If African music is said to have roots in almost all music, then undoubtedly a branch extends directly into the heart of the CaribbeanIslands. All the islands have a spice of African influence, but due to length constraints, we’ve chosen to confine our discussion to Afro-Caribbean music in Jamaica and Cuba.
History and Musical Cultural Context:
Jamaica:
From the early 1400’s to the middle 1600’s Jamaica was island under Spanish control. That was until 1655 when the British took control. After a brief period of experimenting with indentured European labor, the British turned to large scale importation of Africans to be used as slaves on the sugar plantations. The plantation dominated economic life in every sense. It occupied the best lands, the laws supported the slave system, and in general all commercial and other economic activity depended on the rhythm of activity of the plantation. Upon Emancipation, many of the ex-slaves settled down as small farmers in the mountains, cultivating steep hill slopes far away from the plantations.
With many Africans settling into the beautiful landscape of Jamaica, new musical dawns were on the horizon. While enslaved, Africans developed a new form of music and dance which was known as Mento. Mento remained popular until the 1940s, however, during the early 50s, popular music in Jamaica was usually of US origin. In the late 1950s “Ska” another Jamaican musical innovation emerged. In the mid 60s”Rock Steady”-a slower tempo with emphasis on syncopation-grew out of “Ska”. However, by the late 60s, yet another new Jamaican musical form had emerged-“Reggae”, the most famous of the musical styles developed on the island. Reggae spans the globe and has influenced the music of internationally famous performers in the US, Japan, UK, South America, and the rest of the world.
Cuba:
For most of the eighteenth century, Cuba was a relatively underdeveloped island with an economy mainly based on cattle raising and tobacco farms. However, towards the beginning of the nineteenth century cultivation of sugar began to run the Cuban economy. With the intensive cultivation Cuba began to turn into a plantation society, and the need for African “slaves” skyrocketed. The slave trade with the West African coast exploded, and it is estimated that close to 400,000 Africans were brought to Cuba during the years 1835-1864. By the end of the nineteenth century, it was estimated that Cuba had over 100 different African ethnic groups.
Cuban dance music stormed the globe following World War II. Led by Benny Moré and others, a new, vibrant rumba emerged, which brought together the European-inflected son and the African rumba guaguancó. Traditionally percussive music, Cuban son rides on congas and bongos. Distributed widely by record and radio, this music with its exuberantly African heartbeat had a special and enduring effect on Africa, which was beginning its process of independence from the colonialists. Here was a music that they could lay a claim to, which was rooted in their own rich rhythmic heritage. While the popularity of Cuban music eventually waned in other parts of the world, in Africa (especially in the Congos, Guinea, Mali, and Senegal) it went on to influence the development of a variety of pop music such as Congo jazz, makossa, soukous, mbalax, and horn-based highlife. Since the salsa is also a descendant of the rumba explosion, many say that it is a cousin of those African pop forms.
