Picture - Ensemble Vacations Magazine

IMAGE COURTESY OF ANTIGUA & BARBUDA TOURIST OFFICE
Caribbean music is joyful,
passionate and as varied as
the islands themselves
EVERY SOFT, WARM BREEZE IN
THE CARIBBEAN SEEMS TO PULSE
WITH MUSIC. In Jamaica, the slow
and steady bass beats of reggae fill the air.
The lively Afro-Spanish sounds of son can
be heard in Cuba, and in Trinidad and
Tobago, people enjoy the percussive
bell-like tones of steel pan calypso music.
There are many rhythms and blends
of music gracing the islands, including
merengue, salsa, ska, dancehall, reggaeton,
compas, zouk and soca. All are played
with fierce passion and are rooted in
African drumbeats, brought to the
Caribbean by slaves in the 1800s.
On a recent trip to Port of Spain
in Trinidad, I heard calypso piped in
everywhere, from the airport to hotels,
restaurants and bars. It made me hungry
to hear a live band. Walking along
Tragarete Road in the western part of
the city, a mélange of metallic crescendos
caught my ear. Searching for its source,
I came upon the practice yard of the Silver
Stars, a local steel band. Approximately
60 players were standing in front of a
multitude of steel drums, mallets deftly
teasing notes from the pans. They told
me they were practising for Panorama,
Trinidad’s world-renowned steel band
competition that takes place in February,
during Carnival. Scooting into a seat on
the yard’s sidelines, I settled in for a
glorious evening of music. Later, I learned
the Silver Stars won their first large band
championship at Panorama, taking home
the $1 million TTD ($160,000 US) purse.
Calypso was originally a form of protest
music. African slaves were not allowed to
talk while they worked, but they could
sing. Song leaders improvised words in
order to comment on the news of the day.
“The Banana Boat Song (Day-O)” by
Harry Belafonte, popular in the United
States in the 1950s, is an example of the
call-and-response form used in work
songs. The government banned skin
drums in 1884, so inventive Calypsonians
made percussion instruments from
bamboo and created what was known
as tamboo bamboo bands. These were
banned too, and players were left with
stringed instruments, maracas, and
bottles and spoons. In the 1930s they
began to make drums out of metal
shipping containers, paint cans and
garbage cans. By the 1940s they were
using 55-gallon oil drums, which are
still used today. The pan, or drumming
surface, is made of sheet metal stretched
into a bowl-like shape with note patterns
moulded onto the surface. Pans back the
calypso singer, whose lyrics often poke
fun at the rich and powerful.
ENSEMBLE VACATIONS FALL 2009
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