs from the canonical rumba styles in the fact that it developed in the eastern part of Cuba, the Oriente Province, due to the immigration of Haitian slaves following the Haitian Revolution of the 1790s. Thus, tahona exhibits similarities to tumba francesa (another Afro-Cuban style imported by Haitians) and conga (a style of street music developed in Santiago de Cuba). Initially, tahonas were holiday dances performed by the slaves and their descendants, later turning into “rural congas” (Afro-Cuban parades) performed during carnival celebrations. According to Fernando Ortiz, tahona ensembles emerged as a way of making tumbas francesas “portable”, since the drums in tumba francesas were to large to be carried in street parades. He described tahona ensembles as containing three tahonas (one repique and two fondos), one tambora, one tragaleguas (another drum), a hierro, and a guamo (an aerophone made of a sea snail). Chachás (rattles) were also added as in tumba francesa. An additional bass drum called bimba, which is smaller but deeper than the tambora, was also played by tahona ensembles. Tahona spread across Oriente to Alto Songo, La Maya and Ti Arriba. In the Havana neighborhood of Carraguao, the tahona became commonly performed on many festivities. Its popularity among bakers led many to believe that it was named after the Spanish tahona, i.e. bakery.

Tambu (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Slavery Era#

Tambú first emerged on Curaçao in the early stages of Dutch slave rule during the early 17th century. It is a tradition which was started by the large number of African slaves sent to Curaçao from Angola. The slaves acted as servants for Dutch families who resided there. The drummer was accompanied by a lead vocalist, who sang tributes about the contestants before they began fighting, in which the audience could gain an understanding about the fighters past history and special talents. Tambú further evolved as the Dutch became more conscious of the growing slave communities and set out to control them. Stick fighting and other general martial arts traditions became restricted by law, and the traditional kokomakuku performance became extinct. Instead the tradition transformed into a performance more focused on the drumming and wordplay. The use of sticks as weapons, were instead replaced with words, spoken by the lead vocalist, who were used by people to attack another person’s defects and vice versa. The ritual finished with the audience making a judgement on who had the better performance and awarded the winner.

Timba

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Etymology#

Before it became the newest Cuban music and dance craze, timba was a word with several different uses yet no particular definition, mostly heard within the Afro-Cuban genre of rumba. A timbero was a complimentary term for a musician, and timba often referred to the collection of drums in a folklore ensemble. Since the 1990s, timba has referred to Cuba’s intense and slightly more aggressive music and dance form.

Toasting (Jamaican music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Trova

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The founders#

Pepe Sánchez, born José Sánchez (Santiago de Cuba, 19 March 1856 – 3 January 1918), is known as the father of the trova style and the creator of the Cuban bolero. He had some experience in bufo, but had no formal training in music. With remarkable natural talent, he composed numbers in his head and never wrote them down. As a result, most of these numbers are now lost forever, though some two dozen or so survive because friends and disciples wrote them down. His first bolero, Tristezas, is still remembered today. He also created advertisement jingles before the radio. He was the model and teacher for the great trovadores who followed him. The first, and one of the longest-lived, was Sindo Garay, born Antonio Gumersindo Garay Garcia (Santiago de Cuba, 12 April 1867 – Havana, 17 July 1968). He was the most outstanding composer of trova songs, and his best have been sung and recorded many times. Perla marina, Adiós a La Habana, Mujer bayamesa, El huracán y la palma, Guarina and many others are now part of Cuba’s heritage. Garay was also musically illiterate – in fact, he only taught himself the alphabet at 16 – but in his case not only were scores recorded by others, but there are recordings as well. In the 1890s Garay got involved in the Cuban War of Independence, and decided a stay in Hispaniola (Haiti and Dominican Republic) would be a good idea. It was, and he came back with a wife. Garay settled in Havana in 1906, and in 1926 joined Rita Montaner and others to visit Paris, spending three months there singing his songs. He broadcast on radio, made recordings and survived into modern times. He used to say “Not many men have shaken hands with both José Martí and Fidel Castro!” Carlos Puebla, whose life spanned the old and the new trova, told a good joke about him: “Sindo celebrated his 100th birthday several times – in fact, whenever he was short of money!” José ‘Chicho’ Ibáñez (Corral Falso, 22 November 1875 – Havana, 18 May 1981) was the first trovador (that we know of) to specialize in the son and also on guaguancós and afrocuban rhythms from the abakuá. He played the tres rather than the Spanish guitar, and developed his own technique for this Cuban guitar. During his extremely long career, Chicho sang and played the son in streets, plazas, cafés, nightclubs and other venues throughout Cuba. In the 1920s, when the sextetos became popular, he was forced to sell his compositions to these larger groups and their composers in order to survive. His compositions include Toma, mamá, que te manda tía, Evaristo, No te metas Caridad, Ojalá (sones); Yo era dichoso, Al fin mujer (bolero-sones); Qué más me pides, La saya de Oyá (guaguancós). He worked throughout Cuba, and latterly a short film was made of him (‘See also’ below). The composer Rosendo Ruiz (Santiago de Cuba, 1 March 1885 – Havana, 1 January 1983) was a trovador almost as long-lived as Ibáñez and Garay. He wrote the criolla Mares y Arenas in 1911, the workers’ anthem Redención in 1917, the bolero Confesión, the guajira Junto al cañaveral and the pregón-son Se va el dulcerito. He was the author of a well-known guitar manual. Manuel Corona (Caibarién, 17 June 1880 – Havana 9 January 1950) started his career in a red-light district of Havana. Originally a singer-guitarist, he became a prolific composer after his hand was damaged by a pimp’s knife. It was a case of “She was a whore, and she had her man, but I loved her”. Alberto Villalón (Santiago de Cuba, 7 June 1882 – Havana 16 07 1955) advanced the trova guitar technique and had a hand in the birth of the son septetos. Garay, Ruiz, Villalón and Corona were known as the four greats of the trova, but Ibáñez and the following trovadores should be regarded as of equally high stature.

Tumba francesa

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Characteristics#

Tumba francesa combines musical traditions of West African, Bantu, French and Spanish origin. Cuban ethnomusicologists agree that the word “tumba” derives from the Bantu and Mandinka words for drum. In Cuba, the word tumba is used to denote the drums, the ensembles and the performance itself in tumba francesa.

Instrumentation#

Tumbas francesas are directed by a mistress of ceremonies called mayora de plaza. Performances generally begin with improvised solo singing in a mixture of Spanish and French patois termed kreyol cubano or patuá cubano by the lead vocalist (composé). After the introduction, the catá (a wooden cylindrical idiophone struck with two sticks) is played, and the composé alternates call and response singing with a group of female vocalists (tumberas).

Twoubadou

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

History#

Twoubadou was developed in the early 20th century. It combined music derived from the guajiro traditions of Cuba, (which is related to the jibaro musical tradition of Puerto Rico) with a Haitian musical style called méringue. Twoubadou was brought back by Haitian migrant laborers who went to work as cutters on sugar plantations in Cuba who traveled back and forth to harvest the seasonal crop at the turn of the century. The instruments in the ensemble are portable, since most twoubadou had to carry all of their possessions back and forth between Haiti and the sugarcane fields abroad. It is characterized by the use of the following acoustic instruments such as an acoustic guitar or two, an accordion, and percussion instruments. It also features a pair of maracas or a graj (scraper), a tanbou (barrel drum), and a large lamellophone, with three to five keys called manibula, maniba, or malimba, (depending on the geographic region) that provides the sound of a bass guitar. True to the original Spanish troubadours, the music and its lyrics usually conjured up images of true love and lasting relationships. Haitian migrants have also shaped the musical styles in the areas where they worked. Tumba francesa is the Cuban term for Haitian-derived recreational drumming and dancing; the style is still practiced among expatriate Haitian cane cutters.

Yuka (music)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Drumming#

The Bantu word yuka means “to beat” and is also used to refer to the drums used in yuka performances. According to Fernando Ortiz, yuka drums were known in the Kongo language as ngóma bobóla mámbu, where ngóma means “drum”, bobóla “deep sound” and mámbu “collective business”. These drums are made from hollowed-out trunks of the avocado tree. Leather is nailed to one of the open ends, and the player hits the skin with both hands, the drum being slanted between his legs. The drums come in three sizes: *caja, the largest and lowest-pitched yuka drum; *mula, medium sized; *cachimbo, the smallest and highest-pitched drum, it is also known as tumba, tumbador, llamador or tahona. The yuka accompanied by this guataca bell plays a variation of the commonly used tresillo pattern.

Zouk

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Zouk béton#

The original fast carnival style of zouk, best represented by the band Kassav’, became known as “zouk béton”, “zouk chiré”, or “zouk hard”. Zouk béton is considered a synthesis of various French Antillean dance music styles of the 20th century, including kadans, konpa, and biguine.