Music of Montserrat

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Music of the Anglophone Caribbean
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Regional music
Local forms
Related areas

The music of Montserrat is influenced by Irish traditions, noticeable in the

spiritual-influenced vocal choirs, like the Emerald Isle Community Singers, are popular.[1]

Past pop stars include the soca bandleader Alphonsus "Arrow" Cassell, known for 1983's "Hot! Hot! Hot!".[2] Calypso music is also popular, as are the vocal choirs Voices and the Emerald Community Singers are well known throughout the island. They perform at various special occasions, such as the December Festival, and throughout the year. The most famous modern string band from Montserrat is the Rude Boys String Band.[3]

Montserratian culture is generally a hybrid of African and European, specifically British and Irish, elements.

Soufrière Hills volcano in 1995, after which most of the population left the island. The popularity of Arrow also contributed to the demise of traditional music, replaced largely by imported popular styles.[5]

Folk music

Montserrat's folk musical heritage includes a wide array of religious and ritual folk music. There are also folk songs used in spiritual musical traditions, in addition to secular use; indeed, there is little distinction between secular and spiritual aspects of traditional Montserratian culture. Folk songs are generally in the Montserrat Creole language and concern topics ranging from obeah (magic) to agriculture, infidelity and historic occurrences.[6] Many songs are widespread and well-known, and occur in numerous variations, including "Nincom Riley" and "All de Relief", two of the most famous Montserratian folk songs. The folk repertoire also include calypsos and Irish melodies. The Irish Montserratian tradition has largely died out, with the last performer, George Allen, a fiddler, dying in 1966.[5]

Jumbie

The

jumbie dance has been called the "purest manifestation of folk religion on Montserrat",[7] and is an iconic part of folk culture, bringing together local folklore, dance, song and music.[8] It has also been described as a startling and unique hybrid, consisting of "Western instruments (that) produce Africanesque music, to which dancers perform Irish steps while moving their upper bodies like Africans".[9]

The jumbie dance was probably last performed in 1980. Jumbies are traditionally said to be spirits, one of several kinds that also include the African sukra and jabless, and the Irish mermaid, animal spirit (similar to the Púca) and the Jack Lantern. Jumbies hold a similar place in Montserratian society as fairies does in Irish culture; they are the recipients of many small offerings, such as bits of food or drink, and the subject of numerous daily superstitions and rituals.[5]

The jumbie dance is performed by four couples, one man and one woman. They each do a series of sets, consisting of five

glossolalia.[5]

Some Montserratian Irish trace the origins of the jumbie dance to the pre-emancipation period, when slaves attempted to perform the dances performed by white overseers and landowners. Jumbie dances are traditionally performed after a celebration, in the home of a sponsor, and to mark times of individual crisis or major life changes, such as a wedding or christening.[5] The jumbie dance is said to induce

spiritual possession and grant divination skills. Often, jumbie dances are intended to cure diseases, remove curses or discover the identity of a guilty party.[6]

There are generally three jumbie dancers in a unit, who perform accompanied by the babala (

bodhran in construction; all three drums are played with the fingertips, palms and the backs of the hands.[5]

Other folk traditions

The same music used in the jumbie dance also accompanies country dances (also known as goatskin or drum dance). Country dances are strictly recreational, however, and use different songs and dances than the jumbie dance. Rum shops are frequently home to string bands, especially on Boxing Day, and ensembles of guitar, banjo, accordion and cuatro (ukulele).[5]

The Montserratian tradition of

heel-and-toe polka and five quadrilles. This celebration begins in mid-December and ends January 1.[6]

Montserrat is also home to a

stereos and recorded music, as well as the spread of jazz bands, but was revived in the 1970s. String bands now also play at hotels and nightclubs.[6]

Popular music and modern styles

The

Empire Day celebrations. Despite some criticism that the music was degrading for children, steel bands have become a major part of the island's musical heritage.[6]

Organization of Eastern Caribbean States. In 2000, Sylvina "Khandie" Malone became the first female calypso monarch on Montserrat.[6] A popular song on local radio is "Sailing Away Again" by local writer and singer Eloise Lynch. Her main focus is Lovers Rock but this song has always been a popular favorite on the island. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z84Zc_YHnps

Holidays and festivals

The Montserrat

Carnival on the other Caribbean islands, featuring competitions in various skills, especially the Calypso King competition, street dancing (jamming or jumping up), Soca King, beauty pageants and masquerade performances. There are also Christmas songs and caroling.[3]

December Festival parades formerly included music and masqueraders, and dancers in uniforms modeled on the Grenadier Guards. Music is provided by an ensemble of triangle, fife and two goatskin, deep-barreled drums called kettles or booms). This tradition is primarily African in style, with little Irish or British influence, and is very distinct from jumbie dance styles. The traditional music of the December Festival was last performed in 1988, in St. John's Village.[5]

Boxing Day is an occasion for music competitions, held in

mummers all perform. Jump-up Day commemorates and celebrates emancipation from slavery, and is accompanied by steelbands, masquerades and dancing men carrying chains to symbolize the bondage of slavery.[5]

Music is also an important part of

St Patrick's Day, which is a celebration of Montserrat's Irish heritage and music and has now been transformed into a whole week of activities.[3]

Music for Montserrat

Rolling Stones, Sting and Elton John traveled there to record. After Hurricane Hugo, however, the studios were closed. Martin organized a fundraiser (Music for Montserrat) for the island in 1997, which included native band Arrow, Mark Knopfler, Jimmy Buffett, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Carl Perkins (who died the next year), Sting and Elton John. Other local bands performed simultaneously at Gerald's Bottom on the island; the occasion also saw the reformation of Climax Blues Band and the appearance of Bankie Banks
.

References

Notes

  1. ^ Cameron
  2. ^ De Ledesma and Popplewell, pp. 507-576.
  3. ^ a b c Montserrat Entertainment Guide Archived 2006-09-06 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Mesener, p. 922; Mesener cites Messenger, John C. (1968). The Irish of Montserrat. Typescript, Montserrat Public Library., Philpott, Stuart B. (1973). West Indian Migration: The Montserrat Case. London: Athlone Press. and Dobbin, Jay D. (1986). The Jombee Dance of Montserrat. Columbus: Ohio State University Press.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Messenger, pp. 922-926.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Montserrat Chamber of Commerce Archived 2006-01-07 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Chamber of Commerce.
  8. ^ Messenger, p. 924.
  9. ^ Messenger, p. 925.
  10. ^ The Chamber of Commerce and John Messenger mostly agree; the Chamber of Commerce does not mention the triangle, and refers to the tambourine/bambala as the jumbie drum, while Messenger reserves this for the French reel or woowoo.
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