Music of Dominica
Music of Dominica | ||
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The music of
There is also "
Like the other
music.Until the late 1950s, the Afro-Dominican culture of most of the island was repressed by the colonial government and the influence of the Roman Catholic Church, both of which taught that African-derived music was evil, demonic and uncultured.[1] 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.[2]
Characteristics
Dominica's terrain is rugged, which has fostered distinct regional traditions. The northern, eastern, southern, western and central parts of the island are
Dominican folk music is an oral tradition, learned informally through watching others perform. As of 1987, most performers of traditional music were either over 50 years old or under 35, which indicates an ongoing revival of previously declining traditions.[1] Music is evaluated based on both characteristics of the music, such as complex syncopated rhythms, as well as social factors, such as the ability of the performers to improvise and respond to their surroundings and to keep the audience excited and participating in the music.[2]
Characteristics of Dominican music include the West African use of call and response singing, clapping as a major part of rhythm and lyrical, dance and rhythmic improvisation. Lyrics are almost all in Dominican Creole French, and are traditionally sung by women (chantwèl), while the instrumental traditions are predominantly practiced by men. Drums, generically known as lapo kabwit, are the most prominent part of Dominica's instrumental tradition.[2]
Folk music
Dominican folk music includes, most influentially, the French Antillean
The quadrille is one of the most important dance of the Dominican folk tradition, which also includes the lancer and distinctive forms of several dances, many of them derived from European styles. The bidjin (biguine), mereng (méringue), sotis (schottische), polka pil (pure polka), vals o vyenn (Viennese waltz) and mazouk (mazurka) are particularly widespread.[2]
Bélé
Bélé are folk songs of West African origin, traditionally performed recreationally in the evening during the
All bélé are accompanied by an eponymous drum, the
Quadrille
The quadrille is a dance form that is an important symbol of French Antillean culture, not just in Dominica, but also Martinique, Guadeloupe and other Francophone islands. Dominican quadrilles are traditionally performed by four sets of couples in subscription picnics or dances, and in private parties. However, the quadrille tradition now only survives at holidays and festivals.[2]
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.[2]
Accompaniment for the quadrille is provided by a four-instrument ensemble called a jing ping band.
Jing ping
Jing Ping is a kind of folk music originated on the
Jing ping bands are made up of a boumboum (
Chanté mas
The chanté mas (masquerade song) tradition is based around pre-calypso Carnival music performed in a responsorial style by partygoers. The Dominican Carnival masquerade lasted for two days of parading through the streets, with a singer dancing backwards in front of the drummer on a tanbou lélé. Chanté mas lyrics are traditionally based on gossip and scandal, and addressed the personal shortcomings of others.[2]
Other folk music
Dominica's folk musical heritage includes
The kont, or storytelling, folk tradition of Dominica was focused around entertainment for night-time festivals, funeral wakes and feasts and festivals. Modern kont is mostly performed during major festival competitions. Most kont storytellers work with local traditions, such as legends and history, and provide an ethical or moral message. A one line theme song, often based around a duet between two characters, recurs throughout most kont performances.[7]
Unlike most Dominican folk songs, children's songs and musical games are mostly in English. They were originally in the same Creole as the rest of the island, but have come to be primarily of English, Scottish, and Irish derivation. Children's musical traditions include ring games and circle dances, and music accompanied by thigh-slapping and circle dancing.[8]
Early popular music
Dominican
.By the beginning of the 1960s, calypso and Trinidadian
Of these early popular musicians, a few pioneering the use of native influences. The Gaylords’ hits, such as "Ti Mako", "Pray for the Blackman", "Lovely Dominica" and "Douvan Jo", were either English or the native Creole, (kwéyòl). By the end of the 1960s and beginning of the 1970s, American rock and roll, soul and funk had reached Dominica and left lasting influences. Funky rock-based bands like Voltage Four, Woodenstool and Every Mother's Child became popular.[9]
The first internationally known bands from Dominica were 1970s groups such as
Calypso
In the 1960s, calypso and
Calypso has been popular in Dominica since the 1950s; the first Calypso King was crowned in 1959. Popular calypso in Dominica has always been closely associated with steelpan music. The first wave of Dominican steelpan includes such bands as Esso, Shell and Regent, Vauxhall and Old Oak.
Cadence (kadans)/compas
In the 1970s, a wave of Haitian, mostly musicians, to Dominica and the French Antilles (Guadeloupe and Martinique) brought with them the kadans, a sophisticated form of music that quickly swept the island and helped unite all the former French colonies of the Caribbean by combining their cultural influences. This was followed by mini-jazz like Les Gentlemen, Les Leopards, Les Vikings de Guadeloupe and others.
Later in the decade and into the 1980s, the French Antilles became home to a style of cadence music called
Cadence-lypso
The most influential figure in the promotion of Cadence-lypso was the Dominican group Exile One (based on the island of Guadeloupe) that featured mostly the cadence rampa of Haiti and calypso music from the English-speaking Caribbean.[10] It was pushed in the 1970s by groups from Dominica, and was the first style of Dominican music to find international acclaim.[11]
Dominica cadence music has evolved under the influence of Dominican and Caribbean/
Aside from Exile One, other bands included the
Cadence-lypso was influenced by nationalist movement that espoused
Gordon Henderson, Exile One's leader and founder, coined the name "Cadence-lypso" in his full band that used a full-
Exile One was the most promoted Creole band of the Caribbean. The first to sign a production contract with major label Barclay Records. The first to export kadans music to the four corners of the globe: Japan, the Indian Ocean, Africa, North America, Europe, The Cape Verde islands.
Recent popular music
During the 1980s, cadence-lypso’s popularity declined greatly. Some Dominican performers remained famous, such as
Zouk
The inspiration for Zouk's style of rhythmic music comes from the Haitian
Music authors
Zouk-love
Zouk Love is the French Antilles cadence or compas, characterized by a slow, soft and sexual rhythm. The lyrics of the songs often speak of love and sentimental problems.
The music kizomba from Angola and cabo-love from Cape Verde are also derivatives of this French Antillean compas style, which sounds basically the same, although there are notable differences once you become more familiar with these genres. A main exponent of this subgenre is Ophelia Marie of Dominica. Other Zouk Love artists come from the French West Indies, the Netherlands, and Africa.
Grammacks, Exile One, Ophelia Marie, and many Dominican bands played cadence-lypso (Dominica Kadans) that later influenced
Soca
The
during 1975 when his hit song “Endless Vibrations” was causing major musical waves on radio stations and at parties and clubs not just throughout his native T&T but also in far off metropolitan cities like New York, Toronto and London. Soca was originally spelled Sokah which stands for the “Soul of Calypso” with the “kah” part being taken from the first letter in the Sanskrit alphabet and representing the Power of movement as well as the East Indian rhythmic influence that helped to inspire the new soca beat. Shorty stated in a number of interviews that the idea for the new soca beat started with the rhythmic fusion of Calypso rhythms with East Indian rhythms that he used in his hit "Indrani" recorded in 1972. The soca beat was solidified as the popular new beat that most of the T&T Calypso musicians would start adopting by the time Shorty had recorded his big crossover hit “Endless Vibrations” in 1974.Shorty also recorded a mid-year album in 1975 called “Love In The Caribbean” that contains a number of crossover soca tracks before setting off on an album distribution and promotion tour. During his 1975 “Love In The Caribbean” album promotion and distribution tour Shorty pass thru the isle of Dominica on his way back to Trinidad and saw Dominica's top band Exile One perform at the Fort Young Hotel. Shorty was inspired to compose and record a Soca and Cadence-lypso fusion track called “E Pete” or “Ou Petit” which can be viewed as the first of its kind in that particular Soca style. Shorty sought and got help with the Creole lyrics he used in the chorus of his “E Pete” song by consulting with Dominica's 1969 Calypso King, Lord Tokyo, and two creole lyricists, Chris Seraphine and Pat Aaron while he was in Dominica. The song “E Pete” thus contains genuine Creole lyrics in the chorus like "Ou dee moin ou petit Shorty" (meaning "you told me you are small Shorty"), and is a combination of Soca, Calypso, Cadence-lypso and Creole.[17]
Shorty's 1974 Endless Vibrations and Soul of Calypso brought Soca to regional and international attention and fame and helped to solidify the rapidly growing Soca Movement led by Shorty.
Soca developed in the early 1970s and grew in popularity in the late 1970s. Soca's development as a musical genre included its early fusion of calypso with Indian musical instruments, particularly the
Bouyon
Bouyon is a fusion of
The best-known band in the genre was
Bouyon has diversified into multiple subgenres. These include bouyon soca, bouyon-muffin, reketeng, and bouyon gwada.
Bouyon soca
Bouyon soca, sometimes referred to as Jump up soca, is a fusion genre that typically blends old bouyon rhythms from the '90s and soca music. Bouyon soca is a term coined by non-Dominican producers and musicians, mainly from St Lucia, who embrace both Soca from Trinidad and Bouyon music from Dominica and so find it natural to produce blends of both music genres. Bouyon is a music genre that originated in Dominica that is distinguishable from its older "colleague" Soca.
In Dominica while there may have been the occasional fusions, bouyon has always maintained a very clear, recognizable and different style from soca. Outside of Dominica the Bouyon Soca fusion style is popular in islands like Antigua, Saint Lucia, Guadeloupe and Martinique and is a natural evolution from Zouk and Soca fusions that were popular there during the 1980s.
Alternative music
Religious music, influenced by American
Music institutions and festivals
The
The
References
- Cameron, Sarah (1996). Caribbean Islands Handbook with the Bahamas. Passport Books. ISBN 0-8442-4907-6.
- Guilbault, Jocelyne (1999). "Dominica". Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Vol. 2. Routledge. pp. 840–844. ISBN 0-8153-1865-0.
- "Bouyon Music". Music in Dominica. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
- "Dominica's Quadrilles". Division of Culture. Archived from the original on August 3, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
Notes
- ^ a b Philip, Daryl (1986). "Twenty Years of Traditional/Folk Dance in Dominica". Thesis for a certificate in dance education. Jamaica School of Dance.
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(help) cited in Guilbault, pp. 840–844. - ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Guilbault, pp. 840–844.
- ^ a b "Some Instruments Used In Traditional Music". Division of Culture. Archived from the original on June 14, 2007. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: > "YouTube:Dominican bèlè". YouTube. Retrieved September 10, 2005.
- ^ Division of Culture Archived 2007-06-14 at the Wayback Machine is the source for the term accordion band and confirms the primary instrumentation with Guilbault, pp. 840–844; Guilbault does not confirm the use of double bass or banjo.
- ^ Cardinal, José. "La Flûte de Bambou dans Quatres Îsles des Antilles (Martinique, Guadeloupe, Dominique et Sainte-Lucie)". Master's thesis. Université de Montréal.
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(help) cited in Guilbault, p. 842. - ^ Caudeiron, Maude "Cissie" (1988). "Music and Songs of Dominica". In Lennox Honychurch (ed.). Our Island Culture. Barbados: Letchworth Press. pp. 48–54. cited in Guilbault, pp. 840–844.
- ^ Stubbs, Norris (1973). Survey of the Folk Music of Dominica. Roseau: Dominica Arts Council, Hilton Services. and Okada, Yuki. JVC Smithsonian Folkways Video Anthology of Music and Dance of the Americas, 4 (1995). The Caribbean (Video). Montpelier, Vermont: Multicultural Media VTMV-228. both cited in Guilbault, pp. 840–844.
- ^ a b c "Contemporary Music In Dominica: 1950–2000". Division of Culture. Archived from the original on March 10, 2006. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
- ^ Jocelyne Guilbault (1993). Zouk: world music in the West Indies. University of Chicago Press. p. 91. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
Rabess(1983,22).
- ^ Jocelyne Guilbault (1993). Zouk: world music in the West Indies. University of Chicago Press. p. 93. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
Exile one and cadence-lypso.
- ISBN 9780226310428. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Martinican bèlè". YouTube. Retrieved September 10, 2005.
- ^ Guilbault, Jocelyn, Gage Averill, Édouard Benoit and Gregory Rabess, Zouk: World Music in the West Indies (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), cited in Manuel, p. 142.
- ^ Jocelyne Guilbault (1993). Zouk: world music in the West Indies. University of Chicago Press. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
Zouk.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: Norris Wilkins (2016-01-10), RAS SHORTY I : "Watch Out My Children" 1941 – 2000, retrieved 2018-11-23 [verification needed]
- ^ Guilbault, Jocelyne (1997). "The Politics of Labelling Popular Musics in English Caribbean". www.sibetrans.com. Retrieved 2023-01-22.[verification needed]
- ^ "Bouyon Music". Music in Dominica. Retrieved December 3, 2005.
- ^ Cameron, p. 658.
- ^ "Our Festivals and Events". Dominica Festivals. Archived from the original on November 27, 2005. Retrieved December 3, 2005.