“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.
Greetings, Tino!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post - I selected "Music in the Hispanic Caribbean" as my curricular focus for this term, and your selection falls fairly close to the three big islands that are covered in the book. The first word from our readings that came to mind while listening to this work was "glocalization," Bonnie Wade wrote in Thinking Musically, Such globally shared music is constantly decontextualized by those who listen to it, given new meanings, and made to perform new as well as the same old functions - a process that ethnomusicologists call glocalization (global localization).” (p. 19) In this piece, because of my locality, I hear ideas that remind me of connections to music I have heard, but not in the same context as someone who grew up in the Virgin Islands. The banjo playing style reminds me of music that would have been played in the western style, which I remember from SixFlags performances, and Bugs Bunny cartoons from my youth. The overall style though sounds like an early predecessor of New Orleans Jazz. It is most likely that several of these unique playing styles were passed from the islands to our mainland in a horrific trade. I find the piece of music has great feel and rhythmic undulation, and the solo improvisation is quite catchy and energetic.
Thank you for sharing!
You are welcome Andre but believe it or not this music is actually West African traditions and Danish instrumentation combined. I do understand why you would mention the concept of "glocalization." The music does have sentimental value to the people of the Virgin Islands because of the lyrical content that narrates and informs us of the hardship the slaves went through even after they were emancipated. This is a great example of music and textual meaning where musicians used singing text as a license to say something not permitted in ordinary speech (Wade p. 11).
ReplyDeleteGreat example Eltino. This music reminds me of elements of jazz and what might have been played in the deep south- but with Caribbean elements and Danish instrumentation. What a different sound. Also- very interesting to note that this was a type of piece where performers could sing what they were not permitted to speak in ordinary speech. Reminds us of what an important outlet music can be for the oppressed. I can definitely see how music like this "fused" together, and how that can be similar to the styles we've experienced in America- like New Orleans jazz. Great selection!
ReplyDeleteYour blog was posted late this week. Make sure you have each week’s blog entry posted by Friday. Good description of the piece. Make sure you also include your paragraph reacting to each week’s specific prompt. This can be found under Assignments each week. I mistakenly recommended YouTube as a source. For future weeks, please use Smithsonian Folkways, Garland Encyclopedia of World Music, or BBC World Music.
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