Themusic of Martinique has a heritage which is intertwined with that of its sisterisland,Guadeloupe. Despite their small size, the islands have created a large popular music industry, which gained in international renown after the success ofzouk music in the later 20th century. Zouk's popularity was particularly intense in France, where the genre became an important symbol of identity for Martinique and Guadeloupe.[1] Zouk's origins are in the folk music of Martinique and Guadeloupe, especially Martinicanchouval bwa, and Guadeloupangwo ka. There's also notable influence of thepan-Caribbeancalypso tradition and Haitiankompa.
Carnival is a very important festival, known as Vaval on Martinique. Music plays a vital role, with Martinican big bands marching across the island. Vaval declined followingWorld War II, bouncing back with new band formats and new traditions only in the 1980s. Like Guadeloupe, Martinique features participatory,call-and-response style songs during its Vaval celebrations.
In the early 20th century on Martinique, Creole bands travelled on trucks or small carts during Vaval, playing a music known asbiguine vidé (or justvideé). After the decline of Vaval in World War II, the tradition began anew in the 1980s, when large marching bands of fifty or more people became common, including a number of horn players, percussionists and dancers. These large bands, known asgroups à pied, are each identified with a neighborhood.
Biguine vidé is an up-tempo version of thebiguine rhythm, combining other carnival elements. It participatory music, with the bandleader singing a verse and the audience responding. Modern instrumentation includes a variety of improvised drums made from containers of all kinds, plastic plumbing,bells, tanbou débonda, béléchacha,tibwa andbélé drums. Aside from the biguine vidé bands, Vaval includes song and costume contests,masquerading andzouk parties.[2]
The bel air (or bélé) is a legacy of theslave music tradition. Thebélé itself is a hugetambour drum that players ride as though it was a horse. It is characterized, in its rhythm, by the "tibwa" (two wooden sticks) played on a length of bamboo mounted on a stand to the tambour bélé, and is often accompanied by achacha (amaracas). Thetibwa rhythm plays a basic pattern and the drum comes to mark the highlights and introduce percussion improvisations.[3][4][5]
It is organized in a certain way, the first entry of the singer ( lavwa ) and choir ( lavwa Deye or "answer"). Then the "Bwatè" (player ti bwa) sets the pace, followed by bélé drum. Finally, the dancers take the stage. A dialogue is created between the dancers and the "tanbouyè" (drummer). The "answer" play opposite the singer, the audience can also participate. As a family, together singers, dancers, musicians and audiences are lured by its mesmerizing rhythms. The bélé song-dances include,bélé dous,bélé pitjè,biguine bélé,bélé belya, andgran bélé
The bélé is the origin of several important Martiniquan popular styles, includingchouval bwa andbiguine, and also exerted an influence onzouk.[6]
Edmond Mondesir is a popular bélé musician from Martinique.
Chouval bwa is a kind of Martinican traditional music, featuringpercussion,bambooflute,accordion, andcomb and paper-typekazoo. The music originated among rural Martinicans, as a form of celebratory holiday music played to accompany a dance called themanege (which translates asmerry-go-round;chouval bwa is a Creole version ofcheval bois, which refers to the wooden horses seen on merry-go-rounds). Chouval bwa percussion is played by a drummer on thetanbour drum and theti bwa, a percussion instrument made out of a piece of bamboo laid horizontally and beaten with sticks; the most traditional ensembles also useaccordions,chacha (arattle) and thebel-air, a bass version of thetanbour.[1]
InFrench Caribbean culture, especially of theLesser Antilles, the termkwadril is a Creole term referring to a folk dance derived from thequadrille. kwadril dances are in sets consisting of proper quadrilles, plus creolized versions of 19th-century couple dances:biguines,mazouks and valses Créoles.
Instrumentation consists of variable combinations ofaccordion,guitar,violin, tanbou dibas, chacha (either a single metal cylinder as inMartinique, or calabash without a handle, held in both hands), malakach (maracas), triangle, bwa (tibwa) and syak, a bamboo rasp one metre long, grooved on both top and bottom, held with one end on the belly and the other on a door or wall and scraped with both hands.
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 bandKassav' remains easily the most famous performers from the island. Chouval bwa has been popularized byClaude Germany,Tumpak,Dédé Saint-Prix, and Pakatak.
Martinique is also the birthplace of theGibson Brothers who achieved significant chart success worldwide, most notably with their single "Cuba".
Biguine is a Martinican form ofclarinet andtrombone music which can be divided into two distinct types:
Evolving out of string band music, biguine spread to mainland France in the 1920s. Early stars likeAlexandre Stellio andSam Castandet became popular. Its popularity abroad died relatively quickly, but it lasted as a major force in popular music on Martinique untilHaitiancompas took over in the 1950s andmini-jazz artists likeLes Gentlemen andLes Vikings de Guadeloupe became popular in the late 1960s. In the later part of the 20th century, biguine musicians likeclarinet virtuosoMichel Godzom helped revolutionize the genre.
In the 1970s, a wave ofHaitian, mostly musicians, to Dominica and the French Antilles (Guadeloupe andMartinique) brought with them thekadans(another word named for the genre compas), a sophisticated form of music that quickly swept the island and helped unite all the former French colonies of the Caribbean by combining their cultural influences. These Haitians drew upon previous success frommini-jazz artists likeLes Gentlemen,Les Leopards, andLes Vikings de Guadeloupe.
Later in the decade and into the 1980s, the French Antilles became home to a style of cadence music calledcadence-lypso.Gordon Henderson'sExile One innovated this style, as well as turned the mini-jazz combos into guitar-dominated big bands with a full-horn section and the newly arrivedsynthesizers, paving the way for the success of large groups likeGrammacks,Experience 7, among others. Drawing on these influences, the supergroupKassav' invented zouk and popularized it with hit songs like "Zouk-La-Se Sel Medikaman Nou Ni". Kassav' formed from Paris in 1978.
Mini-jazz was formed in the mid-60s characterized by the rock bands formula of two guitars, one bass, drum-conga-cowbell, some use an alto sax or a full horn section, others use a keyboard, accordion or lead guitar. However, all these small jazz or bands had their guitars with sophisticated styles. The 1970s were dominated by mini-jazz, which still used a variant of theméringue style. One of the mini-jazz groups,Tabou Combo, became the most popular ensemble of Haiti.[7] From Haiti the mini-jazz formula replicated in the French Antilles in the 1970s.
The most influential figure in the promotion of Cadence-lypso was the Dominican groupExile One (based on the island ofGuadeloupe) that featured mostly thecadence rampa of Haiti andcalypso music from the English speaking caribbean.[8] It was pushed in the 1970s by groups from Dominica, and was the first style of Dominican music to find international acclaim.[9]
Dominica cadence music has evolved under the influence of Dominican and Caribbean/Latin rhythms, as well asrock and roll,soul, andfunk music from the United States.[10]By the end of the 1970s,Gordon Henderson defined Cadence-lypso as "asynthesis of Caribbean and African musical patterns fusing the traditional with the contemporary".
Aside from Exile One, other bands included theGrammacks,Black Roots,Black Machine,Naked Feet,Belles Combo, Mantra,Black Affairs,Liquid Ice,Wafrikai,Midnighte Groovers and Milestone, while the most famous singers included Bill Thomas,Chubby Marc, Gordon Henderson,Linford John,Janet Azouz,Sinky Rabess,Tony Valmond,Jeff Joseph,Mike Moreau,Anthony Gussie andOphelia Marie.
The inspiration for Zouk's style of rhythmic music comes from the Haitiancompas, as well as music calledcadence-lypso - Dominica cadence popularized byGrammacks andExile One. Elements ofgwo ka, tambour, ti bwa and biguine vidé are prominent in zouk. Though there are many diverse styles of zouk, some commonalities exist. TheFrench 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.
Music authorsCharles De Ledesma andGene Scaramuzzo trace zouk's development to the Guadeloupean gwo ka and Martinicanbèlè (tambour andti bwa)[11]folk traditions. Ethnomusicologist Jocelyn Guilbault, however, describes zouk as a synthesis of Caribbean popular styles, especiallyDominica cadence-lypso, Haitiancadence, Guadeloupeanbiguine.[12] Zouk arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s, using elements of previous styles of Antillean music, as well as imported genres.[13]
Zouk Love is the French Antilles cadence orcompas, characterized by a slow, soft and sexual rhythm. The lyrics of the songs often speak of love and sentimental problems.
The musiccabo-love from Cape Verde are also derivative of this French Antillean compas style, which sounds basically the same, although there are notable differences once you become more familiar with these genre. A main exponent of this subgenre isOphelia Marie. Other Zouk Love artists come from the French West Indies, the Netherlands, and Africa.
Popular artists include French West Indian artistsEdith Lefel and Nichols, or like Netherlands basedSuzanna Lubrano andGil Semedo, the African artistKaysha.
Bouyon (Boo-Yon) is a form of popularmusic of Dominica. Bouyon was developed in the 1980s by bands likeWCK, combining elements of kadans (orcadence-lypso),lapo kabwit drumming, the folk stylejing-ping, and a quick-paced electronic drum pattern. More recently, deejays with raggamuffin-style vocals have moved to the fore, updating the sound for the New Generation.
InGuadeloupe andMartinique, "Jump up" refers generally to bouyon music.
The French Antilles hip hop is a style ofhip hop music originating from the French departments ofGuadeloupe andMartinique in the Caribbean. Usually in French andAntillean creole, theFrench Antilles hip hop is most popular in the French Antilles andFrance.
Two large, international music festivals have further bolstered Martinique's music scene.Jazz à la Martinique andCarrefour Mondial de Guitare alternate years. The country's best jazz musicians are featured during Jazz à la Martinique, but major worldwide players likeBranford Marsalis also perform. Honoring the guitar, Carrefour Mondial de Guitare celebrates a wide range of guitar genres, including flamenco, blues, jazz, rock, and pop. Both festivals last approximately a week, with concerts in various locations throughout Martinique. Recently,Franck Nicolas presented "Bélé-Jazz", a style ofjazz using thebélé rhythms as its basis.
