Chapter 11 - The Caribbean
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About
Chapter 11 introduces the music and associated cultural activities from the Caribbean, including the islands of Haiti, Trinidad & Tobago, the Bahamas, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic. The discussions focus on the unique traditions created through the cross-cultural interaction of Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa, producing traditional, as well as many popular music styles, such as Reggae and Calypso. History is consequently an important element of the discussion throughout, particularly as it relates to the invention of the steel drum in Trinidad. Afro-Cuban sonis important to introduce here as salsa music, which draws heavily from this tradition, is discussed in a later chapter.
Key Terms
- Abakwa
- Arawak
- Basser
- Bata
- Batuque
- Bolero
- Calypso
- Canción
- Capoeira
- Carib
- Cascara
- Cha-cha
- Chéqueres (also Shekere)
- Cimarrons
- Claves
- Comparsa
- Conga (also Tumbadora)
- Contradanza
- Cross-rhythm
- Cumina
- Danza (also Danzon and Danzonete)
- Dub (also Dancehall)
- Ekón
- Ganja
- Goombay
- Guaracha
- Guiro
- Jaleo
- Langaj
- Lwa (also Loa)
- Mambo
- Maracas
- Maroons
- Mento
- Merengue
- Mummer
- Orisha
- Orus
- Palito
- Pan
- Panorama
- Parang
- Paseo
- Rada
- Rake and scrape
- Rasta
- Rastafarianism
- Reggae
- Rhymer
- Rock Steady
- Rumba (also Rhumba)
- Salsa
- Shango
- Ska
- Soca
- Son
- Steel Drum
- Tamboo-bamboo
- Tambora
- Timbales
- Tumbadora (also Conga)
- Tumbao
- Umbanda
- Zouk
Flashcards
Practice Quiz
Videos
For more world music videos, visit the World Music YouTube Channel.
- Voodoo Dancing and Drumming in Haiti
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=wfYWzkm3fGI
- Vodoun à Bois-de-Lance
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L16t2QV0rs
- Vodou Brooklyn
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=zYWFL3Bj2LU
- Elegba Dance
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2icyoICx18
- Katherine Dunham on “Shango”
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ab6KWufcCUw
- Roots Reggae
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G2v5pGX50g
- Trinidad and Tobago 2007 Carnival
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BA4xol6HvM
- Soca Dance
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SALgXnL61gY
- Desperadoes Steel Orchestra
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Oth3v7v08
- Merengue in Santo Domingo
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOBucLIuBN0
On Your Own Time Links
Links and Further Resources
Haiti
- Audio:
- Rhythms of Rapture: Sacred Musics of Haitian Vodou. Smithsonian-Folkways: SFW40464, 1995.
- http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/rhythms-rapture-sacred-musics/id151593754
- Book:
- McAlister, Elizabeth. Rara! Vodou, Power, and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002.
- http://rara.wesleyan.edu/
- http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520228238
- Book:
- Rouget, Gilbert. Music and Trance: A Theory of the Relations between Music and Possession. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1985.
- http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/M/bo5956162.html
- Popular Artists—Haiti:
- Boukman Eksperyans
- Boukan Ginen
- Book:
- Bradley, Lloyd. This Is Reggae Music: The Story of Jamaica's Music. New York: Grove Press, 2001.
- http://www.amazon.com/This-Reggae-Music-Story-Jamaicas/dp/0802138284
- Book:
- King, Stephen. Reggae, Rastafari, and the Rhetoric of Social Control. Jackson, MS: University Press of Mississippi, 2007.
- http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/612
- Book:
- Veal, Michael. Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2007.
- http://www.upne.com/0-8195-6571-7.html
- DVD:
- The Harder They Come. Dir. Henzell, Perry. New World Pictures, 1972.
- http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070155/plotsummary
- Website:
- Bob Marley—Official Website
- http://www.bobmarley.com/
- Website:
- Carlos Jones—Official Website
- http://www.carlosjones.com/
- Website:
- Jimmy Cliff—Official Website
- http://www.jimmycliff.com/
- Popular Artists—Jamaica:
- Bob Marley
- Jimmy Cliff
- Peter Tosh
- Bunny Wailer
- Toots and the Maytals
- Burning Spear
- Lee “Scratch” Perry
- King Tubby
- Steel Pulse
- Desmond Dekker
- Sly and Robbie
- Book:
- Dudley, Shannon. Carnival Music in Trinidad: Experiencing Music, Expressing Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
- http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general/subject/Music/WorldMusicEthnomusicology/?view=usa&ci=9780195138337
- Book:
- Dudley, Shannon. Music from behind the Bridge: Steelband Aesthetics and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago.
- New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.
- http://www.oup.com/us/catalog/general
- Book:
- Guilbault, Jocelyne. Governing Sound: The Cultural Politics of Trinidad's Carnival Musics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2007.
- http://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo5298970.html
- Book:
- Regis, Lewis. The Political Calypso: True Opposition in Trinidad and Tobago. Gainesville, FL: University Press of Florida, 1998.
- Book:
- Stuempfle, Stephen. The Steelband Movement: The Forging of a National Art in Trinidad and Tobago.
- Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1996.
- Website:
- National Carnival Commission of Trinidad and Tobago
- http://www.ncctt.org/home/
- Website:
- Soca Monarch
- http://socamonarch.net/
- Popular Artists—Trinidad and Tobago:
- Lord Kitchener
- Calypso Rose
- Mighty Sparrow
- Destra Garcia
- Bunji Garlin
- KMC
- Arrow
- David Rudder
- Rikki Jai
- Audio:
- The Bahamas: The Real Bahamas in Music and Song. Nonesuch Records: 79725, 1966.
- http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/the-bahamas-the-real-bahamas-in-music-and-song
- Audio:
- The Bahamas: Islands of Song. Smithsonian-Folkways: SFW 40405, 1997.
- http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-bahamas-islands-of-song/id151591784
- Book:
- Charters, Samuel. The Day Is So Long and the Wages So Small. London: Marion Boyers Publishers, 2002.
- http://www.marionboyars.co.uk/Amy%20individual%20book%20info/The%20Day%20is%20So%20Long.html
- Book:
- Rommen, Timothy. Funky Nassau: Roots, Routes, and Representation in Bahamian Popular Music. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2011.
- http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520265691
- Popular Artists—the Bahamas:
- Joseph Spence
- Baha Men
- T-Connection
- Audio:
- Cuban Counterpoint: History of the Son Montuno. Rounder Records: R102013, 1992.
- http://www.allmusic.com/album/cuban-counterpoint-history-of-the-son-montuno-r102013
- Book:
- Fernandez, Raul. From Afro-Cuban Rhythms to Latin Jazz. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006.
- http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520247086
- Book:
- Manuel, Peter. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. 2nd Edition. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006.
- http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1175_reg.html
- Website/Audio/DVD:
- Buena Vista Social Club
- http://www.buenavistasocialclub.com/
- Website:
- Mamborama
- http://www.mamborama.com/cuba_music.html
- Website:
- Salsa & Merengue—Cuban Son Montuno
- http://www.salsa-merengue.co.uk/VidTutor/rhythm/son_phrasing_part_one.html
- Popular Artists—Cuba:
- Celia Cruz
- Buena Vista Social Club
- Los Van Van
- Haila
- César “Pupy” Pedroso
- Arsenio Rodriguez
- NG La Banda
- Book:
- Austerlitz, Paul, and Robert Farris Thompson. Merengue: Dominican Music and Dominican Identity.
- Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 1997.
- http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1060_reg.html
- Book:
- Manuel, Peter. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. 2nd Edition. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006.
- http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1175_reg.html
- Book:
- Sellers, Julie. Merengue and Dominican Identity: Music As National Unifier. Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 2004.
- http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-1815-2
- Popular Artists—the Dominican Republic:
- Juan Luis Gerra
- Milly Quezada
- Antony Santos
- Fernando Villalona
- Omega el Fuerte