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| If asked which world-beat dance
music had the best odds of breaking through to the mass consciousness
I would have no hesitation in citing the wonderful music of
the French Caribbean. |
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I have often railed at the non-availability
of zouk, kompa, cadance and biguine in Australia. In the not too
distant future I will updating articles which I wrote for DIASPORA
magazine a couple of years ago about this neglected area of tropical
music, so keep your mouse ready. If any justification were needed
I could cite the preponderance of zouk and kompa that grace any
of the Caribbean compilations that Putumayo has released
over the years. And now the label has released a whole CD entitled
to the music entitled French Caribbean. The funky zouk of Taxikreol's
Mandolin opens the collection in festive style with pumping
beats, a chorus that won't leave your head and a storming sax that
takes the number out on a high note...A superb release ...MORE
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The
Music of Martinique
It beggars belief that Martinique, A Caribbean
isle covering barely the area of the Sydney metropolitan area
should have such a broad range of music, from the modern sounds
of zouk, the 70s and 80s cadance style, the jazzy biguine whose
development parallels New Orleans jazz (possibly even preceding
it) to percussion/vocal/dance troupes who maintain an unshakable
bond with Africa. |
If you listen to these troupes you can hear
in the vocal tones and embellishments, the choral call and response
and the distinctive bubbling rhythms the sound of the island that
indelibly marks all of the abovementioned genres to some degree.
Wapa Sakitanou is a ten-piece group of singers, dancers and
percussionists who formed in 1990 to carry on the tradition. Percussion
consists of the ti bwa which is a piece of bamboo beaten with two
sticks and the tambour bele, an oak barrel with sheep membrane...MORE
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IN MEMORIAM
Edith Lefel
(1964-2003) one of the foremost zouk singers died of a heart
attack at 39 years of age. She was one of the first stars
during zouk's hey-day in the late 80's. Equally at home with
jazz, ragga,funk,samba and such Antillean styles as biguine,
cadence and mazurka, she also performed with such heavyweights
as Kassav and Malavoi.
In fact although her records are hard to come by in Australia,
I would like to point out her beautiful singing on La Siren,
the opening song to the Matebis project by Malavoi,
a CD which was miraculously available in these culturally
deprived climes. Apart from that album and her presence as
a backing vocalist on the hard-hitting Zouk Obsession by
Pier Rosier's Gazoline you've got Buckley's
of finding her elsewhere.
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Jephte Guillaume - Voyage of Dreams
Legends of Calypso
The Legends of Calypso
The various anthologies of Caribbean music reviewed in the pages
of the first 11 issues of DIASPORA magazine tended to cover the
roots styles such as the excellent field recordings made by Alan
Lomax or the acknowledged masters of calypso.
The
latest selection of classic calypso music to cross my desk The
Legends Of Calypso (ARC Music Intl) veers away from the carnival
tents and presents many of the enduringly popular hit songs through
the 40s and 50s from Trinidad, the Bahamas and beyond...MORE
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© DIASPORA World Beat 2003 | Webdesign:Lydia
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