10/10
Tito Nieves (b. 1958) - rooted in salsa dura, got his start with Hector Lavoe - call his music salsa romantica - cross over into non-Spanish speaking areas a reas w/ English - "I'll always love you" Ralph Mercado - started RMM Records - was a promoter that used to take bands to clubs downtown - very connected person Shift in early 80s in what is happening happe ning in Latino communities - beginning of Reggae era where there was less political engagement - Decent economic times - New generation of Latino families as they move out and spread across a cross the country - Many lose their Spanish as spanish is not spoken at home Salsa Romantica - Majority of salsa coming out of NYC and PR in 1980s and 1990s - Retreat from the salsa of the 70s - Canto: main body of tune - much longer in salsa romantica compared to son. - Canto is more important than instrumentalists - Trend in 80s and 90s and vocalists become band leaders as opposed to instrumentalists - Give key back to band when singers are tired. Band becomes there just to support the singers - Montuno - Mambo - Moña
- Still has usual Salsa form - Very tiring on musicians since they are supporting singers - Musicians tend to be very young - Drug problems among salsa singers (ex. Tito Nieves and his struggles with Cocaine) Tony Vega La India - very important!! DLG (Dark Latin Grooves) - Founded 1998 - "Muevete" - no more anticipaed bass
- electronic drum - getting closer to house music in some ways - Super imposed with la murga (?) from willie colon - Blur boundaries where we are borrowing bo rrowing from so many urban styles - Still in spanish - Rap section
10/15
Reggaeton - El General (from Panama) - Interested in trying to create a style of music that would resonate with youth of Panama - Large Jamaican contingent living in Panama b/c of the building of the Panama Canal - Reggae became a huge influence - Rap over beats that were more familiar to Latino communities, especially those in NYC - Reggaeton is one of those beats, also tipping hat to Jamaican roots - combination of Jamaica with salsa, son, and variety of other Latin music popular in NYC - 2 other famous artists: Tego Calderon and Daddy Yankee - Adopt Hip-Hop style - get Latino culture in rap communities - Not as much associated with national identity, political protests, etc. - A lot is associated with gangster rap or misogynistic rap "Oye Me Canto" -Tego Calderon - Recognizes all of the Latin countries c ountries (PR, Dominicans, Columbians, Cubans, etc) - Main beat is habañera rhythm - Call and Response with Rap right in the front - Switching between English and Spanish - Female voices singing repeating chorus (from boogaloo) - A little bit more singsongy than just straight up rap, more melody - Guitar/Piano/synthesizer sounds playing montunos (from salsa) - Reggaeton got a bad reputation for lyrics "Gasolina" Daddy Yankee - social benefit of this song? - Explicit lyrics, sometimes misogynistic Celia Cruz - originally from Cuba, was very popular in Cuba
- left in late 50's and stayed b/c of revolution - queen of salsa - Always took high road with racism - very classy woman - Interested in her Afro-Cuban roots - Influenced by Santeria La Lupe - mid 60s - Cuban singer who came to NYC - More gestures happening when she performs - Ripping off her clothes - Taking off her shoes - Become violent and have fits - Enacts spirit possession on stage - Psychologically and personally unstable - Dealt with a drug problem - Came right at the beginning of the hippie generation where people began to embrace crazy performances on stage - Alternative type of femininity in very conservative domain of performance - Eventually ostracized from a lot of venues because she couldn't be trusted "Eso Hombre" La India, late 1990's - Pice that changed everything - flipping misogyny around - finally have woman's voice represented - Salsa romantic piece, which is typically from male's perspective - La lupe served as an important model based off of gestures (and putting "la" in front of name) - Chorus sung by men (flipped) Eso Hombre opens the door, all of a sudden a lot of female band leaders 2003 - Celia Cruz made a video right before she died - "La Negra Tiene Tumbao" - Tumbao: the bassline of rumba - In salsa it's the name of the conga swing - Can also mean "grace" - She's saying she is proud of who she is. "Take it or leave it" - Female empowerment through sexuality - everyone had their eyes on her (both in class and the video) - Same message she's been giving her entire life Ricky Martin - Born in PR - Ricky Martin is not his real name - Popular among teenage girls
- "La vida loca" - Salsa Marc Anthony - Did a duo with La India - On the same label as La India for house music - Discovered because he was Nuyorican "I need to know" - first thing is a violinist - guiro, congas, horn section from salsa band - Rock/pop beat
10/17 Dominican Republic
Hispanola - Quisqueya: their own name for the island - 1822-1864 a series of Haitian invasions - With colonial rule, slavery does not play as central a role - A growing Anti-Haitian sentiment spawns an Anti-African sentiment that still exists today - Even though the Afro-Dominican culture thrived throughout the 1800s, after its independence in 1884, the cultural and intellectual elite viewed any Afro-Dominican elements as evil - DR founded in opposition to what was happening in Haiti - Despite 3/4 of the population being mulatto (mixed blood), little acknowledgement of African roots exist today - Indios - DR musicians insist they are "Indios" rather than black to not acknowledge where their ancestors are from - They claim that their ancestors were the Taino (Amerindians) - Little Negritude effect - Country did not experience any posterity after independence - Country remained divided b/w regional strong men and local govts. - US begins to worry about DR - Start to see # of invasions by US marines to establish political stability (first started in 1960) - Rafael Trojillo - placed as dictator tried to keep DR stable and as an ally - Catholic church - Discouraged Afro-Dominican religions practices - National identity consciously formed against Haiti Merengue - "mixture" - Tambora, guira, accordion, marimbula - Creolized form - Emerges day DR is founded - Dominican soldier named Tomas Torres who had abandoned his station during the
war of independence - While celebrating independence at night, they mocked the soldier in the first merengue - Emerges as a european style ballroom dance (like danzon or habanera) - Tries to embrace some local traditions so it attracted a lot of intention - Danced by independence couples rather than in large groups - People in streets first rejected music for African dance elements - But rural Dominicans adopted it - B/c of no centralized govt, hundreds of versions of merengue coming from each area of island - But instrumentation is very similar - Tambora - 2 sided drum played by sticks as well as hands - Guira - is a metal guiro - the time keeper in merengue - Accordion - Brought over by german immigrants but adopted quickly - Cibao region - region where merengue becomes extremely popular - Usually played on Sunday afternoons for various street parties, sporting houses, red light districts, bars Early stars of merengue are the Accordion players - Ñico Loro "Merengue Cibaeño" (1910) - rural 3 section form 1. Paseo - slower, find a dance partner 2. Merengue - main body of tune 3. Jaleo - interspersed with Merengue (like Montuno), fast repetitive pa tterns on accordion and saxophone "Santiago" - (1928) - Merengue from the cities (more elite version) - Cinquillo rhythm is present - More african, from Haiti - First banned in elite circles because of association w/ Haiti, later embraced - Alto Saxophone - invented by Belgian to create louder instrument for marching band to replace clarinet - Trumpet less active in DR ( because disconnect from rest of world and tempo was fast so it was better to have more keys) Pambiche: Spanish for "palm beach" - "En la Batea" - Style in early 1900s and 1910s during invasion of marines - Dance form - More for dance parties
"êstilo Yanqui" ????? Luis Alberti - One of the top merengue bands - Renamed to the "Orchestra presidential" - Official president's band (of Trujillo) - expanded to big band - Required to play at all high society balls By decree of president (Trujillo) - all bands were required to perform meringues that praised him - became staple of all radio broadcasts - Wanted to repress African roots - Heated contentious debates about border b/w Haiti and DR - Trujillo settled it once and for all by massacring 20,000 Haitians - Tried to obtain Nobel Peace Prize for settling this dispute - Foreign imports and exports rejected - Had merengue group campaign for him - Merengue became tied with political process
10/22 Dominican Republic
Merengue "Compadre Pedro Juan" - Luis Alberto (writer) performed by Nini Vasquez - alto saxophone - Paleo, Merengue, Jaleo - same practices as in Son but a different rhythmic format - long alto sax portion "San Cristobal" - New York Big band jazz - Praising hometown - fast tempo - easier to play with 5 fingers (compared to 3 on trumpet or slide on trombone) - sax and accordion based Angel Vitoria - top merengue group outside of DR "El Vironay" - accordion - small rhythm section - Avant-garde: jazz on top of everything - New York style
Shift from rural living to urban living in DR - urbanization - No DR record companies competing on international scene - But start to see demand for merengue in NY and PR - Growing popularity of merengue - Easier to dance to than salsa Johnny Ventura - One of first big stars to crossover from DR - Incorporated salsa elements and Rock n Roll performance to even more extravagant merengue - Abandoned jazz instrumentation - Smaller band, flashier and faster - Tigueraje - Aggressive way of being on stage and presenting oneself - Similar to Cuban Abakua - Piano, electric bass, conga drums (from salsa), guira, horn section, tambura Controversy: - Racial tension between PR and DR arose in 80s and 90s - More and more PR's were inspired by the civil rights movement - PR would call DR band "Black", DR would refer to themselves as "Indios" Wilfrido Vargas - "El Africano" - very popular, played on shows - played multiple times a night in clubs Juan Luis Guerra - there were very few female voices in Merengue - Guerra disrupted what had been coming before, the Hector LaVoe of Merengue - Trained at Berkley school of music - Sang very rich harmonies - Returned to Dr and called it Cuatra Cuarenta - Composed intricate rhythms - Wouldn't play only fast meringues - Played socially conscious merengue - Try to capture the daily lives of his listeners - "Visa Para un Sueno" Bachata - Slang term for party - Same roots as rumba - Guitar based type of music, - Spanish influence - From peasant and guitar ensembles
- Smaller ensembles than merengue bands - 2 guitars, bongos, maracas, maybe a bass, vocals - "Canciones de amargue" - Songs of bitterness - Blas Duran "Pelando pa' que otro chupe"
10/24 Haiti
Haiti means mountainous land - Carib - Guanahany - few remnants of those cultures, save for a few instruments - very important in Haitian religious practices of Voodoo - Lanbi (Conch shell) used for prayer and communication (eg. in battle) - Tcha tcha (shaker, like maracas), used by priests in religious ceremonies - Under Spanish rule until 1697 when Spain ceded Haiti to France - French called the island Saint Domique - turned into large sugar cane plantations - one of the most profitable areas in sugar cane industries - But sugar cane requires lots of labor - Large number of African slaves brought in - Until 1791, the French imported their lyric opera tradition (popular music of their day in France) - Many Africans trained in French music and entertainment - Laid foundation for popular music that emerges in wake of their emancipation 3 classes of people during colonial period (1700s) - All wanted to be free - 1. Afranchi - French plantation owners - 2. Mixed blood - 3. Slaves - Because of mountains, became fairly easy to stay free once you escaped - Some mountains still had Tainos - Villages start to form with combination of Tainos and escaped slaves - Called Maujons - Maujons Joined forces in 1791 with the Taino to declare ware on France - Lasted until 1804 - first successful slave rebellion and uprising in the new world - Mixed blood that gained power after French were executed or exiled - Became 2 classes of people based on skin color - Milat: lighter skin in power - Nwa: darker skin
Pidgin - language spoken in Haiti, becomes Creole - Emerged from Plantations - mix of french, African languages, Spanish, Portuguese, English - When it becomes formalized with grammar, becomes known as Creole - 1980 Creole is declared official language of Haiti - Strong prejudice in Haiti based on skin color - Often played out by language spoken - Lighter skin spoke french, learned french in school, official docs in french to keep out lower people Haiti is interesting because it was free so early (~100 years earlier than any other nation from its colonizers) - Also freed by emancipated slaves, not the case anywhere else - Success of Haitian revolution that created much harder conditions for slaves in other places Early 1790s, there is a relative embrace of African culture - Haiti becomes a place to look to - Importance of shared African ancestry - Place of Freedom Spiritual Practices —> Voodoo - Shares many similarities to Santeria - A syncretic religion that mixes Catholic beliefs with African beliefs - Existed without as much repression as Santeria - Very very Neo-African on the continuum - One of the most productive forces in Haitian culture in terms of establishing a national identity - B/c it sticks so closely to African traditions, among immigrants or elite class, it’s a fraught relationship - Reminder of colonial past, and connection voodoo has especially w/ lower economic classes - Immigrant families come to US and these traditions were squelched in their home - Christianity takes strong hold within Haitian community “The Divine Horsemen: The Living Gods of Haiti” - Movie filmed around 1950 and released in 1980s - Depicts earliest voodoo practices - Animal sacrifices - Lwa: the god, guardian - Legba: intermediary between humans and Lwa - Crossroads: communication between worlds, very important - Veve: religious symbol commonly used in voodoo - Houngan - male priest - Mambo - female priestess
- Deities in Voodoo live in Africa, the idea is to summon them and appease them - First you have to appease Legba, the deity of the crossroads, he lets you summon the other ones - Rada - protective side - Petwo - black magic, darker side 10/29 Haiti Continued
Voodoo Iwa - Voodoo deity - compare to Lwa from Santeria Melodic incantation sung by individual known as sanba - Sanba: lead vocalist, drummer, not necessarily the priest leading the ceremony but leading the song Call and Response b/w Sanba and hunsi (chorus) - Everybody is expected to participate Words of voodoo songs are very difficult to translate - In a language called Langaj, meaning old language - African derived ritual language Amalgamation of wide range of diverse African American religious traditions mixed with elements of Catholicism Wider array of diversity in terms of deities and how religion is organized compared to Santeria - Because it was allowed to flourish without govts trying to suppress it - Although there were some elite classes trying to stop it - Much more closely tied to African as a place Nanchon: 2 nations - Traditions brought from Africa - Different characteristics in each nanchon (diff music and instruments) - Two groups within these - Rada: associated with rural areas, cooler aesthetic, focused on more positive life forces - Petwo: associated with hot aesthetic and intensity of urban living. Emerged from the malwans that forge war (represent war and slavery) Legba - Guardian of the crossroads - Known as St. Peter, who guards heaven’s gate - First one to call so you can enter the world of the deities Instruments - Drums covered in goat skin - Shakers - Metal instruments, sometimes farm tools that keep rhythm - No clave rhythm but use bell patterns “Papa Legba” (CD 7) - bell patterns to keep people in line
- Only drum that’s changing its pattern is the low drum - Very similar to Santeria as low drum communicates with dancers - Rhythms are faster and more intense than Santeria - Diversity of language spoken compared to Santeria - Santeria is mostly Yaruba derived - Yaruba is present in this but there are languages from all over africa - Rada Importance of altar in voodoo - Saints and various statues/icons, flags and colors that represent v arious deities - Some type of offertory to deities with candles - Rada altars and petwo altars look different but still have the same statues, flags, etc. - Petwo has hotter colors (more red) whereas dada is more blue “Petwo Ceremony” (CD 7) - little less drumming - 2 drums in petwo compared to 3 in rada (too difficult to tell for quiz but important to note) Gede: spirit of death and spirit of sexuality - Associated with graveyard - Banda music is played when he shows up - played in Voodoo house or voodoo setting - Different type of music - Interesting to note the connection between death and sex - “trickster” deity, known for outrageous behavior - Halloween is Gede’s day - Dance is fast and furious - People possessed by Gede come out in droves - Sometimes paint their faces white - Engage in mock sex with unsuspecting passersby Rara - brief snippets in film from last time - Street celebration that begins at the close of the carnival period on Ash Wednesday - Carnivals are mostly urban centered and govt sanctioned - Mostly a rural based tradition - Scorned by elite since the lower class take over the street - Goes up until Easter - Very closely tied to Catholic calendar - Voice of people expressed on street - Anti-social behavior is accepted - Social norms get flipped - Outrageous behavior is the norm - Compare to Mardi Gras - Rara can take place anytime of year, rare bands play at some political riots
- All instruments need to be mobile, but still drum based - Instruments: - Vaksin: like a bamboo trumpet, sometimes have bungles at the end to make it sound louder. Each one only has one pitch - each play simple part but combine to create complex sound - Drums - Shakers - Western instruments: trumpets and trombones - Used whatever is at hand (whistles, etc) - Rara is closely organized with leader - Everyone dresses in colorful outfitters and go house to house to perform for residents - Rara often happens after voodoo cleansing services - Important for people to come out of house and give rara bands something - if you don’t have anything, you are supposed to join them - Often would swarm cars at cross-roads until car gave them money or joined them - Good way to raise money - Goes on for week or more straight - no sleep “Rara de Leogane” (YouTube video) “Rara celebration” (CD 7) - note the “funky grooves” that the vaksins are able to make with each one only playing one note Haiti is the first place that was free, the first place that started to search for its own identity separate from the colonial powers - First place slavery was such a crucial piece in creating that identity - Average age of slaves when they were brought over from Africa was 15 - Life expectancy of slaves were 30-40 - Interesting to think about how much 15 year olds know about family and cultural traditions - Lyrics of Rara - Obscene lyrics about sex - In Haiti, we are as close to slaves as we can be - Strongest connection to African heritage since it was one of the first places to embrace it Mereng - first popular music that emerges in 1880s - Haitians used the term mereng before Dominicans do (merengue) - Causes tension between the two sides - local Haitian expression of European parlor dances and social dance tradition - employed uniquely Haitian rhythm - 5 beat rhythm called quintolet - Compare to cinquillo from Cuba - Haiti extends it another measure
- More syncopated in Haiti (viewed as more African) Occide Jeanty - popular in 1880 - wrote a song called “Maria” - popular dance of the 1800s - couples dance - played at carnivals, presidential palace - no percussion - All european instruments - similar to salon ensemble throughout Carribean - Differentiates itself from rara bands and voodoo - Played for elite and ruling classes - Quintolet rhythm - First kind of music to embrace Afro-Haitian tradition Jazz - US occupied Haiti in early 1900s - Jazz was introduced - Local jazz bands proliferated as entertainment for military - When “jazz” was creolized, it was written as “djaz” - Started to change how Haiti looked in terms of urban vs. rural population Jean Price Mars - important writer - Indigénisme: viewing culture as existing in a state of harmony with nature. Embrace where we come from - Voodoo became something that was uniquely Haitian - Negritude movement: embrace of Afro-Cuban musical form that had profound impact on Haitian music Combination of Negritude and Jazz influences —> lead to change in Haitian music - Voodoo, Jazz, and Afro-Cuban come together - Jazz de jeunes - focused on beauty of Haitian culture - Performed in suits or in traditional Voodoo clothing - Voodoo becomes central in Haitian culture “A La Cote Gain Femm” - quintolet rhythm - elements of jazz - Afro-Cuban combo - Back to Haitian
10/31 Haiti
Starts taking a Pan-Carribean approach to music making - Still have a very strong Haitian presence - Recording industry comes later - Radio and record distribution: was not Haitian music - Artists would have to travel elsewhere to record - There were a few small labels that distributed to Haitians but definitely didn’t have the power - Therefore, Haitian styles nationally didn’t have the same level of influence such as Cuban, etc Kompa Direk/compas direct - meaning “simplified beat” - 1955 new Haitian form to dance and appeal to youth - Turned to DR merengue as a model and made music that was not linked to voodoo - Still tried to claim Haitian bits - Marked move away from African Music - Accordion and sax played big role - Big ensemble: horns, drums, etc. Modeled off of mambo bands but playing something different - Tambor drum: Dominican influence - Not Dominican: Singing in french, vocal quality - Crooning style of music, much smoother style - sounds different from more nasally cuban music - Doesn’t stick to merengue form - More simplified version, get right into the tune and right into the call & response - There are instrumental solos - Tends to be accordion and saxophone - In line with what was going on in Dominican Merengue - Sax playing repeated riffs in jaleo section, like DR - Almost like mambo section - First commercial music of Haiti Nemours Jean Baptiste Webert Sicot - Kadans rampa - Bellicose language, playfully so - Rivalry between 2 musicians “Chauffeur Automobile” - Webert Sicot - Playing melody of Cuban son piece on organ (peanut vendor?) Rock n Roll hit Haiti in 60’s - Small rock bands sprung up in every major city - Referred to as yeye (genre defined by the lyrics of the Beatles) Mini-djaz konpa - Rock and roll and kompa put together
- “Mini” because of the mini skirts that women were wearing - Band started dressing a little differently - Transition from jacket and tie to psychedelic more hippie-like clothing - Instrumentation focused in on rock n roll - Guitar bass and drums, sometimes extra percussion or saxophone - no more accordion “Nidia” - Ibo Combo - Guajira music is put in the middle of this song - guitar solo Afro-pop “new York City” - Tabou Combo - mini-djaz konpa - Rock n roll band, organ, guitar - Haitian: drummer grabs hi-hat and crashes it on off-beat Konga was popular in 1950s because it was apolitical Tonton Makout Misik angaje - socially conscious music - Engaged music - Protest music - Trobador: slower version - Modeled off of neuva trovo movement - Even Bob Dylan, so to speak Misik rasin - Roots music (Afircan roots) - Voodoo Rock Boukman Eksperyans - Band in NYC - Instruments: guitars, keyboard, drum kit, traditional Rada drums Dahame: name of bell rhythm, referring to place in Africa where rhythm originated - prominent in Abakua and other neo-African traditions - sing only in Creole and not in French - way of rejecting elite classes “Se Keryol Nou Ye” (We’re Creole) - Boukman Eksperyans - Lyrics reach out to broader Caribbean - Last word of these lyrics “Africa"
11/7 Finishing Haiti, Then Jamaica
Quiz: From class 12 on. Today is class 20 Voodoo Rock - Album covers transition from Rara/Voodoo (pseudo-African Garb) to covers with well-dressed women and men Zin - popular band - Called their music “Nouvel Jenerasyon” - “new generation” in Creole - Goes back to konpa(?) rhythms - Almost ignoring everything that happened with Voodoo rock - konpa(?)-pop “Lanmou Sa a” by Zin - traditional konpa(?) rhythms with synthesizer rhythms - 90’s pop sounds - groups get reduced - Horn section —> synthesizer - Sounds very polished and slick, not like recording - lot of reverb “Oulala de Michel Martelly” - music video - typical of music videos produced in Haiti - Heteronormative views of gender - Singer viewed as sex object with women dancing around him - Michel Martelly is the president of Haiti - Stage name “Sweet Micky” - unique situation “Fugees” - American hip hop group in 1990s - mix of soul, Caribbean music (especially Haiti), and reggae - Wyclef Jean - lucrative solo career as hip hop artists and producer - unsuccessfully ran for political office - politically engaged hip hop “Let me Touch your button” Wyclef Jean feat will.i.am - Guitar section definitely did not sound like hip hop. Could be Spanish - Spanish and English spoken - Portrayal of masculinity - reminds you of James Bond - Afro-Haitian version of James Bond. Saves the day, takes off his jacket, and tuxedo underneath
- He gets the girl in the end - Latina lady in red (somehow related to Ricky Martin?) - Dressed as European - “Meta-archipelago” Benito-Rojo Jamaica
1494 - Birth of hip hop - taken from Arawaks and ruled by Spain until it was seized by Britain 1962 - won independence In 1800, 88% of population was enslaved (highest % in Caribbean in that year) - subject to rigid cultural repression - Little influence on ruling lighter skinned white elites Difference: English colony, unlike other islands we have visited - Created a different dynamic b/w colonizers and colonized - Northern Europeans had much less exposure to African culture than Souther Europeans - Unfamiliarity with cultural practices of enslaved peoples - Very difficult to maintain musical, drumming, and vocal traditions under British colonies Difference: Religion, Britain is Protestant compared to Catholic Spain and French - No Santeria or Voodoo in Jamaica - Certainly are neo-African religious practices in Jamaica but they look and sound very different than other islands - Catholics thought it was necessary to convert slaves for your own salvation - Not necessary in Protestant colonies - Still conversion happening - Still get syncretic religions but not as widespread or unified as Voodoo or Santeria - In Catholic nations, allowing slaves to buy their freedom gave you “points” in heaven - Not the case in Protestant nations so a lot fewer free slaves 76% of population self-identify as African ethnicity Independence came so late Billboard, in 1994, established a reggae category - only other Caribbean style on charts before was “Latin Music” A lot of what was happening in Jamaica resonated with Civil Rights movement in the US Close association with British and North American music
Mass urbanization - Same moment as when popular music from Jamaica hits international scene Pocomania, Revialism - Protestant churches - 1860s, Jamaica swept by religious revival - called Great Revival - Large amounts of people were overcome with religious fervor - supply of ministers were too small to deal with everyone who wanted religious guidance - People with little to no theological training started to found churches - in backyards, small storefronts, any gathering place - Sometimes these were characterized as not christian by ruling classes - Churches became decentralized - religious practices were not uniform - little control over what was practiced in smaller places Jumping - started to happen in these small places - referred to laboring in the spirit - bringing the Holy Spirit down and embodying the Holy Spirit - Could also be an angel, or ancestor of the dead, or saint, or characters from Old Testament - often looked like possession from Voodoo or Santeria - but not the same deities - not even necessarily from Africa - Some kind of spiritual cleansing - cut the evil spirits away - In revivalist church, “put duppies on” - a way of cursing them, sending them the evil energy “Revivalist Zion Sunday Service” - bass drum - Call and response between singer, leader, and chorus “Revivalist Groaning” - Stamp out evil spirits with dancing - Unique circle dance, counterclockwise - while breathing heavily - Trumping and sounding - trumping was stamping, sounding was breathing Rastafari - Similar to revivalist - Lots of different collections and manifestations of believers
- Haile Selassie, emperor of Ethiopia - embodies a deity that Christ, Solomon, etc were black - Blacks today are a reincarnation of the ancient Israelites - Being punished for their transgressions, have suffered enough - Time for them to return to Africa, their homeland - Stress weaknesses of white race and superiority of blacks - Weekly meetings on Sunday nights - Reading and interpretations of the Bible - Connected to Protestantism - Sing original songs - But also include a lot of Methodist hymns - Rhumba Box - large thumb piano - percussion instrument - Hymns are accompanied by Rhumba box and occasionally a shaker or a small drum “We are going home” - From Rastafarian sunday meeting Wyclef Jean joined the Rastafarian movement Kumina - Closest to Neo-African traditions - Belief system that was kept secret on the plantations - Uses variety of percussion instruments - Originally found in the eastern portion of Jamaica - Original members came from rural areas - Includes singing, drumming, dancing, and spirit possession - Each kumina group has a male leader called the Captain who plays the drum and a female leader called a queen - 2 general type of songs: - Bailo: sung in Jamiacan Creole dialect, used to call deities or zombies to meeting - Country: Often sung using Congolese words, Meanings of many words lost over the years - Also a little bit of english - Sung when the possession happens - Instruments: drums, shakers - Call and response - Variety of deities: strongest are the sky gods who come to watch the ceremonies. Also earthbound deities and ancestral zombies - Kamina Bandu: low drum, the heart beat
11/12 Jamaica
Majority of people who came late to Jamaica came from what is now known as Ghana
- The Ashanti People Neo-African traditions: landscape - Mountains allowed runaway slaves to escape and preserve traditions Mento - Compare to son from Cuba - Whole class of music - English folk songs and other European musics were very popular - Played by variety of village bands and small ensembles - Local versions of these popular songs began to emerge, especially in more rural/country settings - Using variety of instruments that were available - Guitars (spanish traditions), banjos (African-derived instrument), violin - less of a genre name but a way of playing popular music - Early mentor sounded like English folk songs, sounds like English if Creole “Mango Time” - Instruments: 2 big jugs that are blown on (bass), scraper (percussion), two spoons put together, - Using household items - First true Jamaican form of nationalist music expression - Rhumba box - Skengay guitar - on offbeat - most identifiable feature of reggae - jamaican folk song “Touch me Tomato” - Jolly Boys - Mento still performed today - Boogie-Woogie Piano - Piano bass line - Singing of the blues Number 1 hits in Jamaica: see transitions “Ain’t that a shame” - sax solo, jazz inflected, early rhythm and blues Clement Dood ska Chris Blackwell - Island Records “Boogie in my Bones” - different feel of rhythm is emerging Derrick Morgan and Patsy Todd
1962: year of independence - music is more celebratory and uplifting - sonically, really in line with what was happening with rhythm & blues and motown - producers in Jamaica paying very specific attention to what was happening in US “Midnight Track” Owen Gray 1962 - even mix of rhythm and blues and some of the rhythms from Mento - Jazz influence (horn solo) Lauren Aitken - born in Cuba - Mix of Cuban and Jamaican decent - Moved to London Transition to 1980s and 1990s - Dance Hall “My Boy Lollipop” Millie 1964 - Ska - Blue beats style of ska - Comes from record label Blue Beat Records - Influence from Beatles - Harmonica solo - Not like mento solo or bluesy solo, like John Lennon solo The Wailers - Rude Boy - referring to rebellious youth “Simmer Down” 1964 - resonated with youthful audiences 11/14
Rudies - Trenchtown - Wailers “Simmer Down” - Call to youth who had no employment opportunities who were turning to drugs, crime, etc. Shift away from ska - slower rhythms Becomes known as “Rock Steady” - Draws heavily on North American soul styles - like ska
- But underlying rhythm becomes more Jamaican and less R&B - Bassline changing - Adaptation of the rhumba box melodies from mento translated into the electric bass - Basslines become more melodic - Don’t play on every beat anymore - Signature stylistic change marking Jamaican music for next 20 years - This is what separates reggae from everything else - Grassroots movement - Coming from lower classes up trying to establish some kind of identity - Arrangements become more sophisticated - Ska was very formulaic (ex. instrumentation then sax solo) - More diversified in sounds - Social Engagement - Derrick Morgan “Tougher Than Tough” (1967) - Song from perspective of Rudies - Compare to Wailers. Desmond is starting to boast about qualities of the Rudies - Note the baseline (silent on some beats) - Still elements of ska (off beat) - Form of bragging rights and assertion of agency - Anti-slavery - Coming from Rastafarian movement (redemption of black race) - Coming from a group of people that are politically and economically disempowered Reggay - “Do the reggay” - new kind of dance - Means rough street - coming from street life on the corner Rapid growth of Rastafarianism among people hanging out on the street 1970s Dominant forces in Jamaican popular culture and music: - African roots - Black redemption - Social awareness U-Roy “Wake the Town” - One of the earliest versions of rap Cheaper to have big sound system come in and play music rather than get live band - Selector (person who picked the songs, like a DJ) - Dubbing out - eliminating parts of the original vocal line in the recording - Provide dancers with new songs
- Allows DJ’s to make announcements and shoutouts -Toasting - practice of making shoutouts - When artists released songs, one side would be original and other side would be dubbed - Marcus Garvey example of dubbed (dubbed version called “The Ghost”) - Genre called “Dub” emerges - Goldmine for record labels since other people could make hits off of the dubbed version Skengay guitar - feature of reggae - resonates strongly with Afro-Jamaican religious practices in kamina bandu Bob Marley (1945 - 1981) Rastafarian tendencies -embraced Christian imagery and messages in his music viewed as dangerous appealed to young crowds very politically charged music -Encouraged to "cross over" into mainstream quickly became popular across the world and very wealthy some internal strife due to his meager background and being the voice of the people -when somebody asked about his BMW he said it stood for Bob Marley and the Wailer’s -image of the "other" -translates and disseminates messages of the "other" so that it resonates with the places that are not the "other" (the West) -One Love Peace Concert -This concert was held during a political civil war in Jamaica between opposing parties Jamaican Labour Party and the People's National Party. The concert came to its peak during Bob Marley & The Wailers' performance of "Jammin'", when Marley joined the hands of political rivals Michael Manley (PNP) and Edward Seaga (JLP). -realized that he was the one person who could pull the country together convinced him to play for the event (flew him in from London) -top 16 reggae aritsts -3rd world woodstock (1976 was last time he had been back) ->30,000 people, proceeds went to public works Yellowman - Albino musician from jamaica
