Caribbean Music CultureA Brief Introduction

by Marva Jackson Lord

07961 589616

marva@griotsarts.com

http://griotsarts.com

copyright 2008

Preface

This slideshow is a backgrounder sketch I created for an interactive workshop I was asked to present about Caribbean music to groups of high school students in Bridgend, Wales in 2008. Each slide was used to begin discussion with workshop participants.

I co-facilitated the workshop with drummer Victor Fredrick, looking at traditional Caribbean music, instruments and lyrics and how it emerged from an amalgamation of cultures. Students participated in conversation about Caribbean music and culture and the influence in contemporary pop. Victor demonstrated the rhythms with various percussion instruments, and led the groups in creating their own rhythms based on the knowledge they gained during the workshop.

- Marva Jackson Lord

Introduction

Ska, Reggae, Mento and Calypso music are the first music forms that I remember being introduced to by my mother when I was a child. Other forms of Caribbean music include Merengue & Compas (Haiti), Zouk (Guadeloupe & Martinique), Salsa & Son (Cuba), but the entire list of varying forms of Caribbean music is too long to discuss today. But we aim to give you a taste of the richness and diversity of Caribbean music culture.

What do you listen to? Caribbean music influence in today’s Pop

When we listen to the top songs on radio such as BBC 1 many of the styles we hear by artists such as Michael Buble, Black Eyed Peas, Jay-Z, and others have been influenced by Caribbean roots. Jazz is a major influence in several Caribbean music forms. Two top songs which have been on the BBC Singles chart have been by Estelle/American Boy and Sam Sparro/Black and Gold. These two songs have something in common with some of the music forms we will be touching on today. They both are Jazz-influenced songs.

Over the past couple of years the BBC music chart has been dominated by Welsh singer Duffy and in her vocal one can hear Soul, African American R&B and Blues, which are also influences in Caribbean music.

African American Jazz, Blues and R&B were important influences on the development of Ska and Reggae. Over the years, elements of Jazz have also been incorporated into Latin-Caribbean music forms from islands such as Cuba and other parts of South America.

Leona Lewis, chart topping star catapults out of XFactor to win the hearts of music fans world wide. Her musical connection is also both Welsh and Jamaican. Her vocal style has become a standard type of contemporary pop.

SkaHave any of you ever heard Ska music?

Do you know of the bands Madness and UB40?

Madness - a legendary British Pop/Ska band from Camden, London, that formed in 1976. Still performing today with their almost original lineup, they were one of the leading bands worldwide during the 1970s 2 Tone ska revival, and were particularly successful in the 1980s. Memorable song: One Step Beyond.

UB40 - a British Reggae band formed in 1978 in Birmingham. They also continue to perform with their original members and have had over 50 songs on charts, internationally and in the UK. Memorable songs: Red Red Wine, Mr. Fixit (written by one of Reggae’s first artists, Winston Francis, also based in Britain)

Reggae Roots To discuss Reggae, we must

start with Ska. Ska music was declared Jamaica's National Sound by the government for Jamaica’s independence from Britain's colonial empire in 1962. But Ska music actually originated in Jamaica in the 1950's. Chris Blackwell and Millie Small made Ska music internationally famous with My Boy Lollipop, which was recorded in Britain for Blackwell's new record label Island Records. Basically Ska music built Island Records which went on to promote the likes of reggae icon Bob Marley, rock legend Stevie Winwood, jazz genius Courtney Pine, among others.

Ska – Key elements 1. Mento, a Jamaican calypso from the 1800's

2. Jonkanoo, a precursor of Mento

3. Early Rastafarian drumming, called Burru drumming Again plantation owners had banned the use of the drum by Africans in the Caribbean and the US because Africans used drums as a form of communication. Burru drumming was the only African drumming style allowed on the Jamaican plantations as used to help African slaves keep time while working.

4. Early African-American music, 1940's Jazz and 1950's Rhythm and Blues (R&B) Caribbean peoples, in particular Jamaicans, have had a long relationship with African-Americans since the early days of slavery in the Americas. In the early 1900's Jamaican minstrels would travel through the Southern United States performing their own blues styles for local audiences. Most history books don't contain this information but there is documentation in early newspapers and in the works of current publications like the Jamaica Journal that confirms this.

Ska - Instruments

Guitar Bass guitar Trumpet Trombone Saxophone Piano Drums Organ

Mento

Mento is sometimes referred to as Jamaican calypso. It is Jamaica’s folk music – a combination of African and European musical styles and is one of the main influences on Reggae music.

The main instruments are acoustic guitar, banjo, drums, and ‘rhumba box’

Popular in the 1950s. Today tradition kept alive by groups such as the Jolly Boys.

Reggae Reggae music grew out of Ska, with many differences in

lyrical content, vocal styles, instruments used, type of rhythms, drumming variations. Since the early 1960s, there have been many different types of reggae including:

1.    Rocksteady - some see this as a separate type of music bridging Reggae and Ska - The Maytals2. Roots Reggae – Burning Spear, Bob Marley, Mikey Dread (producer of The Clash, just passed away earlier this year); Rastafarian influence - slower drum3.    Lover’s Rock - distinctly British style of Reggae- Maxi Priest4.    Dub – Dennis Bovell – produced the Boomtown Rats (Bob Geldof); Sly & Robbie – famous production team; Dub poetry offshoot grew out of reggae scene in Jamaica – Benjamin Zephaniah5.    Dancehall or some used to call it Raggamuffin (but now there are different varieties of dancehall reggae)

Offshoots: Dancehall reggae influence on American Hip Hop (Missy Elliot, Busta Rhymes); British Grime; also has derivative forms called Trip Hop, Drum and Bass, RaggaSoca

Reggae - Instruments

Bass Drums Guitar Organ Brass Melodica

Calypso What do you know of Carnival?

Carnival has become a massive event wordlwide. In Wales there is the Cardiff Carnival, in London, the Nottinghill Carnival, based on the original Calypso festive tradition is one of the world’s largest. Every summer Cardiff has a similar festival put on by SWICA.

Calypso (and it’s popular offshoot Soca) is native to Trinidad but spread throughout the Caribbean, and today each island has its own slightly differing kaiso tradition (Kaiso is another early term for Calypso), and the first known calypsonian was a chantwell (singer) named Gros Jean in the late 18th century. Soca (a more ‘accessible’ form of calypso) developed in the 1960s.  Calypso began as a posh European type of masquerade ball, which took place just after Christmas and ends on Pancake Tuesday. Today there are newer forms fused with Hip Hop, and other music which are popular today. There is even a rumoured connection between calypso and early New Orleans jazz, which is very possible because of the fact that Trinidadians migrated in great numbers to New Orleans in the 1800s. Calypso and Soca performers who are legends today include Calypso Rose, Shadow, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, Harry Belafonte(had first hit Day-O in 1956), The Mighty Sparrow and many more.

Calypso – Roots Calypso is based on several

components:

1.    Extempo, Calypso lyrics based on the West African praise singer (a traditional recorder of the community’s history – similar to the role of the Welsh Cyfarwydd or keeper of a Welsh people’s history in olden days) 2.    French, Irish and English folk music forms and instruments

3.    African rhythms and melodies

4.    French creole lyrics

5.    Venezuelan dance

6.    Steel drum, a new acoustic instrument developed in the 20th century

7. Asian rhythms of the tabla drums

Calypso - Instruments

Main instruments of calypso include:Steel drumGuitarSaxophoneTrumpetPercussionKeyboardFluteShakers or rattles

Son /Salsa Son is the root of most Salsa – Cuban music dates

back to the 1500’s and includes African, European and Native American influences. One of the most popular remains Son.

Son/Salsa has had, and continues to have, an incredible impact on popular music, and includes Spanish melody, African Arara and Bantu percussion, French creole rhythms, Areito song and dance of Native American people called the Taino (one of the original people who lived in the Caribbean - Cuba, Jamaica, Santo Domingo, Puerto Rico, and the Bahamas - at the time Christopher Columbus arrived). Son & Salsa artists: Teodora and Micaela Ginez - founders of Son, Rita Montaner, Trio Oriental, Havana Orchestra, Arsenio Reodriguez, Beny More, Celia Cruz, Eddie Palmieri, Tito Puente, Ruben Blades, and many others.

Son - Instruments Bongos A pair of round drums held in the knees and struck with the

hand.

Botijuela A bottle used to store oil that was used as a bass in original Son bands. Later replaced by the double bass

Claves A pair of cylindrical wooden sticks which when struck together produce a metallic sound. They keep the rhythm in the music.

Conga Drum A skinned.drum played with the palms.

Cowbell Played by holding in one hand and striking with a stick.

The Guiro A carved gourd played by scraping it with a stick.

Marimbula A finger piano brought to Cuba by slaves from Santo Domingo.

The Quijada An African musical instrument made from animal jawbone.

The Timbales A pair of skinned drums played with a pair of sticks.

Guitar and Tres Guitar (type of Spanish guitar); Trumpet and maracas might also be included.

Zouk

Zouk began in the 1980s, comes from the French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, encouraged by the French government’s cultural agenda.

Roots in Compas music from Haiti, Bal granmoun dances and Cadence dance and music from Dominica; mazurka and biguine, French and American pop, and Kadans, Gwo ka and other indigenous styles

Zouk means "party" or "festival" in creole language of French with English and African influences

In Africa, it is popular in francophone countries, while on the African islands of Cape Verde they have developed their own type of zouk. In Europe it is particularly popular in France, and in North America Quebec-Canada and the US Louisiana.

Best known band: Kassav

Caribbean Music - Dance

In each form of these African-rooted musics, dance is an important element and you can find information to help you learn about some of these styles on Youtube.com

Each form was popularized through dance parties in homes or dancehalls, community festivals, clubs or other places where large groups could gather to share their love of the music and exchange stories through song about their lives

Each music form has left a permanent impact not only on the popular music of today but on the very essence of the culture we share in our day to day lives

Note: The original workshop provided an opportunity to highlight a local event that could be accessible to the workshop participants. More slides could be added including more information about local or accessible Caribbean events.I am not affiliated with SWICA – Marva Jackson Lord

CARNIVALSInterested ? Get in touch and get involved in Wales! Interactive, inclusive and celebratory..

MAS making

(Carnival design and creation)

Drumming(Caribbean and

African rhythms)

Dancing(Processional dance for the

road)

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