| Coladeira | |
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| Stylistic origins | Morna |
| Cultural origins | Cape Verde |
| Typical instruments |
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| Music of Cape Verde | ||||
| Genres | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Media and performance | ||||
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Thecoladeira (Local Portuguese pronunciation:[kulɐˈdejɾɐ];Kabuverdianu:koladera,[kolɐˈdeɾɐ]) is amusic genre fromCape Verde.
It is characterized by a variabletempo, a 2-beatbar, and (in its most traditional form) a harmonic structure based in acycle of fifths. The lyrics structure is organized instrophes that alternate with arefrain. The tone is generally joyful and themes often include social criticism. Instrumentation typically includes aguitar, acavaquinho, and percussion, among others.
According to oral tradition, the genre originated in the 1930s when the composerAnton’ Tchitch’ intentionally sped up the tempo of amorna. In the 1960s, it began to incorporate electric instruments.
Coladeira also refers to a ballroom dance done in pairs accompanied by the music.
As a music genre thecoladeira is characterized by having a variabletempo, fromallegro toandante, a 2-beatbar,[1] and in its most traditional form by having an harmonic structure based in acycle of fifths, while the lyrics structure is organized instrophes that alternate with arefrain. Thecoladeira is almost alwaysmonotonic,[2] i.e. composed in just one tonality. Compositions that use more than a tonality are rare and generally they are cases of passing from a minor to major tonality or vice versa.
As it was said before, in its most traditional form thecoladeira follows a cycle of fifths. This characteristic is a direct heritage from themorna. Even so, many composers (especially more recent ones) do not always use this structure.
Also in the melodic line one can find characteristics similar to themorna, for example the alternation between the main strophes and the refrain, the sweeping melodic line, thesyncopation, etc. has changed it a little.
Generally, the subjects that thecoladeira talks about are satires, social criticism, jokes and playful and happy themes. According toCarlos Filipe Gonçalves,[3] the original themes of the Boa Vistamorna were precisely these ones. But after the thematic change in the passage from the Boa Vistamorna to the Bravamorna, the emerging genrecoladeira would have taken over the initial thematic of the Boa Vistamorna. These themes remind the mediaevalescárnio e maldizer songs from Portugal.
The composition of a group for playing thecoladeira is not rigid. A medium-sized band may include besides aguitar (popularly called “violão” in Cape Verde) acavaquinho (that plays the chords rhythmically), a solo instrument besides the singer’s voice and some percussion. A bigger band may include another guitar, anacoustic bass guitar, more than one solo instrument (aviolin — popularly called “rabeca” in Cape Verde —, aclarinet, atrumpet, etc.) and several percussion instruments (ashaker, agüiro, acowbell,congas, etc.).
The specific way ofstrumming the strings in a guitar is popularly called “mãozada” in Cape Verde. The strumming of thecoladeira articulates abass (played with the thumb, marking the beats) withchords (played with the other fingers, rhythmically).
From the 1960s it starts to happen the electrification of thecoladeira, in which the percussion instruments are replaced by adrum kit and the bass / accompaniment play performed in the guitar is replaced by abass guitar and anelectric guitar. From the 1980s there is a big scale usage of electronic instruments (synthesizers,drum machines), being that usage much appreciated by some and criticized by others. In the late 1990s there is a comeback to the roots where unplugged (acoustic) performances are sought after again.
In its most traditional form, the song starts by an introduction played in the soloist instrument (having this intro generally the same melody as the refrain), and then the song develops in an alternation between the main strophes and the refrain. Approximately after the middle of the song, instead of the sung refrain, the soloist instrument performs an improvisation. Recent composers, however, do not always use this sequence.
As a dance, the coladeira is a ballroom dance, danced in pairs. The performers dance with an arm embracing the partner, while with the other arm they hold hands. The dancing is made through two body swings and shoulder undulations to one side, marking the rhythm’s beats of the bar, while in the next bar the swinging is made to the other side.
The footwork is a basic side-tap, side-tap. For example, the left foot moves to the left with a weight-shift to the left foot. The right foot then 'taps' (touching the floor without weight-shift) next to the left foot. This is followed by the same movement to the other side: the right foot moves back to the right with a weigh-shift to the right foot, and the left foot comes back to tap beside the right also invented and mastered by Tommy Andrade in 1995 from Brockton.[4]
The wordkoladera initially referred to the act of going out and singing thecolá. According to the oral tradition,[5] a new musical genre appeared in the 1930s when the composer Anton’ Tchitch’ intentionally speeded up the tempo of amorna. Someone in the crowd is said to have shouted “já Bocê v’rá-’l n’um coladêra” (you have transformed it in acoladeira), i.e., amorna performed with the tempo and liveliness of akoladera. Technically, thecoladeira appeared as a division in half of the length of the notes of themorna, through the acceleration of the tempo.
Little by little, this new musical genre was consolidated, absorbing several musical influences, mostly from Brazilian music. From S. Vicente this musical genre passed to the other islands, leading to the emergence of two schools,[3] each one with its own style: one inBarlavento, centered inMindelo, and another inSotavento, centered inPraia.
In the 1950s, some innovations started to appear in thecoladeira, similar to the ones that appeared with themorna. It is in this period that electric instruments began to be used, and thecoladeira began to receive international attention, either through performances abroad or by the distribution ofcoladeira records. Thecoladeira continued to integrate influences from abroad, from Brazilian music and also from Anglo-Saxon music. In the 1970s, with the appearance of movements against colonialism and relations with socialist countries, other influences came along, including Latin-American music (bolero,son cubano,salsa,cumbia) and African music (especially fromAngola andGuinea-Bissau).
In terms of musical structure, thecoladeira began to slowly lose the traits that used to identify it with themorna. It was in this period that the dichotomymorna \coladeira was established.
From the 1980s onwards, there was a strong influence of Antilleanzouk on Cape Verdean music. This influence is probably due to the fact that, rhythmically,zouk has some analogies with coladeira and also probably due to some cultural analogies between the Antilles and Cape Verde (the fact that they are islands, the fact that the population also speaks Creole, the fact that the population is also mixed-race, etc.).
This influence is not as recent as is sometimes thought, there was already some influence of Haitian music at the end of the 1970s, but it was from the second half of the 1980s that the influence of the French Antilles was noticeable, due to the growing commercial success of certain groups in France (for example, Kassav').
Although some purists don't take kindly to the influence of zouk in Cape Verde, the fact is that it has already become a commercial success. It is mainly among the younger generation and Cape Verdean musicians abroad that this variant of the coladeira is found. At this time, there is also an excessive commercialization and trivialization of the coladeira influenced by zouk.
In spite of being a relatively recent musical genre, thecoladeira has already some variants.
Being a derivative of themorna, it is natural that thecoladeira shares some characteristics with the former, as the harmonic sequence, the verse structure and a varied and syncopated melodic line. According to J. Monteiro,[5] the truecoladeira is the one that results from amorna. So, if themorna is normally played with a 60bpm tempo, thecoladeira should have a 120 bpm tempo. However, this is not always the case.
That is due to the presence of two opposite styles[3] in the '50s of this variant of thecoladeira, that correspond to the preference of certain composers: the “Ti Goy style”[3] has a slower tempo (moderato), a simpler melodic line, the traditional 3 chords series, the use of rhymes and a more sarcastic thematic; the “Tony Marques style”[3] has a quicker tempo (allegro), a melody well adapted to the rhythmics, a richer chord progression with passing chords, and a more varied thematic.
Later, these two styles influenced each other, and the compositions from the '60s are a blend of the two preceding styles.
In this variant of thecoladeira the bass line marks the beats of the bar.
Thelundum is a musical genre that was once in vogue in Cape Verde. Nowadays this genre is not known anymore. InBoa Vista it subsists,[6] not as a musical genre but as a specific song played in weddings.
However, thelundum has not disappeared completely. Besides the transformation of thelundum to themorna (check the main article —morna), thelundum went on absorbing external elements, for instance, from the Braziliansbossa nova andsamba-canção, and later from the emerging genrecoladeira. Today, this variant is more known asslowcoladeira, and it has also been known astoada orcontratempo. Due to some analogies with the bossa nova it occasionally calledcola-samba or“sambed”coladeira. It is a variant of thecoladeira with a slower tempo (andante), simpler structure than themorna, the rhythmic accentuation of the melody is on the first beat and the last half-beat of the bar. Perhaps the most internationally known example of this variant ofcoladeira is the song “Sodade” performed byCesária Évora.
In this variant ofcoladeira the bass line marks the first and the last quarter-beats of the bar.
As already mentioned, from the 1980s onwards there was a strong influence ofzouk. In some cases there has been a fusion ofzouk with coladeira, to which some authors have given various names such ascolá-dance,colá-zouk,cabo-swing,cabo-love, etc.
But in other cases the interpretation is practically a copy ofzouk. In this variant, the rhythm has the same accent aszouk, the instrumentation is also copied fromzouk, the melodic accent is different, the syncopation is done in other contexts and the melodic line is less continuous than the traditional coladeira, with pauses. The harmonic sequences are very diverse, with the structure based on the cycle of fifths rarely appearing. The very structure of the composition is different from the traditional alternation between the main verses and the refrain found in thecoladeira and themorna, and the organization of the verses in the stanzas is not as fixed as in thecoladeira and themorna.
TheCabo Verde Music Award for Best Coladeira was created in 2011, it awards a best song related to this genre each year.