Music of Martinique

Music of Martinique
General topics
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Genres
Bélé Biguine Chouval bwa Hip hop Jump up Kadans Mini-jazz Quadrille Zouk
Nationalistic and patriotic songs
National anthem La Marseillaise
Regional music
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v t e

The music of Martinique has a heritage which is intertwined with that of its sister

.

Folk music

style songs during its Vaval celebrations.

In the early 20th century on Martinique, Creole bands travelled on trucks or small carts during Vaval, playing a music known as biguine vidé (or just videé). After the decline of Vaval in World War II, the tradition began anew in the 1980s, when large marching bands of fifty or more people became common, including a number of horn players, percussionists and dancers. These large bands, known as groups à pied, are each identified with a neighborhood.

Biguine vidé

Biguine vidé is an up-tempo version of the

Bélé

The bel air (or bélé) is a legacy of the

[5]

It is organized in a certain way, the first entry of the singer ( lavwa ) and choir ( lavwa Deye or "answer"). Then the "Bwatè" (player ti bwa) sets the pace, followed by bélé drum. Finally, the dancers take the stage. A dialogue is created between the dancers and the "tanbouyè" (drummer). 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. The bélé song-dances include, bélé dous, bélé pitjè, biguine bélé, bélé belya, and gran bélé

The bélé is the origin of several important Martiniquan popular styles, including

Edmond Mondesir is a popular bélé musician from Martinique.

Chouval bwa

Chouval bwa is a kind of Martinican traditional music, featuring

Quadrille

In

and valses Créoles.

Instrumentation consists of variable combinations of

tibwa

) and syak, a bamboo rasp one metre long, grooved on both top and bottom, held with one end on the belly and the other on a door or wall and scraped with both hands.

Popular music

Though Martinique and Guadeloupe are most frequently known only for the internationally renowned zouk style, the islands have also produced popular musicians in various updated styles of traditional biguine, chouval bwa and gwo ka. The world-famous zouk band

, and Pakatak.

Martinique is also the birthplace of the Gibson Brothers who achieved significant chart success worldwide, most notably with their single "Cuba".

Biguine

Biguine is a Martinican form of clarinet and trombone music which can be divided into two distinct types:

• bidgin bélè or drum biguine – originates in
  tibwa rhythm sticks, along with call and response
  , nasal vocals and improvised instrumental solos; has its roots in West African ritual dances, though ceremonial components do not survive in Haitian biguine.
• orchestrated biguine – originates in Saint-Pierre in the 18th century, highly influenced by French music though vocals are usually in creole.

Evolving out of string band music, biguine spread to mainland France in the 1920s. Early stars like Alexandre Stellio and Sam Castandet became popular. Its popularity abroad died relatively quickly, but it lasted as a major force in popular music on Martinique until Haitian compas took over in the 1950s and mini-jazz artists like Les Gentlemen and Les Vikings de Guadeloupe became popular in the late 1960s. In the later part of the 20th century, biguine musicians like clarinet virtuoso Michel Godzom helped revolutionize the genre.

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 (another word named for the genre compas), 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. 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 cadence music called

invented zouk and popularized it with hit songs like "Zouk-La-Se Sel Medikaman Nou Ni". Kassav' formed from Paris in 1978.

Mini-jazz

Mini-jazz was formed in the mid-60s characterized by the rock bands formula of two guitars, one bass, drum-conga-cowbell, some use an alto sax or a full horn section, others use a keyboard, accordion or lead guitar. 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. One of the mini-jazz groups, Tabou Combo, became the most popular ensemble of Haiti.^[7] From Haiti the mini-jazz formula replicated in the French Antilles in the 1970s.

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.^[8] It was pushed in the 1970s by groups from Dominica, and was the first style of Dominican music to find international acclaim.^[9]

Dominica cadence music has evolved under the influence of Dominican and Caribbean/

By the end of the 1970s, of Caribbean and African musical patterns fusing the traditional with the contemporary".

Aside from Exile One, other bands included the

.

Zouk

The inspiration for Zouk's style of rhythmic music comes from the Haitian

tongue of Martinique and Guadeloupe is an important element, and are a distinctive part of the music. Generally, zouk is based around star singers, with little attention given to instrumentalists, and is based almost entirely around studio recordings.

Music authors

folk traditions. Ethnomusicologist Jocelyn Guilbault, however, describes zouk as a synthesis of Caribbean popular styles, especially Dominica cadence-lypso, Haitian cadence, Guadeloupean biguine.^[12] Zouk arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s, using elements of previous styles of Antillean music, as well as imported genres.^[13]

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 cabo-love from Cape Verde are also derivative of this French Antillean compas style, which sounds basically the same, although there are notable differences once you become more familiar with these genre. A main exponent of this subgenre is Ophelia Marie. Other Zouk Love artists come from the French West Indies, the Netherlands, and Africa.

Popular artists include French West Indian artists Edith Lefel and Nichols, or like Netherlands based Suzanna Lubrano and Gil Semedo, the African artist Kaysha.

Bouyon (Jump up)

Bouyon (Boo-Yon) is a form of popular

, and a quick-paced electronic drum pattern. More recently, deejays with raggamuffin-style vocals have moved to the fore, updating the sound for the New Generation.

In Guadeloupe and Martinique, "Jump up" refers generally to bouyon music.

French Antilles hip hop

The French Antilles hip hop is a style of

.

Music festivals

Two large, international music festivals have further bolstered Martinique's music scene. Jazz à la Martinique and Carrefour Mondial de Guitare alternate years. The country's best jazz musicians are featured during Jazz à la Martinique, but major worldwide players like Branford Marsalis also perform. Honoring the guitar, Carrefour Mondial de Guitare celebrates a wide range of guitar genres, including flamenco, blues, jazz, rock, and pop. Both festivals last approximately a week, with concerts in various locations throughout Martinique. Recently, Franck Nicolas presented "Bélé-Jazz", a style of jazz using the bélé rhythms as its basis.

See also

• Canboulay

Notes

References

• Gerstin, Julian (2000). "French West Indies". In New Grove Dictionary of Music, 2nd edition. Ed. Stanley Sadie. London: Macmillan (2001). Article available online at "Julian Gerstin". Retrieved September 27, 2005.
• Ledesma, Charles de and Gene Scaramuzzo (2000). "Dance Funk Creole Style". In Broughton, Simon and Mark Ellingham with James McConnachie and Orla Duane (2000). Rough Guide to World Music, Vol. 2. Rough Guides Ltd.
  ISBN 1-85828-636-0
  ., pp. 289–303.

Further reading

• Berrian, Brenda F. (2000). Awakening Spaces: French Caribbean Popular Songs, Music and Culture. University of Chicago Press.
  ISBN 0-226-04456-4
  .
• Desroches, Monique (1996). "Musical Tradition in Martinique: Between the Local and the Global". Revista Transcultural de Música (Transcultural Music Review), 2 (1996)
  ISSN 1697-0101
  . (Translated from French by Sharon Berman and Catherine Potter).
• Manuel, Peter (1995). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music From Rumba to Reggae. Temple University Press.
  ISBN 1-56639-339-6
  .