Survey of Caribbean Music

 The Caribbean: Sugar, Spice and everything nice

The Caribbean remains one of the most sort after destinations in the world. With a strong hold on tourism, The Caribbean boasts the perfect climate, some of the most beautiful and luxurious beaches as well as a very rich, deep rooted culture. 

Creolization of Caribbean Music- Intro

    The creative uniqueness of these islands can be seen in through their culture which encompasses their music, their food, their people, their history. The musical sounds from the Caribbean islands are a unique blend, each island nation its own style or combinations, of Afro-Eurasian ( eastern Asia) influence. This is what is known as creolization, a blend of musical and multicultural traditions, as noted in Tour de Force: A Musical Journey of the Caribbean. With a rhythm than can make you rock your waste-line to  the use of brass instruments adding texture to the melody, The music from the Caribbean seems highly under-rated yet very much top-tier.

Junkanoo

 

Junkanoo in The Bahamas is said to have originated in the 17th century by slaves. The festival, according to the Bahamian government, was originally called John Canoe in honor of a West African chief who, legend has it, demanded the celebration with his kinfolk. It started with the participants masking their faces with flour paste and later using wire masks. They played goatskin drums and blew bugles and horns for music. The costumes in the 1920's were made mostly of sponges as that industry was booming at the time. The Junkanoo that we experience today is more advanced artistically and musically with colorful, intricate designs and the addition of brass instruments and cowbells

    Nicolette Bethel in her work titles Junkanoo in The Bahamas: A Tale of Identity painted a beautiful oxymoronic picture of the representation of Junkanoo depicting it as a representation of both wealth and poverty, discipline and rebelliousness, competitive yet cooperative. Junkanoo has remained a staple in The Bahamian culture as a marker of our identification

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     This video represents what the Caribbean community embodies or, at least- tries to; Unity, Love Togetherness, and purely good vibes. Present in one setting is a Bahamian Junkanoo group, The Valley boys (Who are we? 📢 'Da Valley) and a Soca Group called Kes the Band, two different genres of music representing Caribbean culture. 

Food

Creolization is also evident in the food on the Caribbean. Pate, believed to be a European dish was given a Caribbean Flare as seen below. Pate (pah-TAY) is a French word meaning paste. Pate is a dish of some form of grounded/pasted meat a-top or baked in a pie crust. The Jamaican version is patty (pah-TEE) same concept different style and most definitely different flavor....mouth watering😋. The Haitian version Pate Kode (pronounced similarly to the French...difference in pitch) applies the same concept with differing ingredients, most of which uses a hard boiled egg.

I shared the video below because I love making and trying Caribbean dishes. My friends and I watched this video and followed it step by step, pausing the video between the steps to complete the tasks and it was sooooooo delicious. You guys should definitely try it, and invite me for some🤣.

Picture collage created by myself using google images

References:

Bethel, N. (2003). Junkanoo in the Bahamas: A tale of identity. Junkanoo and religion: Christianity and cultural identity in the Bahamas, 118-130.

Gangelhoff, N. & LeGrand, C. (2020). Tour de Force: A Musical Journey of the Caribbean

Government of The Bahamas. (2011). Culture. The Government of The Bahamas. Retrieved May 15, 2022, from https://www.bahamas.gov.bs/wps/portal/public/Culture/Junkanoo