1.
Haitian Carnival
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Haitian Carnival is a celebration held over several weeks each year leading up to Mardi Gras. Haitian Defile Kanaval is the Haitian Creole name of the main annual Mardi Gras carnival held in Port-au-Prince, the parade is known in Creole as defile. Haitis largest annual carnival is held in the capital and largest city, Port-au-Prince, with celebrations taking part simultaneously in Jacmel, Aux Cayes. The annual carnival celebrations coincide with other Mardi Gras carnivals around the world, Haiti also has smaller carnival celebrations during the year that are separate from the main carnival. Port-au-Princes annual carnival is one of the largest Mardi Gras carnivals in the Caribbean, the celebrations are funded by the government, businesses and wealthy Haitian families. Haitis version of carnival season starts in January, known as Pre-Kanaval. Carnival celebrations end on Mardi Gras, which is French for Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras is the Tuesday before the Roman Catholic holiday known as Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season, a period of fasting. The first Mardi Gras celebrations in Europe were an opportunity for people to indulge themselves, celebrate. Mardi Gras enabled people to enjoy the pleasures of life before the beginning of the Catholic Lent season, the Catholic festival was imported to Haiti and elsewhere in the Americas during European settlement. In Haiti, carnival is heavily influenced by local customs, such as Vodou religious rituals. The carnival is celebrated with music, bands and parades, parades have floats, sometimes with children participating in the celebrations. The floats typically have sound systems set up on trucks to play music to the crowds, food stands selling barbecued treats and rum are a popular part of celebrations. There are also comedy plays put on by the carnival participants, revelers wear masks and costumes, as they do at other carnival celebrations in the Caribbean, North America, and Central and South America. Music is central to Haitis carnival, musicians perform zouk, rap kreyòl rap, konpa, and mizik rasin. The carnival is the largest annual event where bands can gain more public exposure, popular kompa bands participate in the carnival, such as T-Vice, Djakout #1, Sweet Micky also known as Michel Martelly, Kreyòl La, D. P. Express, Mizik Mizik, Ram, T-Micky, Team Lobey, Carimi, in Haiti there are also competitions between some bands, like T-Vice, Djakout #1, Kreyòl La, Team Lobey, and Krezi Mizik. Every year, tourists travel to Haitis carnival to enjoy it, the large official public celebration of carnival in Haiti started in 1804 in the capital of Haiti, Port-au-Prince
2.
Port-au-Prince International Jazz Festival
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The Port-au-Prince International Jazz Festival is a large annual jazz festival held in Haiti. In 2013 it featured Branford Marsalis as a headliner, with their first show in the town of Jacmel. That year featured two dozen other musicians from countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Spain, and Cameroon. According to Billboard, The festival seeks to promote jazz in Haiti, List of music festivals List of jazz festivals Official Website
3.
La Dessalinienne
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La Dessalinienne is the national anthem of Haiti. It was written by Justin Lhérisson and composed by Nicolas Geffrard, to commemorate the 100th year anniversary of the Haitian Revolution, a competition was held for a national anthem in 1903. The poetic words of Justin Lhérisson and martial composition of Nicolas Geffrard won over the judges, La Dessalinienne was named in honor of Haitis revolutionary leader and first ruler Jean-Jacques Dessalines. There is a Haitian Creole version that was created by Raymond A. Moise, ansy Dérose, a Haitian singer, helped popularize it. Although it became accepted, the 1987 Haitian Constitution makes no mention of this particular version. Quand nos Aïeux brisèrent leurs entraves Flag of Haiti Haïti Chérie Music of Haiti La Dessalinienne
4.
Music of Antigua and Barbuda
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Antigua and Barbuda is a Caribbean nation in the Lesser Antilles island chain. The country is a home for many of the pan-Caribbean genres of popular music. Of these, steeldrum and calypso are the most integral parts of modern Antiguan popular music, little to no musical research has been undertaken on Antigua and Barbuda. As a result, much knowledge on the topic derives from novels, essays, documented music in Antigua and Barbuda began only with the discovery of Antigua, then populated by Arawak and Caribs, by Christopher Columbus in 1493. The islands early music, however, remains little studied, in the 1780s, documentation exists for African workers participating in outdoor dances accompanied by the banjar and toombah, a drum decorated with shell and tin jingles. By the 1840s, sophisticated subscription balls were common, held biweekly with European-derived quadrilles accompanied by fiddle, tambourine, colonial era churches and missionary activity displaced and otherwise influenced the music of the African slaves, who adopted elements of European-derived religious music. The brass bands of the Salvation Army are an important example, in the mid- to late 19th century, a number of Portuguese indentured workers came to Antigua, bringing with them their styles of music. When most of the Portuguese left in the 1880s, Lebanese music was brought to the island by immigrants from that country, during the period of French colonial rule, African slaves were prohibited from celebrating in Carnival, they continued to do so, secretly, at home. There, an Afro-Caribbean style of percussion, dance and song called benna developed, later, Antiguan and Barbudan folk music became more dominated by Trinidadian calypso and steelpan. Most forms of modern Antiguan and Barbudan music are not indigenous to the islands, and were imported from France, colonial dance styles like the highland fling and the quadrille remain popular in Africanized form. The Old Time Christmas Festival was a culturally significant celebration, replaced in 1957 by a Trinidadian-inspired Carnival, the Antiguan Christmas Festival included several elements that have been adopted into the modern Carnival. Christmas Festival traditions include both music and dance, especially related to masquerades and iron bands, the highland fling is a common Christmas Festival dance, also played in the modern Carnival, performed by people wearing Scottish kilts, masks made of wire and bearing whips of cowhide. Benna is an uptempo Antiguan folk song that was introduced following the prohibition of slavery, songs usually focused on scandalous and bawdy rumors and gossip, and were in a call-and-response form with a leader and an audience. Bennas popularity and similarity to calypso helped make the island receptive to that genres introduction, by the beginning of the 20th century, it had become a method of folk communication, disseminating news and reports from across the island. In the 1940s and 50s, an improvisational benna singer named John Quarkoo Thomas sang up-to-date stories on legal scandals, and he was eventually imprisoned because of the lyrics to Cocoatea, which was about the daughter of a respected citizen, and her secret pregnancy while in a convent. In other popular genres of music Antigua is best known for oldest and most successful band the Burning Flames. Another well-known Antiguan musician was Patrick Johnny Gomes, who worked for, among many others, country recording artists Billy Rose and Wayne Daniel were also born on the island of Antigua. See full article, Antigua Carnival The Antiguan Carnival is a celebration of music, the most important day is that of the jouvert, in which brass and steel bands perform for much of the islands population
5.
Music of the Bahamas
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The music of the Bahamas is associated primarily with junkanoo, a celebration which occurs on Boxing Day and again on New Years Day. Parades and other celebrations mark the ceremony, groups like The Baha Men, Ronnie Butler and Kirkland Bodie have gained massive popularity in Japan, the United States and other places. Other popular Bahamian artists include Stileet and Stevie S. Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad and this form of music has spread through many parts of the Caribbean, including The Bahamas. Soca is a form of music which originated from many calypso music in Trinidad. It originally combined the melodic lilting sound of calypso with insistent percussion, the word junkanoo is said to be derived from a Ghanaian leader, John Connu, or from the Qujo supreme deity and ancestral spirits. The junkanoo was formerly practiced in North Carolina and remnants still exist in Belize and it is most well known, though, from Nassau and Freeport. Tourism has also had an impact, bringing in Japanese, European, junkanoos origins are obscure and much-debated. Another theory is that the term derives from scrap metal or other used to create the distinctive goombay drum. Similar celebrations once existed cross the Caribbean and in North Carolina, in 1973, the year the Bahamas achieved independence from the United Kingdom, black professionals of the middle and upper classes began to dominate junkanoo celebrations. Costuming and competitions became more complex and commonplace, and soon became a tourist draw, aside from being a type of drum, goombay is also a percussion music made famous by Alphonso Blind Blake Higgs, who played to tourists arriving at Nassau International Airport for several years. Rake-and-scrapes popularity has been declining in recent years, but performers like Lassie Do, christian rhyming spirituals and the antems of sponge fishermen are now mostly dead traditions, decimated by the arrival of pop music, a 1930s sponge blight and other causes. E. Clement Bethels masters thesis on traditional Bahamian music was adapted for the stage by his daughter, Nicolette Bethel, Music of The Bahamas was first performed at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1991, and was revived in 2002 for fresh Bahamian audiences. A recording of that show is available for sale from Ringplay Productions, rake and scrape music comes from the musical traditions of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and is characterized by the use of a saw as the primary instrument. It was brought by immigrants from those islands from the 1920s to about the 1940s, who settled on Cat Island, rake and scrape is traditionally used to accompany the Bahamian Quadrille and the heel-toe polka all relics of the initial mixture of Africa and Europe. Many of these Turks and Caicos Islanders became some of the most famous musicians in the Bahamas, many eventually moved back to their homelands, bringing with them junkanoo. Turks and Caicos are now the home for junkanoo. Membranophones, The Goombay drum is main rhythmic component in rake-n-scrape and it is also referred to a goatskin drum, as the skin of a goat was stretched over a wooden barrel. It is decorated by simple or complex geometric designs in bright colors, the drum is always heated over fire to retain its tone
6.
Music of Barbados
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The music of Barbados includes distinctive national styles of folk and popular music, including elements of Western classical and religious music. The culture of Barbados is a mix of African and British elements, and the islands music reflects this mix through song types and styles, instrumentation, dances. Barbadian folk traditions include the Landship movement, which is a satirical, informal organization based on the British navy, tea meetings, tuk bands and numerous traditional songs, in modern Barbados, popular styles include calypso, spouge, contemporary folk and world music. Barbados is, along with Guadeloupe, Martinique, Trinidad, Cuba, Puerto Rico, bajan culture is syncretic, and the islands musical culture is perceived as a mixture of African and British musics, with certain unique elements that may derive from indigenous sources. Simple entertainment is the basis for most Barbadians participation in music and dance activities, though religious, Barbadian folk culture declined in importance in the 20th century, but then rekindled in the 1970s, when many Barbadians became interested in their national culture and history. The religious music of the Barbadian Christian churches plays an important role in Barbadian musical identity, many distinctive Barbadian musical and other cultural traditions derive from parodies of Anglican church hymns and British military drills. The British military performed drills to both provide security for the population, as well as intimidate slaves. Modern Barbadian tea meetings, tuk bands, the Landship tradition, british-Barbadians used music for cultural and intellectual enrichment and to feel a sense of kinship and connection with the British Isles through the maintenance of British musical forms. Plantation houses featured music as entertainment at balls, dances and other gatherings and these songs remain a part of Barbadian culture and form a rich folk repertoire. Western classical music is the most socially accepted form of expression for Barbadians in Bridgetown, including a variety of vocal music, chamber and orchestral music. Though inhabited prior to the 16th century, little is known about Barbadian music before the arrival of the Portuguese in 1536, the Portuguese left little influence, but English culture and music helped shape the islands heritage. Irish and Scottish settlers emigrated in the 17th century, working in the tobacco industry, the middle of the 17th century saw the decline of the tobacco industry and the rise of sugarcane, as well as the introduction of large numbers of African slaves. Modern Barbadian music is largely a combination of English and African elements, with Irish, Scottish. By the 19th century, the Barbadian colonialists grew to fear slave revolts, and specifically, as a result, the government passed laws to restrict musical activities among slaves. At the same time, American and other forms of imported music were brought to Barbados, while many important elements of modern Barbadian music, like tuk bands, also emerged. In the 20th century, many new styles were imported to Barbados, most influentially including jazz, ska, reggae, calypso and soca. Barbadian culture and music are mixtures of European and African elements, with influence from the indigenous peoples of the island. Significant numbers of Asian, specifically Chinese and Japanese, people have moved to Barbados, slavery continued, however, and the colonial and slaveowning authorities eventually outlawed musical instruments among slaves
7.
Music of Cuba
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The music of Cuba, including its instruments, performance and dance, comprises a large set of unique traditions influenced mostly by west African and European music. Due to the nature of most of its genres, Cuban music is often considered one of the richest and most influential regional musics of the world. For instance, the son cubano merges an adapted Spanish guitar, melody, harmony, almost nothing remains of the original native traditions, since the native population was exterminated in the 16th century. Since the 19th century Cuban music has been popular and influential throughout the world. It has been perhaps the most popular form of music since the introduction of recording technology. Cuban music has contributed to the development of a variety of genre and musical styles around the globe, most notably in Latin America. Examples include rhumba, Afro-Cuban jazz, salsa, soukous, many West African re-adaptations of Afro-Cuban music, Spanish fusion genres, large numbers of African slaves and European, mostly Spanish, immigrants came to Cuba and brought their own forms of music to the island. European dances and folk musics included zapateo, fandango, paso doble, later, northern European forms like minuet, gavotte, mazurka, contradanza, and the waltz appeared among urban whites. There was also an immigration of Chinese indentured laborers later in the 19th century, the African slaves and their descendants made many percussion instruments and preserved rhythms they had known in their homeland. The most important instruments were the drums, of which there were originally about fifty different types, today only the bongos, congas, also important are the claves, two short hardwood batons, and the cajón, a wooden box, originally made from crates. Claves are still used often, and wooden boxes were used during periods when the drum was banned. In addition, there are other instruments in use for African-origin religious ceremonies. Chinese immigrants contributed the corneta china, a Chinese reed instrument still played in the comparsas, or carnival groups, the great instrumental contribution of the Spanish was their guitar, but even more important was the tradition of European musical notation and techniques of musical composition. Hernando de la Parras archives give some of our earliest available information on Cuban music and he reported instruments including the clarinet, violin and vihuela. There were few professional musicians at the time, and fewer still of their songs survive, one of the earliest is Ma Teodora, supposed to be related to a freed slave, Teodora Ginés of Santiago de Cuba, who was famous for her compositions. The piece is said to be similar to 16th-, 17th- and 18th-century Spanish popular songs, Cuban music has its principal roots in Spain and West Africa, but over time has been influenced by diverse genres from different countries. Important among these are France, and the United States, Cuban music has been immensely influential in other countries. The African beliefs and practices certainly influenced Cubas music, polyrhythmic percussion is an inherent part of African music, as melody is part of European music
8.
Music of Dominica
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The music of Dominica includes a variety of genres including all the popular genres of the world. Popular music is widespread, with a number of native Dominican performers gaining national fame in imported genres such as calypso, reggae, soca, kompa, zouk and rock and roll. Dominicas own popular music industry has created a form called bouyon, groups include WCK, Native musicians in various forms, such as reggae, kadans (Ophelia Marie, and calypso, have also become stars at home and abroad. There is also Cadence-lypso, the Dominica kadans, which has set the stage for some of the regions most significant musical developments such as zouk, bouyon, like the other Francophone musics of the Lesser Antilles, Dominican folk music is a hybrid of African and European elements. The quadrille is an important symbol of French Antillean culture, and is, on Dominica, in addition, Dominicas folk tradition includes folk songs called bélé, traditional storytelling called kont, masquerade, childrens and work songs, and Carnival music. This perception changed in the mid- to late 20th century, when Afro-Dominican culture came to be celebrated through the work of promoters like Cissie Caudeiron, Dominicas terrain is rugged, which has fostered distinct regional traditions. The northern, eastern, southern, western and central parts of the island are music areas, the villages of Wesley and Marigot are also unique in their preservation of English language and music rather than the more French-based styles of the rest of the island. Dominican folk music is a tradition, learned informally through watching others perform. As of 1987, most performers of music were either over 50 years old or under 35. Characteristics of Dominican music include the West African use of call and response singing, clapping as a part of rhythm and lyrical, dance. Lyrics are almost all in Dominican Creole French, and are sung by women. Drums, generically known as lapo kabwit, are the most prominent part of Dominicas instrumental tradition, Dominican folk music includes, most influentially, the French Antillean quadrille tradition, the jing ping style of dance music, as well as bélé and heel-and-toe polka. Traditional Carnival music includes chanté mas and lapo kabwit, folk music on Dominica has historically been a part of everyday life, including work songs, religious music and secular, recreational music. The quadrille is one of the most important dance of the Dominican folk tradition, the bidjin, mereng, sotis, polka pil, vals o vyenn and mazouk are particularly widespread. All bélé are accompanied by a drum, the tanbou bélé, along with the tingting. Bélés start with a lead vocalist, who is followed by the chorus, then a drummer. Traditional dances revolve around stylized courtship between a male and female dancer, known as the kavalyé and danm respectively, the bélé song-dances include the bélé soté, bélé priòrité, bélé djouba, bélé contredanse, bélé rickety and bélé pitjé. The quadrille is a form that is an important symbol of French Antillean culture, not just in Dominica
9.
Music of Guadeloupe
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Zouks popularity was particularly intense in France, where the genre became an important symbol of identity for Guadeloupe and Martinique. Zouks origins are in the music of Guadeloupe and Martinique, especially Guadeloupan gwo ka and Martinican chouval bwa. Carnival is an important festival in Guadeloupe and Martinique. Carnival in both islands declined following World War II, bouncing back with new formats and new traditions only in the 1980s. Both islands feature participatory, call-and-response style songs during their Carnival celebrations, biguine vidé is an up tempo version of the biguine rhythm, combining other carnival elements. It is participatory music, with the singing a verse. It allows one to grab an improvised percussion instrument and join in, traditionally, Carnival includes dances of African origin, including laghia, haut-taille, grage, calinda and bel-air. Traditional instruments include the chacha, tibwa, maké, boula, tanbou chan, aside from the biguine vidé bands, Vaval includes song and costume contests, masquerading and zouk parties. Gwo ka is a family of drums used to create a form of folk music from Guadeloupe. There are seven rhythms in gwo ka, and multiple variations on each. Gwo ka singing is usually guttural, nasal and rough, though it can also be bright and smooth, rural Guadeloupans still use gwo ka drums in communal experiences called lewozes, this is the most traditional manifestation of gwo ka in modern Guadeloupe. Gwo ka is also played at Carnival and other celebrations, a modernized and popularized form of gwo ka is well-known on the islands, it is known as gwo ka moderne. Guadeloupean balakadri persisted into the 20th century and, despite disruption after World War II, the Guadeloupean-administered island of Marie-Galante has also had a vital and well-documented balakadri tradition. As in Martinique, kwadril dances are in sets consisting of proper quadrilles, plus creolized versions of 19th-century couple dances, biguines, mazouks and valses Créoles. The world-famous zouk band Kassav remains easily the most famous performers from the island and these Haitians drew upon previous success from mini-jazz artists like Les Gentlemen, Les Leopards, and Les Vikings de Guadeloupe. Later in the decade and into the 1980s, the French Antilles became home to a style of music called cadence-lypso. Drawing on these influences, the supergroup Kassav invented zouk and popularized it with hit songs like Zouk-La-Se Sel Medikaman Nou Ni, Kassav formed from Paris in 1978. However, all these small jazz or bands had their guitars with sophisticated styles, the 1970s were dominated by mini-jazz, which still used a variant of the méringue style
10.
Music of Jamaica
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The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, ska jazz, reggae fusion and related styles. Jamaicas music culture is a fusion of elements from neighboring Caribbean islands such as Trinidad, Reggae is especially popular through the international fame of Bob Marley. Jamaican musics influence on music styles in other countries includes the practice of toasting, British genres such as Lovers rock, jungle music and grime are also influenced by Jamaican music. Mento is a style of Jamaican music that predates and has greatly influenced ska, mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box—a large mbira in the shape of a box that can be sat on while played. The rhumba box carries the bass part of the music, lord Flea and Count Lasher are two of the more successful mento artists. Well-known mento songs include Day-O, Jamaica Farewell and Linstead Market, mento is often confused with calypso, a musical form from Trinidad and Tobago. As in many Anglo-Caribbean Caribbean islands, the music of Trinidad & Tobago has become part of the culture of Jamaica. Jamaicas own local music mento is often confused with calypso music, although the two share many similarities, they are separate and distinct musical forms. During the mid-20th century, mento was conflated with calypso, and mento was frequently referred to as calypso, kalypso and mento calypso, mento singers frequently used calypso songs and techniques. As in calypso, mento uses topical lyrics with a slant, commenting on poverty. The Trinidadian calypso and soca music are popular in Jamaica, popular calypso/soca artists from Jamaica include Byron Lee, Fab 5, and Lovindeer. Harry Belafonte introduced American audiences to calypso music, and Belafonte was dubbed the King of Calypso, from early in the 20th century, Jamaica produced many notable jazz musicians. In this development the enlightened policy of the Alpha Boys School in Kingston, also significant was the brass band tradition of the island, strengthened by opportunities for musical work and training in military contexts. However, limited scope for making a career playing jazz in Jamaica resulted in local jazz musicians leaving the island to settle in London or in the United States. Also internationally successful were trumpeters Dizzy Reece, Leslie Jiver Hutchinson and Leslie Thompson, bassist Coleridge Goode, guitarist Ernest Ranglin, Reece and Alexander worked in the US. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm, the first ever ska recording was made by Count Ossie, a Nyabhingi drummer from the rasta community. It is characterized by a bass line accented with rhythms on the upbeat. In the early 1960s, ska was the dominant music genre of Jamaica and was popular with British mods, later it became popular with many skinheads
11.
Music of Louisiana
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The music of Louisiana can be divided into three general regions, rural south Louisiana, home to Creole Zydeco and Old French, New Orleans, and north Louisiana. The region in and around Greater New Orleans has a musical heritage tied to Dixieland jazz, blues. The music of the portion of the state starting at Baton Rouge. Rural south Louisianas music also very significant input from non-Creoles. Four main musical genres are indigenous to this area — Creole music, swamp pop and these historically-rooted genres, with unique rhythms and personalities, have been transformed with modern sounds and instruments. The southwestern and south central Louisiana areas herald many artists and songs that have international hits, won Grammy awards. In the late 19th century German immigrants spreading outward from central and eastern Texas, Creoles at the time sang a rhythmic type of song called juré. When accordion, fiddle and the iron were added later, the music evolved into French music or form la la. La la was primarily rural, played at house dances also known as la las, in 1901, oil was discovered at Jennings and immigration boomed. Despite the law, many Creoles and Cajuns still spoke French at home, the term Creole music is used to describe both the early folk or roots music traditions of French and Metis rural Creoles of South Louisiana and the later more contemporary genre called Zydeco. It was often simply called French music or La La and it was sung in French patois by Creoles. This early American roots music evolved in the 1930s into a richer sound accompanied by more instruments, Creole pioneer Amede Ardoin is said to be the first Creole to record this indigenous music. He has also credited for greatly influencing the foundation of Cajun music. Melodies from pioneers like Ardoin provided a basis for works by composers Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Moses Hogan, Zydeco comes from French les haricots, meaning snap or green beans as in les haricots sont pas salés. This fusion was birthed in the Creole lala, jazz and blues halls of Frenchtown, Houston, Texas which were frequented by Creole immigrants from West Louisiana and East Texas. Cajun music is rooted in the music of the preexisting Creoles, in earlier years of the late 18th century the fiddle was the predominant instrument and the music tended to sound more like early country music. Cajun music is typically a waltz or two step, unlike the folk music of Quebec, it is not associated with the Celtic tradition. In the early 1950s, zydeco evolved from the music of the Creoles in southwest, along with the accordion, the second main instrument in a zydeco group is a corrugated metal washboard, called a Zydeco Rubboard or frottoir
12.
Music of Martinique
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Main article, Music of Martinique and Guadeloupe The music of Martinique has a heritage which is intertwined with that of its sister island, Guadeloupe. Despite their small size, the islands have created a popular music industry. Zouks popularity was particularly intense in France, where the genre became an important symbol of identity for Martinique, Zouks origins are in the folk music of Martinique and Guadeloupe, especially Martinican chouval bwa, and Guadeloupan gwo ka. Theres also notable influence of the pan-Caribbean calypso tradition and Haitian kompa, carnival is a very important festival, known as Vaval on Martinique. Music plays a role, with Martinican big bands marching across the island. Vaval declined following World War II, bouncing back with new band formats, like Guadeloupe, Martinique features participatory, call-and-response style songs during its Vaval celebrations. In the early 20th century on Martinique, Creole bands travelled on trucks or small carts during Vaval and these large bands, known as groups à pied, are each identified with a neighborhood. Biguine vidé is an up tempo version of the biguine rhythm and it participatory music, with the bandleader singing a verse and the audience responding. Modern instrumentation includes a variety of improvised drums made from containers of all kinds, plastic plumbing, bells, tanbou débonda, bélé chacha, tibwa, aside from the biguine vidé bands, Vaval includes song and costume contests, masquerading and zouk parties. The bel air is a legacy of the music tradition. The bélé itself is a huge tambour drum that players ride as though it was a horse and it is characterized, in its rhythm, by the tibwa played on a length of bamboo mounted on a stand to the tambour bélé, and is often accompanied by a chacha. The tibwa rhythm plays a pattern and the drum comes to mark the highlights. It is organized in a way, the first entry of the singer. Then the Bwatè sets the pace, followed by bélé drum, finally, the dancers take the stage. A dialogue is created between the dancers and the tanbouyè, the answer play opposite the singer, the audience can also participate. As a family, together singers, dancers, musicians and audiences are lured by its mesmerizing rhythms, edmond Mondesir is a popular bélé musician from Martinique. Chouval bwa is a kind of Martinican traditional music, featuring percussion, bamboo flute, accordion, the music originated among rural Martinicans, as a form of celebratory holiday music played to accompany a dance called the manege. In French Caribbean culture, especially of the Lesser Antilles, the kwadril is a Creole term referring to a folk dance derived from the quadrille
13.
Music of Puerto Rico
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The music of Puerto Rico has evolved as a heterogeneous and dynamic product of diverse cultural resources. Puerto Rican music culture today comprises a wide and rich variety of genres and their music, from salsa to the boleros of Rafael Hernández, cannot be separated from music culture of Puerto Rico itself. Nevertheless, this entry will emphasize music culture as it has flourished on the island, Music culture in Puerto Rico during the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries is poorly documented. Certainly it included Spanish church music, military music, and diverse genres of dance music cultivated by the jíbaros and enslaved Africans. While these later never constituted more than 11% of the islands population, the African people of the island used drums made of carved harwood covered with an untreated rawhide on one side, commonly made from goatskin. Jibaros are small farmers of primarily Hispanic descent—constituted the overwhelming majority of the Puerto Rican population until the mid-twentieth century and they are traditionally recognized as romantic icons of land cultivation, hard work and self-sufficiency, hospitality, and love of song and dance. Their instruments were relatives of the Spanish vihuela, especially the cuatro—which evolved from four single strings to five pairs—and the lesser known tiple, a typical jíbaro group nowadays might feature a cuatro, guitar, and percussion instrument such as the güiro scraper and/or bongo. Lyrics to jíbaro music are generally in the form, consisting of ten octosyllabic lines in the rhyme scheme abba. Décima form derives from 16th-century Spain, although it has largely died out in that country, it took root in various places in Latin America—especially Cuba and Puerto Rico—where it is sung in diverse styles. In between the décimas, lively improvisations can be played on the cuatro and this music form is also known as Tipica as well as Tropica. The décimas are sung to stock melodies, with standardized cuatro accompaniment patterns, about twenty such song-types are in common use. These are grouped into two categories, viz. seis and aguinaldo. Traditionally, the seis could accompany dancing, but this tradition has died out except in tourist shows. The aguinaldo is most characteristically sung during the Christmas season, when groups of revelers go from house to house, singing jíbaro songs and partying. The aguinaldo texts are not about Christmas, and also unlike Anglo-American Christmas carols. In general, Christmas season is a time when traditional music—both seis and aguinaldo—is most likely to be heard, fortunately, many groups of Puerto Ricans are dedicated to preserving traditional music by continued practice. Jíbaro music came to be marketed on commercial recordings in the twentieth century, however, jíbaros themselves were becoming an endangered species, as agribusiness and urbanization have drastically reduced the numbers of small farmers on the island. Many jíbaro songs dealt accordingly with the vicissitudes of migration to New York, historical references indicate that by the decades around 1800 plantation slaves were cultivating a music and dance genre called bomba
14.
Music of Saint Kitts and Nevis
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The music of Saint Kitts and Nevis is known for a number of musical celebrations including Carnival. The last week in June features the St Kitts Music Festival, in addition, there are other festivals on the island of Saint Kitts. These celebrations typically feature parades, street dances and salsa, jazz, soca, calypso, the most well-known kind of traditional music is probably seasonal Christmas songs, though there also chanteys and other songs. Music is also a part of the Tea Meetings which are common on the island, Carnival in Saint Kitts and Nevis features music quite prominently. Big Drum and string bands accompany folk performers, other instruments include shack-shack, baha, triangle, fife, guitar and quarto. Iron bands were introduced to Saint Kitts and Nevis Carnival in the 1940s, the following decade saw the introduction a Trinidadian style called steelpan, brought by Lloyd Matheson, C. B. E. The first steelpan band was Roy Martins Wilberforce Steel Pan, other bands included the Eagle Squadron, Boomerang, Casablanca, Boston Tigers and The Invaders. Modern Carnival in Saint Kitts and Nevis did not begin until the late 1950s, in the 1960s, brass bands dominated first Carnival, then much of popular music. Calypso is a style of music from Trinidad and Tobago, consisting of highly lyrical songs that frequently makes topical comments on the ruling classes, Calypso music originated in West Africa, and was introduced in the Caribbean during the slave trade by slaves who lived on the sugar plantations. During slavery, calypso was used for commentary against the oppression and this form was called Caiso meaning the town cry, while the singer/composer was called the Caisonian. This singing was then nicknamed calypso by the European slave masters, the caisonians were then pressured by their masters to sing songs to entertain them in return for certain privileges and an ease of tasks, and for money during the post-emancipation period. Calypso was subsequently commercialized in Trinidad, where it was mainly for entertainment in shows called calypso tents during the Trinidad carnival celebrations. From Trinidad, calypso spread across the Caribbean, and became a part of Kittitian and Nevisian music with the introduction of formal calypso competitions in the 1950s. Prominent early calypsonians from this period included Mighty Kush, Lord Mike, Elmo Osborne, Lord Harmony, King Monow, by the 1980s, calypso had begun to peak in popularity on Saint Kitts and Nevis, while the two dominant performers were the rivals Starshield and Ellie Matt. Culture of St. Kitts and Nevis SKNVibes, St. Kitts - Nevis Carnival History. St. Kitts - Nevis Carnival Calypso Music, Caribbean Voyage, Nevis & St Kitts. Caribbean Islands Handbook with the Bahamas
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Music of Saint Lucia
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The banjo and cuatro are iconic Lucian folk instruments, especially a four-stringed banjo called the bwa poye. Celebratory songs called jwé show lyricism, and rhythmic complexity, the most important of the Afro-Lucian Creole folk dances is the kwadril. Music is an part of Lucian folk holidays and celebrations. There is little Western classical music on Saint Lucia, and the popular music industry is only nascent. There are few recording opportunities, though live music and radio remain a part of Lucian culture. Popular music from abroad, especially Trinidadian styles like calypso and soca, is widespread, Music education has long been a part of Lucian public education in the primary school age groups. More recently, it has introduced to older students, many of whom now participate in String Orchestras, wind ensembles, steelpan bands. There is also a government assisted non-profit music school, the Saint Lucia School of Music. The Ministry of Education sponsors a variety of festivals and other special events, the island is also home to the prestigious Saint Lucia Jazz Festival and the Creole celebration Jounen Kwéyòl. Saint Lucia, is an island in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean, St. Lucional flower is the rose A typical Saint Lucian folk band is based around the fiddle, cuatro, banjo, guitar and chak-chak. The banjo and cuatro are regarded as important in Saint Lucian culture, especially the small, four-stringed bwa poye. Saint Lucian dances include moulala, faci and comette, however and it is a highly stylized and formalized dance that derives from the European quadrille. Jwé is an informal form of Lucian folk music, and is performed at dances, wakes and other social events, performers improvise comedic. Music also plays a role in the La Rose and La Marguerite tradition of two rival societies that compete in celebration and form a part of Lucian culture. Jwé is a form of rural Lucian folk music associated with parties, wakes, débòt dances. Jwé includes both songs for men and women, both of which can be singers, though most Lucian folk instrumentalists are male, a jwé performance is considered good if the audience participates enthusiastically by clapping, responding to the leader and singing and dancing. Musical elements of jwé include gém, listwa, jwé chanté and these forms are united by their use of the Creole language, their use of call-and-response singing between a leader and a chorus, with the exception of listwa, and the use of improvisation. Sung jwé, jwé chanté or chanté kont, is part of the funeral wake tradition
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Music of Trinidad and Tobago
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The art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte. There are also local communities which practise and experiment with classical and pop music. MusicTT was established in 2014 to facilitate the development and export activity of the music industry in Trinidad. The Cedula of Population of 1783 laid the foundation and growth of the population of Trinidad, the islands Spanish possessors contributed little towards advancements, with El Dorado the focus, Trinidads geographical location made it the center of that focus. Following the Cedula, French planters from the French Antilles of Martinique, Grenada, Guadeloupe and this exodus was encouraged due to the French Revolution. The Spanish also gave incentives to lure settlers to the island, including exemption from taxes for 10 years. These new immigrants established local communities of Blanchisseuse, Champs Fleurs, Paramin, Cascade, Carenage, Trinidads population jumped from less than 1,400 in 1777, to over 15,000 by the end of 1789. In 1797, Trinidad became a British crown colony, with a French-speaking population, Carnival had arrived with the French. Official and elite unease over carnival revelry grew during the few decades. This injunction came after a disturbance during the 1881 Carnival. These canboulay processions were popular, and often incorporated kalenda, to make sure that the point got across, stick-fighting itself was banned in 1884. An ingenious substitute for the drums and sticks, called tamboo bamboo, was introduced in the 1890s, tamboo-bamboo bands consist of three different instruments, boom, foulé, and cutter. The boom serves as the instrument, is usually about five feet long. The foulé, an instrument, consists of two pieces of bamboo, each about a foot long, and is played by striking these pieces end to end. The cutter, the instrument in the ensemble, is made from a thinner piece of bamboo and is struck with a stick. These three types of instruments combined to beat out rhythms that accompanied the chantwells and were a staple of carnival celebrations for many years and they were gradually rendered obsolete by the steel band. The 1930s saw contests between tents become a part of Carnival, and in 1939, Growling Tiger was crowned the first calypso monarch of Trinidad. Carnival festivities split into two kinds of venues during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, occupying both the street and more performance-oriented calypso tents, both of these spaces, however, were the preserve of the lower class and of Afro-Creoles
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Music of the Virgin Islands
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Though the United States Virgin Islands and British Virgin Islands are politically separate, they maintain close cultural ties. From its neighbors, the Virgin Islands has imported various pan-Caribbean genres of music, including calypso from Trinidad, the major indigenous form of music is the scratch band, which use improvised instruments like gourds and washboards to make a kind of music called Quelbe. A Virgin Island folk song called cariso is also popular, as well as St. Thomas bamboula, the quadrille is the traditional folk dance of the islands, and include varieties like St. Croixs Imperial Quadrille and St. Thomas Flat German Quadrille. The Heritage Dancers are a dance troupe that perform traditional folk dances from the Virgin Islands. Virgin Islander culture is syncretic, based primarily on African, European, though the Danish controlled the present-day U. S. The Dutch, the French and the Danish also contributed elements to the culture, as have immigrants from the Arab world, India. The single largest influence on modern Virgin Islander culture, however and these African slaves brought with them traditions from across a wide swathe of Africa, including what is now Nigeria, Senegal, both Congos, Gambia and Ghana. Virgin Islander folk music has declined since the century, though some traditions, such as scratch bands. These changes local traditions and younger generations from becoming involved in music, because popular styles came to be viewed as having more prestige, class. String instruments were common, including the banjo, ukulele or a six-string guitar. The ass pipe, made out of a car exhaust tube, often provided the bass, since about the 1980s, the instrumentation for scratch bands became more rigid. The alto saxophone became the most common instrument, replaced sometimes by a silver flute. Conga drums, squash, electric guitar or bass guitar, banjo or ukulele, keyboard and additional saxophones or other melodic instruments are more rarely found in modern bands. The music of bands are a type of folk music that dates back to the days of slavery. The slaves on the islands used found objects to fashion instruments, lyrics traditionally function as oral history, spreading news and gossip. Modern scratch bands play a range of dances, including calypsos, boleros, quadrilles, international pop songs, merengues, mazurkas, waltzes, jigs. They perform at church services, private parties, public festivals, local dances and fairs, christenings and weddings, and also perform for tourists. The scratch band tradition remains most vibrant on St. Croix, where the bands Bully & the Kafooners, Stanley & the Ten Sleepless Knights, and Blinky & the Roadmasters are well known
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Hispaniola
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Hispaniola is the 22nd-largest island in the world, located in the Caribbean island group, the Greater Antilles. It is the second largest island in the Caribbean after Cuba, two sovereign nations share the 76, 192-square-kilometre island. The only other shared island in the Caribbean is Saint Martin, Hispaniola is the site of the first permanent European settlement in the Americas, founded by Christopher Columbus on his voyages in 1492 and 1493. The island was called by various names by its native people, fernández de Oviedo and de las Casas both recorded that the island was called Haiti by the Taíno. DAnghiera added another name, Quizqueia, but later shows that the word does not seem to derive from the original Arawak Taíno language. When Columbus took possession of the island in 1492, he named it Insula Hispana, meaning the Spanish Island in Latin and La Isla Española, meaning the Spanish Island, in Spanish. De las Casas shortened the name to Española, and when d‘Anghiera detailed his account of the island in Latin, he rendered its name as Hispaniola. Due to Taíno, Spanish and French influences on the island, historically the whole island was referred to as Haiti, Hayti, Santo Domingo, St. Domingue. The name Haïti was adopted by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines in 1804, as the name of independent Saint-Domingue. It was also adopted as the name of independent Santo Domingo, as the Republic of Spanish Haiti. Christopher Columbus inadvertently landed on the island during his first voyage across the Atlantic in 1492, where his flagship, a contingent of men were left at an outpost christened La Navidad, on the north coast of present-day Haiti. The island was inhabited by the Taíno, one of the indigenous Arawak peoples, the Taino were at first tolerant of Columbus and his crew, and helped him to construct La Navidad on what is now Môle-Saint-Nicolas, Haiti, in December 1492. European colonization of the began in earnest the following year. In 1496 the town of Nueva Isabela was founded, after being destroyed by a hurricane, it was rebuilt on the opposite side of the Ozama River and called Santo Domingo. It is the oldest permanent European settlement in the Americas, several 16th century writers estimated the 1492 population of Hispaniola at over 1 million people. Twentieth-century estimates of the range from 60,000 to 8,000,000. Harsh enslavement by Spanish colonists, redirection of food supplies and labor towards the colonists, had a impact on both mortality and fertility over the first quarter century. Colonial administrators and Dominican and Hyeronimite priests observed that the search for gold, demographic data from two provinces in 1514 shows a low birth rate consistent with a 3. 5% annual population decline
19.
Taino
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The Taíno people were among the indigenous people of the Caribbean and Florida. At the time of European contact in the late 15th century, they were the inhabitants of most of Cuba, Trinidad, Jamaica, Hispaniola. In the Greater Antilles, the northern Lesser Antilles, and the Bahamas, the ancestors of the Taíno entered the Caribbean from South America and their culture is closely linked to that of Mesoamericans. Taíno groups were in conflict with the Caribs of the southern Lesser Antilles, at the time of Columbus arrival in 1492, there were five Taíno chiefdoms and territories on Hispaniola, each led by a principal Cacique, to whom tribute was paid. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno name for the island of Hispaniola, Cuba, the largest island of the Antilles, was originally divided into 29 chiefdoms. Most of the settlements later became the site of Spanish colonial cities retaining the original Taíno names, including Havana, Batabanó, Camagüey, Baracoa. The name Cuba comes from the Taíno language, although the meaning of the name is unclear. It can be translated as where fertile land is abundant, or a great place, Puerto Rico also was divided into chiefdoms. As the hereditary chief of Taíno nation, the cacique received significant tribute. At the time of the Spanish conquest, the largest Taíno population centers may have had more than 3,000 people each. The Taíno were historically enemies of the neighboring Carib nations, a different group which also had its origins in South America, the relationship between the rival groups has been the subject of many studies. For much of the 15th century, the Taíno tribe was being driven to the northeast in the Caribbean because of raids by the Carib, women were taken as captives, resulting in many Carib women speaking Taíno. The Spaniards who arrived in the Bahamas, Cuba, and Hispaniola in 1492, instead, they raped Taíno women, resulting in mestizo children. The rape of Taíno women in Hispaniola by the Spanish was also common, scholars suggest there was also substantial mestizaje in Cuba, and several Indian pueblos survived into the 19th century. The Taíno became nearly extinct as a culture following settlement by Spanish colonists, the first recorded smallpox outbreak in Hispaniola was in either December 1518 or January 1519. This smallpox epidemic killed almost 90% of the Native Americans who had not already perished, warfare and harsh enslavement by the colonists also caused many deaths. By 1548, the Taíno population had declined to fewer than 500, starting in about 1840, there have been attempts to create a quasi-indigenous Taíno identity in rural areas of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico. This trend accelerated among the Puerto Rican community in the mainland United States in the 1960s
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Haiti
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Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti and formerly called Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican Republic, the region was originally inhabited by the indigenous Taíno people. Spain discovered the island on 5 December 1492 during the first voyage of Christopher Columbus across the Atlantic, when Columbus initially landed in Haiti, he had thought he had found India or Asia. On Christmas Day 1492, Columbus flagship the Santa Maria ran aground north of what is now Limonade, the island was named La Española and claimed by Spain, which ruled until the early 17th century. Competing claims and settlements by the French led to the portion of the island being ceded to France. The development of plantations, worked by slaves brought from Africa. Upon his death in a prison in France, he was succeeded by his lieutenant, Jean-Jacques Dessalines, the Haitian Revolution lasted just over a dozen years, and apart from Alexandre Pétion, the first President of the Republic, all the first leaders of government were former slaves. The Citadelle Laferrière is the largest fortress in the Americas, Henri Christophe – former slave and first king of Haiti, Henri I – built it to withstand a possible foreign attack. It has the lowest Human Development Index in the Americas, most recently, in February 2004, a coup détat originating in the north of the country forced the resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. A provisional government took control with security provided by the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti, the name Haïti comes from the indigenous Taíno language which was the native name given to the entire island of Hispaniola to mean, land of high mountains. The h is silent in French and the ï in Haïti, is a mark used to show that the second vowel is pronounced separately. In English, this rule for the pronunciation is often disregarded, the name Haïti was restored by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, as a tribute to the Amerindian predecessors. The Taíno name for the island was Haiti. The people had migrated over centuries into the Caribbean islands from South America, genetic studies show they were related to the Yanomami of the Amazon Basin. They also originated in Central and South America, after migrating to Caribbean islands, in the 15th century, the Taíno were pushed into the northeast Caribbean islands by the Caribs. In the Taíno societies of the Caribbean islands, the largest unit of organization was led by a cacique, or chief. The caciquedoms were tributary kingdoms, with payment consisting of harvests, Taíno cultural artifacts include cave paintings in several locations in the country. These have become symbols of Haiti and tourist attractions
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Haitian Vodou
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Haitian Vodou is a syncretic religion practiced chiefly in Haiti and the Haitian diaspora. Practitioners are called vodouists or servants of the spirits, Vodouists believe in a distant and unknowable Supreme Creator, Bondye. According to Vodouists, Bondye does not intercede in human affairs, religious practices of contemporary Vodou are descended from, and closely related to, West African Vodun as practiced by the Fon and Ewe. In Haiti, whereas a small number of Roman Catholics combine their faith with aspects of Vodou. Vodou is a Haitian Creole word that referred to only a small subset of Haitian rituals. Two of the major speaking populations of Ayizo are the Ewe and these two peoples composed a sizable number of the early enslaved population in St Dominique. These terms also refer to the religion as a whole, outside of Haiti, the term Vodou refers to the entirety of traditional Haitian religious practice. Originally written as vodun, it is first recorded in Doctrina Christiana, in the following centuries, Vodou was eventually taken up by non-Haitians as a generic descriptive term for traditional Haitian religion. There are many used orthographies for this word, today, the spelling Vodou is the most commonly accepted orthography in English. The spelling voodoo, once common, is now generally avoided by Haitian practitioners and scholars when referring to the Haitian religion. Vodou is popularly described as not simply a religion, but rather an experience that ties body, the concept of tying that exists in Haitian religious culture is derived from the Congolese tradition of kanga, the practice of tying ones soul to something tangible. This tying of soul is evident in many Haitian Vodou practices that are still exercised today, Vodouisants believe in a Supreme God called Bondye, from the French bon good + Dieu God. When it came in contact with Roman Catholicism, the Supreme Creator was associated with the Christian God, since Bondye is considered unreachable, Vodouisants aim their prayers to lesser entities, the spirits known as loa, or mistè. The most notable loa include Papa Legba, Erzulie Freda, Simbi, Kouzin Zaka and these loa can be divided into 21 nations, which include the Petro, Rada, Congo, and Nago. Each of the loa is associated with a particular Roman Catholic saint, for example, Legba is associated with St. Anthony the Hermit, and Damballa is associated with St. Patrick. The loa also fall into groups who share a surname, such as Ogou, Ezili. For instance, Ezili is a family, Ezili Danto and Ezili Freda are two individual spirits in that family, vodous moral code focuses on the vices of dishonor and greed. There is also a notion of relative propriety—and what is appropriate to someone with Dambala Wedo as their head may be different from someone with Ogou Feray as their head, for example, one spirit is very cool and the other is very hot
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