Antigua and Barbuda is a Caribbean nation in the Lesser Antilles island chain. The country is a second home for many of the pan-Caribbean genres of popular music, and has produced stars in calypso, soca, steeldrum, zouk and reggae. Of these, steeldrum and calypso are the most integral parts of modern Antiguan popular music; both styles are imported from the music of Trinidad and Tobago. Location of the Lesser Antilles (green) in relation to the rest of the Caribbean Islands of the Lesser Antilles The Lesser Antilles, also known as the Caribbees,[1] are part of the Antilles, which together with the Bahamas and Greater Antilles form the West Indies. ... For the music genre, see Pop music. ... Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. ... See: Soca River (pronounced Socha River), ( Slovenian original reka Soča). ... Steelpan (also known as Pan or Steel drum, and sometimes collectively with the musicians as a Steelband) is a musical instrument and a form of music originating in Trinidad West Indies. ... Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from Guadeloupe and Martinique. ... Reggae is a music genre developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. ... The Caribbean state of Trinidad and Tobago is best known as the homeland of calypso music, including 1950s stars Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow. ...

The population of Antigua and Barbuda is mostly descended from West Africans brought to the Caribbean as slaves. Thus, the music of Antigua and Barbuda is largely African in character, and has only felt a limited influence from European styles.^[1] Population: 66,422 (July 2000 est. ...

Little to no musical research has been undertaken on Antigua and Barbuda. As a result, much knowledge on the topic derives from novels, essays and other secondary sources.^[1]

History

Documented music in Antigua and Barbuda began only with the discovery of Antigua, then populated by Arawak and Caribs, by Christopher Columbus in 1493. The islands' early music, however, remains little studied. In the 1780s, documentation exists for African workers participating in outdoor dances accompanied by the banjar (later bangoe, perhaps related to the banjo) and toombah (later tum tum), a drum decorated with shell and tin jingles.^[2] By the 1840s, sophisticated subscription balls were common, held biweekly with European-derived quadrilles accompanied by fiddle, tambourine and triangle.^[3] Arowak woman (John Gabriel Stedman) The term Arawak (from aru, the Lokono word for cassava flour), was used to designate the Amerindians encountered by the Spanish in the West Indies. ... Carib family (by John Gabriel Stedman) Drawing of a Carib woman Carib, Island Carib or Kalinago people, after whom the Caribbean Sea was named, live in the Lesser Antilles islands. ... Christopher Columbus (1451 – May 20, 1506) was a navigator and colonialist who is one of the first Europeans to discover the Americas, after the Vikings. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... For other uses, see Banjo (disambiguation) The banjo is a stringed instrument developed by enslaved Africans in the United States, adapted from several African instruments. ... Conga drums are a common part of Caribbean music across much of the area This is a list of drums used in the Caribbean music area, including the islands of the Caribbean Sea, as well as the musics of Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, Bahamas, and Bermuda. ... For other uses, see Ball (disambiguation). ... for the equestrian form of quadrille, see Quadrille (dressage) Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. ... “Fiddler” redirects here. ... “Buben” redirects here. ... The triangle is an idiophonic musical instrument of the percussion family. ...

Colonial era churches and missionary activity displaced and disrupted the music of African slaves, who adopted elements of European-derived religious music. The brass bands of the Salvation Army are an important example.^[1] In the mid- to late 19th century, a number of Portuguese indentured workers came to Antigua, bringing with them their styles of music. When most of the Portuguese left in the 1880s, Lebanese music was brought to the island by immigrants from that country.^[1] A brass band a musical group consisting mostly or entirely of brass instruments, often with a percussion section. ... Shield of The Salvation Army The Salvation Army is a non-military evangelical Christian organisation. ... Portugal is internationally known in the music scene for its traditions of fado, but the country has seen a recent expansion in musical styles, with modern acts from rock to hip hop becoming popular. ... Beirut, the largest city in Lebanon has long been known, especially in a period immediately following World War 2, for its European-style art and intellectualism. ...

Folk music

During the period of French colonial rule, African slaves were prohibited from celebrating in Carnival; they continued to do so, secretly, at home. There, an Afro-Caribbean style of percussion, dance and song called benna developed. Later, Antiguan and Barbudan folk music became more dominated by Trinidadian calypso and steelpan. This article describes the festival season. ... Percussion redirects here. ... Benna is a lake in the municipality of Melhus in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. ... Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. ... Steelpan (also known as steeldrums or pans, and sometimes collectively with the musicians as a steelband) is a musical instrument and a form of music originating in Trinidad and Tobago. ...

Most forms of modern Antiguan and Barbudan music are not indigenous to the islands, and were imported from France, the United Kingdom, United States, Jamaica and Trinidad. Colonial dance styles like the highland fling and the quadrille remain popular in Africanized form. The loss of Antiguan traditions can be ascribed to the lack of a French colonial past (French islands of the Lesser Antilles retain much African-derived music and dance), the influence of the powerful Codrington family, a relatively unified African ethnic identity, the lack of African immigration after the peak of slavery importation, the British military presence at Shirley Heights and a modern history of unstable economy and government.^[1] Scottish highland dance The Official Dances The Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing was set up in 1950 to standardise techniques and regulations of highland dance competitions. ... for the equestrian form of quadrille, see Quadrille (dressage) Quadrille is a historic dance performed by four couples in a square formation, a precursor to traditional square dancing. ... Barbuda is an island in the Caribbean, part of the state of Antigua and Barbuda. ...

Old Time Christmas Festival

The Old Time Christmas Festival was a culturally significant celebration, replaced in 1957 by a Trinidadian-inspired Carnival. The Antiguan Christmas Festival included several elements that have been adopted into the modern Carnival.^[1]

Christmas Festival traditions include both music and dance, especially related to masquerades and iron bands. The highland fling is a common Christmas Festival dance, also played in the modern Carnival, performed by people wearing Scottish kilts, masks made of wire and bearing whips of cowhide. Dancers wearing banana leaves and animal horns took part in the John Bull, while carolers paraded with long poles covered in lanterns, called carol trees, singing with accompaniment by the concertina. Stilt dancers in robes, called the Moko Jumbie, Jumpa-Ben or Long Ghosts, were also common, and were accompanied by kettle and bass drums, fife, triangle (cling-a-ching) and the boompipe, made from a plumbing joint one meter long.^[1] Look up Masquerade in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Scottish highland dance The Official Dances The Scottish Official Board of Highland Dancing was set up in 1950 to standardise techniques and regulations of highland dance competitions. ... A kilt in the Black Watch tartan A kilt is a traditional garment of modern Scottish and Celtic culture typically worn by men. ... World War I recruiting poster An earlier John Bull where he actually IS a bull John Bull is a national personification of the Kingdom of Great Britain created by Dr. John Arbuthnot in 1712, and popularised first by British print makers and then overseas by illustrators and writers such as... For other uses, see Lantern (disambiguation). ... Wheatstone English concertina, circa 1920 This article is about the musical instrument. ...

Benna

Benna (or bennah) is an uptempo Antiguan folk song that was introduced following the prohibition of slavery. Songs usually focused on scandalous and bawdy rumors and gossip, and were in a call-and-response form with a leader and an audience. Benna's popularity and similarity to calypso helped make the island receptive to that genre's introduction. The modern performer Short Shirt has attempted to revive the benna in modern years, with his 1977 album Harambee an influential work that began updating benna with social and political awareness.^[1] Benna is a lake in the municipality of Melhus in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. ... Call and response is a form of spontaneous verbal and non-verbal interaction between speaker and listener in which all of the statements (calls) are punctuated by expressions (responses) from the listener, as stated by Smitherman. ...

By the beginning of the 20th century, it had become a method of folk communication, disseminating news and reports from across the island. In the 1940s and 50s, an improvisational benna singer named John "Quarkoo" Thomas sang up-to-date stories on legal scandals, and the sexual affairs of the upper-class. He was eventually imprisoned because of the lyrics to "Cocoatea", which was about the daughter of a respected citizen, and her secret pregnancy while in a convent.^[4] (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999... The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... The 1950s decade refers to the years 1950 to 1959 inclusive. ... A Beguine convent in Amsterdam. ...

Popular music

In other popular genres of music Antigua is best known for oldest and most successful soca band the Burning Flames, who have claimed the road march title for many years, most recently 2005. Another well-known Antiguan musician was Patrick "Johnny" Gomes, who worked for, among many others, the calypso giant Mighty Sparrow. The most famous indigenous musician in Antigua and Barbuda may be Oscar Mason, whose son, O'Neill is also a noted trombonist.^[5] The Antigua Community Players have been active for more than 52 years, performing a variety of musical productions in many styles, including the Antiguan folk song, benna.^[6] Mighty Sparrow (real name Slinger Francisco) is a Calypso singer, songwriter, and guitarist. ... The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. ...

Other famous indigenous musicians from Antigua/Barbuda are jazz recording artists Roland Prince (guitarist), Courtney Winter (saxophonist) and Wendell Richardson, a former guitarist of Osibisa. Country recording artists Billy Rose and Wayne Daniel were also born on the island of Antigua. Additionally, Basil Hill, owner of King Midas Records in New York built a large international nightclub called the Atmosphere in 1978, creating a direct outlet for Antigua and Barbudan singers and bands. Elements of non-Antiguan and Barbudan music have continued to be imported to the islands in the latter 20th century, including the electronic gospel music of the American Baptist church, and the Afro-Jamaican drumming of Rastafarian music.^[1] Cover of Osibisa, 1971. ... Billy Rose (September 6, 1899 – February 10, 1966) was an American theatrical showman. ... Wayne Wendell Daniel (b. ... Gospel music is a musical genre characterized by dominant vocals (often with strong use of harmony) referencing lyrics of a religious nature, particularly Christian. ... Rastafarianism is a religion from Jamaica that has since spread throughout the world. ...

Carnival

See full article: Antigua Carnival Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

The Antiguan Carnival is a celebration of music and dance held annually from the end of July to the first Tuesday in August. The most important day is that of the j'ouvert (or juvé), in which brass and steel bands perform for much of the island's population. Barbuda's Carnival in June, and is known as Caribana.^[7] The Antiguan and Barbudan Carnivals replaced the Old Time Christmas Festival in 1957, with hopes of inspiring tourism in Antigua and Barbuda. Some elements of the Christmas Festival remain in the modern Carnival celebrations, which are otherwise largely based on the Trinidadian Carnival.^[1] The author Frank Manning has argued that this change, from indigenous traditions to tourist-oriented elements, has reduced Antiguans to "positions as service personnel and 'mimic men', robbing the culture of its natural integrity and cultural history"^[8] Claudette Peters is a popular soca artist who has won many awards for her singing in antigua and barbuda.El a kru also has Tizzy who has performed and again won lots of awards for herself and her country This article describes the festival season. ... Caribana is a festival of Caribbean culture and traditions held each summer in the city of Toronto in Ontario, Canada. ...

Steelpan

The steelpan comes in many different forms, and put together is called a steel orchestra. Steel bands traditionally are made up of old pieces of metal example old irons, tire rims, steel pipes etc. Antigua's steel orchestras and iron bands can be found in churches and in many villages, and have been popular since their introduction. Every Carnival there is a competition to dub the best band of the island. Antigua's largest and oldest steel orchestra that still competes is the Hell's Gate steel orchestra. The Brute Force Steel Band was the first Antiguan steelpan band to record an album. Steelpan (also known as steeldrums or pans, and sometimes collectively with the musicians as a steelband) is a musical instrument and a form of music originating in Trinidad and Tobago. ... Hells Gate refers to several locations: Hells Gate in British Columbia, a community and the name of a narrow section on the Fraser River Hells Gate State Park, just outside of Lewiston, Idaho Hells Gate, cliff in Eagle County, Colorado Hells Gate, gap in Cochise County, Arizona Hells Gate, gap...

Calypso

Main article: Calypso music Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music which originated in Trinidad at about the start of the 20th century. ...

Calypso was invented in Trinidad, and was used by the poor as a platform for social and political commentary, using complex metaphors and folkloric references to obscure their meaning to outsiders. Later, beginning in the 1960s, a popularized kind of calypso was developed for use in tourist hotels. For other uses, see Trinidad (disambiguation). ... This article is about metaphor in literature and rhetoric. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ... Tourist redirects here. ...

The first hotel calypsonians were Black Shirt, Skeetch and Dadian, who were accompanied by a string ensemble of two guitars and a bass guitar (created out of an oil drum). The Antigua Carnival, and the Antiguan Calypso King competition, began in 1957; the King that year was Styler. This era also saw a growth in patriotic calypsos, focused on an emerging sense of victorious nationalism in the wake of growing autonomy. A string instrument (or stringed instrument) is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. ... For other uses, see Guitar (disambiguation). ... A sunburst-colored Precision Bass The electric bass guitar (or electric bass; pronounced , as in base) is a bass stringed instrument played with the fingers (either by plucking, slapping, popping, or tapping) or using a pick. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... Year 1957 (MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1957 Gregorian calendar). ... Styler may refer to: Alan Styler Divine Styler Glyn Styler Kara Styler Sidney Styler Trudie Styler Category: ...

By the middle of the 1960s, two rival calypsonians dominated the Antiguan scene, Zemaki and Lord Canary. Their conflict was perpetuated as the King Short Shirt and Swallow rivalry during the 1970s and 1980s. In the middle of the 1980s, the Burning Flames emerged, winning the road march with "Styley Tight" in 1985. They achieved pan-Caribbean acclaim.^[9] The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, also called The Seventies. ... The 1980s refers to the years from 1980 to 1989. ... From Antigua and Barbuda, this band represents the epitome of the high-energy, multiple-influenced, synthesizer-driven soca. ... This article is about the year. ...

See also

• Antigua and Barbuda
• Antigua Carnival
• Burning Flames
• Arrow (Soca Artist)

Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ... From Antigua and Barbuda, this band represents the epitome of the high-energy, multiple-influenced, synthesizer-driven soca. ... Alphonsus Celestine Edmund Cassell MBE (born November 16, 1954) is a soca musician who performs under the stage name Arrow. ... The music of the Lesser Antilles encompasses the music of this chain of small islands making up the eastern and southern portion of the West Indies. ... Aruba and the five main islands of the Netherlands Antilles are part of the Lesser Antilles island chain. ...

References

• Antigua Community Players. London Parade. Retrieved on December 3, 2005.
• De Ledesma, Charles and Georgia Popplewell (2000). "Put Water in the Brandy?", in Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.): World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific. Rough Guides, 507-526. ISBN 1-85828-636-0. 
• Calypso. Antigua and Barbuda's Cultural Heritage. Retrieved on December 3, 2005.
• Cameron, Sarah (1996). Caribbean Islands Handbook with the Bahamas. Passport Books. 0844249076. 
• McDaniel, Lorna (1999). "Antigua and Barbuda", Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Routledge, pp 798 - 800. ISBN 0-8153-1865-0. 

[1] is the 337th day of the year (338th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 337th day of the year (338th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Notes