Lecture 4 - Music communities: scenes, festivals and celebrations

musical culture in trini and tobago

they were colonized by spain and later taken over by brits, lots of indian and african caribbeans coming from enslaved ppl and laborers, french and creole speakers, also spanish ppl from venezuelan ancestry, music was used as a form of resistance and resilience against colonial oppression

canboulay riots

the french brough traditions of carnival culture, celebrated emancipation but alos predated it, comes from burning sugarcane and stick fighting, british colonial gov thought it was threatening so opposed the celebration causing riots, banned drums and public burning of torches

tamboo bamboo

hollow bamboo stalks of many lengths that were accompanied by a gin bottle struck by a spoon (used as an alternative cause other instruments were banned)

steelpan

developed in the 30s, made from improved metal percussion instruments (oil drums), initially associated with young, underprivileged men, they are hammered in certain areas with different pitches, national instrument of trinidad and tobago

calypso

genre that was very popular in trinidad in the 50s, rhythms come from kaiso which is from nigerian and french creole music, singing associated with west african griot (communicates stories and histories through song and poetry), lots of double entendre and wordplay in the songs to avoid controversial lyrics, way for enslaved ppl to express themselves, mix of jazz and afro-caribbean rhythm

chantwells/calypsonians

calypso vocalists

soca

created by lord shorty, brought indie and afro-caribbean music together

indian influences in soca

dhol (double headed drum found in punjabi music), bhangra and chaal rhythm, brake drums, percussion, always fast paced

soca subgenres

chutney soca (hindi lyrics), parang soca (venezuelan music) and ragga soca (soca with dancehall and jamaican musical influences)

origins of carnival

comes from the french and spanish, immigration gave new ppl land as long as they pledge allegiance to spain and are catholic meant to target ppl from french west-indies who brough afro-creole traditions, it was a french custom initially only to celebrate plantation owning class not enslaved ppl, white french trinidadians would masquerade as africans poking fun at customs

playing mas

refers to masquerade, meant to parody white plantation owners and/or european culture, others inspired by african culture

lady lorraine

caricature of an immoral plantation wife, also had military and sailor masks

diaspora

the scattering of people across different lands and countries and languages but more than geographic dispersion, lived condition shaped by movement, memory and identity, having both feet planted in both worlds

caribana

festival in toronto that is pan-carrribean, mostly soca music but also calypso, reggae, dancehall, there are mas bands (pick and join one, levels of costumes, they have a king and queen), steelband competition

community

group of people with shared music/genre, support each other, united front, linked by common policy, history

participatory performance

no artist-audience distinction, only participants and potential participants, dense, repetitive, open, flexible, cloaking (might not know who plays what part individual), feathered beginnings and endings)

presentational performance

one group is the artists that prepare and provide the music while the other group is the audience who don't participate in making the music, transparency of texture, solo virtuosity, predetermined, closed form, organized beginnings and endings, coordinated changes, specialized playing and listening, implied hierarchy that dictates not just how we play but how we listen to music

fundacion surprise city

place that allowed musicians to train, created spaces for mass participation, entrepreneurship and the arts, mulato

encuentros hip hop

offered opportunity for professionalization through workshops, themes included awareness of psychoactive substances, military services, tree planting, sexual health, place to fit in through participating in this event is important

community building

merging of subjectivities, through immediacy and physicality of shared participation, both pleasure and stakes for a song are increased as sounds, words, and messages embodied by cross-section of singing subjects who are empowered as speakers of a text rather than simply the spoken to

identity forming

fundamental to forming and sustaining social groups which in turn basic to survival, part of community through realization of shared cultural knowledge and style, public presentations of deepest feelings and qualities that make a group unique

balancing familiarity vs creativity (packman reading)

people prefer songs they recognize because they can sing along and connect to it but musicians also want to distinguish themselves from other artists by changing some elements of a song to express their own artisitic identity so challenge in finding the right balance between the two

context (packman)

bars and restaurants usually rely in recognizable songs, concert style shows give performers freedom to experiment and in carnival familiarity is very important so audience can participate

musica popular brasileira (packman)

brazilian pop music associated with complexity, sophisticated arrangement and middle class, known as good music

axe music (packman)

popular style closely associated with bahian carnival, emphasizes catchy melodies, simple, repetitive, danceable and encourages audience participation

blocos (packman)

organized carnival groups who’s members pay to participate in a restricted area around the performers

camarotes (packman)

elevated luxury viewing areas used by wealthier attendees

pipoca (packman)

the general street crowd which participates without paying to join a bloco

o canto da cidade by daniela mercury (packman)

controversial because lyrics raise questions about who can represent salvador and claim ownership of its cultural identity, country primarily black but social economic power has disproportionately been held by light skin ppl (ie: daniela mercury)

embodied participation (packman)

taking part in music physically, especially through singing and dancing

ken daley (el mekaui)

canadian artist who comes from dominica, moko jumbies is his art exploring relationship between carnival, african ancestry, caribbean culture and black identity in canada

moko jumbies (el mekaui)

their heigh represents protection and visibility, symbolically resisting the marginalization of black communities

jab molassie (el mekaui)

carnival character, traditionally associated with dark body paint, horns, chains, recalls plantation history and represents rebellion against oppression

collette “miss coco” murray (el mekaui)

toronto aritist from ghana who uses dance, live drumming, performance and storytelling to explore cultural identity, “un loc de riddims in meh body” combines photos documenting her carnival experiences

living archive (el mekaui)

way of preserving and transmitting history throughh embodied practices like dance, music, ritual and storytelling rather than just written documents

decolonial practice

challenging colonial power and assumptions by restoring value to marginalized knowledge, traditions, histories and cultural practices