Music of Martinique and Guadeloupe

Folk music

Chouval bwa

Main article: Chouval bwa

Chouval bwa is a kind of Martinican traditional music, featuring percussion, bamboo flute, accordion, and wax-paper/comb-type kazoo. The music originated among rural Martinicans, as a form of celebratory holiday music played to accompany a dance called the manege (which translates as merry-go-round; chouval bwa is a Creole version of cheval bois, which refers to the wooden horses seen on merry-go-rounds). Chouval bwa percussion is played by a drummer on the tanbour drum and the ti bwa, a percussion instrument made out of a piece of bamboo laid horizontally and beaten with sticks; the most traditional ensembles also use accordions, chacha (a rattle) and the bel-air, a bass version of the tanbour <ref name=Rough>Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289-303</ref>.

Gwo ka

Main article: Gwo ka

Gwo ka is a family of hand drums used to create a form of folk music from Guadeloupe. There are seven basic rhythms in gwo ka, and multiple variations on each. Different sizes of drums establish the foundation and its flourishes, with the largest, the boula, playing the central rhythm and the smaller, markeur (or maké) drums embellishes upon it and interplays with the dancers, audience or singer. Gwo ka singing usually guttural, nasal and rough, though it can also be bright and smooth, and is accompanied by uplifting and complex harmonies and melodies <ref name=Rough>Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289-303</ref>.

Rural Guadeloupans still use gwo ka drums in communal experiences called lewozes; this is the most traditional manifestation of gwo ka in modern Guadeloupe. Gwo ka is also played at Carnival and other celebrations. A modernized and popularized form of gwo ka is well-known on the islands; it is known as gwo ka moderne <ref name=Rough>Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289-303</ref>.

Popular music

Though Martinique and Guadeloupe are most frequently known only for the internationally-renowned zouk style, the islands have also produced popular musicians in various updated styles of traditional biguine, chouval bwa and gwo ka. The world-famous zouk band Kassav' remains easily the most famous performers from the island. William Flessel and Ti Celeste are well-known artists in the gwo ka moderne style, while the Guadeloupan Carnival band Akiyo has become the only group in that style to record commercially. Chouval bwa has diversifed into pop genres like zouk chouv, which includes electric instrumentation and has been popularized by Claude Germany, Tumpak, Dede Saint-Prix, and Pakatak. Germany is the most traditionally-styled of the popular zouk chouv performers, while Marce Pago of Tumpak is particularly influential, and is also known for coining the term zouk chouv in 1987 <ref name=Rough>Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289-303</ref>.

Biguine

Main article: Biguine

Biguine is a Martinican form of clarinet and trombone music which can be divided into two distinct types:

• bidgin bélè or drum biguine - originates in slave bélè dances and characterized by the use of bélè drums and tibwa rhythm sticks, along with call and response, nasal vocals and improvised instrumental solos; has its roots in West African ritual dances, though ceremonial components do not survive in Haitian biguine.
• orchestrated biguine - originates in Saint-Pierre in the 18th century, highly influenced by French music though vocals are usually in creole.

Evolving out of string band music, biguine spread to mainland France in the 1920s. Early stars like Alexandre Stellio and Sam Castandet became popular. Its popularity abroad died relatively quickly, but it lasted as a major force in popular music on Martinique until Haitian compas took over in the 1950s and mini-jazz artists like Les Gentlemen and Les Vikings de Guadeloupe became popular in the late 1960s. In the later part of the 20th century, biguine musicians like clarinet virtuoso Michel Godzom helped revolutionize the genre. Biguine moderne, a pop form, has maintained some pop success in Martinique, especially artists like Kali, who fuse the genre with reggae.

Kadans

Main article: Kadans

In the 1970s, a wave of Haitian immigrants to Martinique brought with them the kadans, a sophisticated form of music that quickly swept the island and helped united all the former French colonies of the Caribbean by combining their cultural influences. These Haitians drew upon previous success from mini-jazz artists like Les Gentlemen, Les Leopards and Les Vikings de Guadeloupe.

Zouk

Main article: Zouk

Zouk arose in the mid-1980s, a combination of European, African and Indian musics. Elements of gwo ka, tambour, ti bwa and biguine vidé are prominent in zouk. Though there are many diverse styles of zouk, some commonalities exist. The French Creole tongue of Martinique and Guadeloupe is an important element, and are a distinctive part of the music. Generally, zouk is based around star singers, with little attention given to instrumentalists, and is based almost entirely around studio recordings <ref name=Rough>Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289-303</ref>.

The band Kassav' remain the best known zouk group. Kassav' drew in influences from balakadri and bal granmoun dances, biguines and mazurkas, along with more contemporary Caribbean influences like reggae and salsa music. Zouk live shows soon began to draw on American and European rock and heavy metal traditions, and the genre spread across the world, primarily in developing countries.

Gwo ka moderne

A more modernized version of gwo ka is gwo ka moderne, which adds new instruments ranging from conga or djembe drums and chimes to electric bass guitar. At root, however, these styles all use the same fundamental seven rhythms as folk gwo ka. Zouk legends Kassav' played an important role in the modernization of gwo ka, giving urban credibility to a style that was seen as backward and unsophisticated; they initially played in a gro ka format, using songs from the gwo ka Carnival tradition of mas a St. Jean and even placing an homage to traditionalist drumming legend Velo on their earlier albums <ref name=Rough>Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289-303</ref>.

Gwo ka moderne artists include Pakala Percussion, Van Lévé and Poukoutan'n, alongside more pop-influenced musicians like Marcel Magnat and Ti Celeste, while Gerard Hubert and others have fused gwo ka with zouk. The most famous modern gwo ka performer, however, is William Flessel, whose Message Ka in 1994 became an international hit <ref name=Rough>Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289-303</ref>.

References

• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite book - "Dance Funk Creole Style" by Charles de Ledesma and Gene Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289-303

Notes

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Further reading