Caribbean Music

Caribbean Music encompasses a diverse variety of musical styles and traditions from Caribbean countries. The styles range anywhere from traditional folk genres such as the Puerto Rican aguinaldo and Jamaican mento to more contemporary music such as salsa and reggae. Most music of this region combines features of music from Africa with features of music from the West. This combination began with the European colonization and slave trade but still continues into the present.

History

The history of Caribbean music begins with the Native Americans, the first inhabitants of the islands. Traditional tribal music which featured percussion instruments developed but perished along with most of the Native Americans in the 1600s. Subsequent Caribbean music emerged as a result of new relationships between African slaves and European settlers. The settler communities, as opposed to the plantation towns, attracted large numbers of very different people and harbored a very lively music culture.

The next key development came in the twentieth century with the advent of mass media, particularly phonograph records and radio broadcasts. This stimulated the creation of popular dance styles. During the mid-twentieth century, the immigration of Cubans to large cities played a major role in spreading the music of the region. New York City, in particular, emerged as a large center for Latin and West Indian popular music.

Distinctive Styles

Most Caribbean styles may be grouped into the categories of folk, classical, or commercially popular music. Folk styles were derived primarily from African music and tend to be dominated by percussion instruments as well as call and response vocals. Included in this category are the traditional Cuban rumba, the Puerto Rican bomba as well as music associated with Afro-Caribbean religions (such as Haitian, voodoo, and Cuban Santeria). A few styles, however, reflect a more European influence. The Puerto Rican jiharo music and Cuban punto are two key examples.

Local forms of classical music were created in the nineteenth century in Cuba and Puerto Rico as formally trained composers began to infiltrate the area. The most prominent styles in this category are the Cuban contradaza and the habon (a lighter and more rhythmic but also Cuban style).

The best known forms of Caribbean music are the modern, popular genres. These include the con (the most popular style of Cuban dance music); the chadracha, the listera (a romantic, languid style), and the mambo (an instrumental big band style). Since the mid-1960s, styles like salsa and merengue have become widely popular. The most internationally famous style of Caribbean music has clearly been reggae. This style emerged in the late 1960s in Jamaica as a reinterpretation of American R & B music. Singers such as Bob Marley have helped push this style into the international arena. Calypso (with it's origin in Trinidad and Tobago) continues to grow in popularity, and is the music generally asociated with the various carnivals in the Caribbean.

Ska

Ska is dance music, first and foremost. Ska was a Jamaican dance music that swept out of Jamaica in the early 1960s to shake the butts of working- and middle-class Jamaicans before going on, via the West Indian immigrant connection, to the UK, and then on to the world. In the UK, ska was also known as blue beat music. Rocksteady, and later, reggae sprang from the loins of ska in the late 1960s. Mid-1970s and 1980s/1990s revivals of this popular dance form have kept this music alive and fun through the present. The ska beat on drums and bass, rhythm guitar, lots of horns and maybe a Farfisa or Hammond organ -- that's the ska sound.

Ska was not recently invented by ska-influenced bands like No Doubt, the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Reel Big Fish or any other 90's band. Ska is a forty-year-old music form now in a fresh, vigorous 3rd Wave. Ska is rich in history, broad in scope and guaranteed to make you shake your groove thang.

For the musically inclined, here is a description of the rhythmic structure of ska: Musically, Ska is a fusion of Jamaican mento rhythm with R&B, with the drum coming in on the 2nd and 4th beats, and the guitar emphasizing the up of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th beats. The drum therefore is carrying the blues and swing beats of the American music, and the guitar expressing the mento sound.

Reggae

The roots of reggae music are based in Jamaica. This indigenous music grew from ska, which had elements of American R&B and Caribbean styles. It also drew from folk music, Pocomania church music, Jonkanoo fife and drum bands, fertility rituals, adaptations of quadrilles, plantation work songs, and a form called mento. Notable easrly reggae artists were Bob Marley, Bunny Wailer, Peter Tosh, Rita Marley Anderson, Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker. As the fast beat of ska mellowed through rocksteady, it gradually led to the creation of reggae.   The transition from rock steady to reggae was, like the transition from ska to rock steady, an impreceptible process which was both a response to and a reflection of the changing social conditions of the society.   

In 1981 Bob Marley died and roots reggae never really recovered from the loss of its figurehead, and in the true fashion of Jamaica's audiences looking for a change, dancehall reggae emerged. This computerised, DJ dominated style couldn't be more different from its predecessor with lewd lyrics replacing the righteousness and sound system competition seeming the strongest motive. In 1985, Under Mi Sleng Teng marked the complete break from reggae tradition, as it became the first record to be recorded without a bassline.

Calypso/Kaiso

There are several versions of the origin of the calypso which emerged as an identifiable genre towards the end of the nineteenth century. Calypso represents a mixture of several folk songs in the African tradition. In its original functions - to praise or deride, to comment and to relate - it is similar to a type of song that is universal.

The early kaiso was sung in French patois, in the minor mode. It was accompanied by the traditional African drum ensemble and chorus. Themes varied widely. However, satirical political and social commentary, and the male-female relationship were, and continue to be, extremely popular. Traditionally, calypso singers have exhibited highly personalized styles in dress, theme and presentation.

Since the turn of the century, the calypso has been sung in English. Great emphasis was placed on the ability to compose intricate lyrics with long, obscure words, and to improvise. The art of improvisation is still demonstrated in the ex tempo which is usually a competitive performance by two singers.

In Trinidad and Tobago, for example, the oldtimers like  Executor, Growler, Houdini,  and Spoiler all provided informative listening entertainment. Calypso of today is dance music. Thanks to the Mighty Sparrow, the Lord Kitchener, the Black Stalin, David Rudder to name a few, we still have traditional Calypsoes fused with dance hall music. In Barbados, you'll hear Bajans singing the lyrics of Red Plastic Bag, The Mighty Gabby, and Alison Hinds, to name a very few.

The musical accomplishment of the modern calypso has become more complex. This is provided by the brass band, so called because of its powerful trumpets and trombones. Other instruments in this ensemble include guitars, key-boards, synthesizers, the drum set and a wide range of percussion instruments. Additionally, some singers might include a single instrument such as the pan, the cuatro, the fiddle or a skin drum, among others. The performer is accompanied by a chorus that executes choreographed movements as they sing.

In the weeks preceding the annual carnival celebrations, a number of singers perform nightly in the calypso tent. Originally, a bamboo tent was specially erected. Today, any performance venue is used. Through the year singers appear in concerts and other shows.

Calypso is the music used to create the rhythms of Carnival in the Caribbean, Carnival in Rio, Labor Day in Brooklyn,The Caribbean American Family Day Festival in the Bronx New York, Caribana in Toronto, Miami Carnival, Boston Carnival, Atlanta Carnival, Caribbean Carnival Tallahassee and a host of other cities all over the world.

Soca Music

Socais the rhythmical fusion of Soul and Calypso. It's geographical origin is Trinidad and Tobago and its inspiration has always been those islands pre-Lenten carnival celebrations. The ever infectious Soca music has now evolved into the definitive indigenous musical form of the Eastern Caribbean. The music is part of the vibrant Caribbean culture and has now established itself as far afield as North America, and throughout Europe.

Ringbang is a fusion of all the music of the Caribbean with the focus is on the rhythm rather than the melody. Since it's creation in 1994, ringbang has grown in popularity in Barbados and throughout the Caribbean.

Rapso is quite recent, emerging about twenty-five years ago. However, it draws on the ancient African tradition of story-telling. Rapso is street poetry. Its main theme is the issues that affect the lives of ordinary people. Rapso may be unaccompanied by a simple ensemble or full orchestration.

Since both reggae from Jamaica and soca from Trinidad are very popular in Barbados, a fusion of the two was always likely. This fusion came in the form of ragga-soca - a rhythm that is faster than reggae but slower than up-tempo soca.

Chowtal

The chowtal songs are sung during the Phagwa or Holi festival, the Hindu spring festival that is celebrated with song, dance and the playful sprinkling of participants with colored liquids. These are Hindi songs, sung by a chorus and lead singer. They begin slowly and softly and increase in tempo, volume and pitch. The songs often celebrate the love shared by deities, Radha and Krishna, and Rama and Sita. They are accompanied by the dholak, jhals and sometimes, the harmonium.

Chutney

The Chutney is an up tempo, rhythmic song, accompanied but the dholak, the harmonium and the dhantal. Original chutney songs made reference to data and were offensive to religious leaders. Within recent times, the chutney has become exextremely popular and new compositions are being written. Some of these contain calypso and soca rhythms. There is also some extemporaneous composition and accompaniment (especially in the growing number of competitions) may be provided by bands which include Indian, western and African instruments.

Local Indian Songs

These songs may be Hindu or English sung to Indian rhythms. They are performed to the music of bands that include the tabla, the synthesizer, African drums and brass instruments among others. The songs are similar to the calypso in their tendency towards social commentary as a major theme.

Parang

Parang is a lively rhythmic Christmas song, sung in Spanish with some Spanish patois and Latin words. It's main theme is the annunciation - "Maria!" is perhaps the most frequent exclamation in parang. The music is accompanied by cuatro, guitar, the box bass and chac-chacs. The singers - paranderos - wear colorful clothing, originally in Spanish style.

Carribean World Music

This is experimental music that creatively fuses Caribbean with other ethnic rhythms.

Source: http://www.caribbeanlime.com; http://library.thinkquest.org/15413/styles/carribean.htm; http://www.djriyad.com