“LaBega Carousel”
Joseph Parris and the Hotshots
St. Croix, US Virgin Islands
Vocalist, Saxophone, Bass Guitar (ole pipe and wash
tub), Electric Guitar, Banjo,
Guiro(scratcher/quash/washtub),Triangle(steel),Congo Drum
Quelbe
The Virgin Islands are a group of islands that are a
part of the Leeward Islands of the Caribbean and are separated presently into
two groups which are the US Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.
Although they are under the flag of two different nations they share one form
of indigenous music referred to as Quelbe. One could only imagine the information
that an ethnomusicologist would find conducting fieldwork associated with this
genre of music. Scratch band and fungi band music as it is also called, was
initiated by the West African slaves who worked on sugar plantations during the
Danish rule over the Virgin Islands. The slaves brought with them their
rhythmic and storytelling practices as was the case in many other Caribbean
Islands at the time. Plantation owners would outlaw these traditions and force
the slaves to formulate a new method of maintaining their traditions and
culture. The lyrics and use of instrumentation tell stories of the journey of
West Africans from slavery to citizens of their new respective countries and
culture after transferring allegiance. Abolishing slavery and transferring
sovereignty led to political as well as economic hardship of the inhabitants of
this new environment. St. Croix, one of the US Virgin Islands was no different
and the song “LaBega Corousel” tells a story of a boycott of a carousel because
the man who owned the famous carousel opposed a pay raise for laborers who he
felt were not worthy of it.
