For my concert performance review, I chose to see Yvonne Kushe perform at the Calabash Bistro on December 8th. It is worth noting that although the Calabash Bistro is a Caribbean restaurant – and as such, employs performances that are reflective of Caribbean music, -- it has amazingly reflective attributes of African culture. Chiefly, this is a fundamental realization of the African Diaspora, and cultural reaches in Western society. As we learned in class, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade displaced an incredible amount of Africans to Central America and the West Indies, spawning a new identity of African culture beyond the physical scope of Africa the continent. Thus, although the Caribbean is not a direct reflection of African culture, I see …show more content…
Through the background of the live performance, Kushe had a small section of drums, playing rhythmic and repetitious percussions, as well as a guitar as the lead instrument. Aiding was a keyboard, which primarily brought forth the “jazz” influence in the performance. In my opinion, Kushe’s performance is a marriage between Western and profoundly African genres. Her music draws a clear contemporary influence, with upbeat tempos and snappy, electronic rhythms. Her lyrics however, draw a direct influence from African culture, as the wide majority is not in English. Kushe cites her music as stemming from a variety of languages, including Luganda, English, Kiswahili, Runyakitara and Kinyarwanda. This may be a reflection of Africa’s cultural diversity – an anecdotal realization of the hundreds of languages and dialects found not only within Uganda, but in Africa as a …show more content…
As such, there are limitations in describing the performer-audience dynamics, beyond casual introductions and talk between set. What is of notable value, however, is the restaurant demographics. The audience, although varying slightly, was overwhelmingly Caucasian, typically young to middle age adults. Of anything, I see this as a micro example of the West’s interest and fascination as Africa as “the Other.” Through he beginning portion of our class, we discussed the early colonizers attempts as outing Africa as parallel to European civilizations – lacking intelligence and cultural advancement. In a modern content, it seems that the Western perspective still sees Africa as the Other, but through a less prejudicial perspective. The restaurant demographics demonstrate an undeniable interest in Africa, and the diverse cultures it encompasses. Although seemingly a positive relationship between the West and Africa, this perspective is problematic for a number of reasons. Critically, it makes little attempt to eradicate the “Other” relationship with Africa; rather, it approaches the problem from an outwardly Western approach. On the other hand, one may consider the demographics to be a reflection of the West’s attitude towards Africa, transitioning towards a culture that makes an active attempt to understand and appreciate a diverse set of cultures in
For centuries, music has been defined by history, time, and place. To address this statement, Tom Zè, an influential songwriter during the Tropicália Movement, produced the revolutionary “Fabrication Defect” to challenge oppression as a result from the poor political and social conditions. On the other hand, David Ramsey discusses, in mixtape vignettes, the role of music to survive in New Orleans’ violent setting. Furthermore, “The Land where the Blues Began”, by Alan Lomax, is a film and perfect example to understand under what musical conditions profound ways of communication are made to stand the hard work of cotton plantations. As a result, music plays a crucial role in the sources’ cultures and its creation relies on particular conditions such as the social
Canciones de arargue, or songs of bitterness – was the original name for the creolized form Bachata. Many closely associate Bachata with the other Caribbean styles of the African diaspora such as merengue and son. In Intro to Music Cultures of the World we were tasked with attending a world music concert. I chose to attend a Bachata concert because I already had an interest in Caribbean music. The concert was not as I had expected, but was rather intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable. In this report I hope to analyze Bachata’s roots, report on its concert style, and compare it to another piece in the genre.
Music is magical: it soothes you when you are upset and cheers you up when you are down. To me, it is a communication with souls. I listen to different genres of music. When appreciating each form of music, with its unique rhythm and melody, I expect to differentiate each other by the feelings and emotions that it brings to me. However, I would definitely never call myself “a fan of jazz” until I witnessed Cécile McLorin Salvant’s performance last Friday at Mondavi Center. Through the interpretations and illustrations from Cécile’s performance, I realized that the cultural significance and individual identity are the building blocks of jazz music that create its unique musical features and support its development.
Gottschalk’s unique blend of exotic cultures was key to perpetual fame during his time. By examining the compositions Bamboula (Op. 2) and Souvenir de Porto Rico (Op. 31), I will demonstrate how Gottschalk’s musical style represents an integration of Creole, New Orleans, West Indian, and Afro-Caribbean backgrounds he was exposed to throughout his life.
Angeles, Los. (2009). African arts. Volume 28. Published by African Studies Center, University of California.
The purpose of this study is determine why and how African American music that’s is so deeply rooted into the community is being culturally appropriated. This is a topic that has been the on the foreground of race for years. Activists and celebrities like Adrienne Keene, DeRay McKesson, Azealia Banks, and Jesse Williams helped bring the issue into the national attention. Most of the world or better yet the appropriators have very little knowledge of what the word actually means. In order to understand the problem we must first understand the word Culture and Appropriation. Culture being defined as the beliefs, ideas, traditions, speech, and material objects associated with a particular group of people. Appropriation the action of taking something
African-American music is a vibrant art form that describes the difficult lives of African American people. This can be proven by examining slave music, which shows its listeners how the slaves felt when they were working, and gives us insight into the problems of slavery; the blues, which expresses the significant connection with American history, discusses what the American spirit looks like and teaches a great deal from the stories it tells; and hip-hop, which started on the streets and includes topics such as misogyny, sex, and black-on-black violence to reveal the reactions to the circumstances faced by modern African Americans. First is about the effect of slave music on American history and African American music. The slave music’s
Music is a form of communication, letting others knows what is going on in the country, political, social or economic and any other problems the people of the Caribbean faced. With so many different ethnic backgrounds in the Caribbean, they are people with Asians, Indians, and Africans descents. This created a language and culture barrier but each ethnic background shared a common link music. Music bridged the gap between the different ethnicities Music is part of everyone’s culture especially here in the Caribbean. Our culture is recognized worldwide for its music. The Caribbean has different genres of music such as calypso, reggae, dance hall, zouk and many others. Our music has roots in both African and European cultures. The drum rhythm comes from the African in...
Music nurtured the African American tradition and their struggle towards equality in the same century.... ... middle of paper ... ... Greensboro, N.C.: Morgan Reynolds Pub. Carter, D. (2009).
Powell, A. (2007). The Music of African Americans and its Impact on the American Culture in the 1960’s and the 1970’s. Miller African Centered Academy, 1. Retrieved from http://www.chatham.edu/pti/curriculum/units/2007/Powell.pdf
Music played a very important role in the lives of people is diaspora communities. It served as a reminder for the immigrants of their homeland, which allowed them to proudly express their national and cultural identities. Diaspora refers to an international network of communities linked together by the identification of a common ancestral homeland and culture. People in these communities are no longer living in their homelands, with no guarantee of a return either. (Bakan, 19). Music played a large role in African diaspora communities. This was first started by the slave trades many years ago when slave traders traveled to the coast of West Africa to capture Africans and brought them back to the United States to be slaves on plantations. Slaves were more prone to loose a sense of their own culture because every new aspect of their lives was forced upon them, therefore they were undoubtedly forced to abandon their n...
Small, Christopher. Music of the Common Tongue: Survival and Celebration in African American Music. Hanover, NH: U of New England, 1998. Print
As the Hispanic Caribbean has evolved it has managed to grow and thrive beyond belief, whether one is discussing art, music or just the culture alone the Hispanic Caribbean is truly reaping the benefits of allowing themselves to be influenced by many other cultures. While the Hispanic Caribbean is thriving they are still facing the many new found struggles that come along with the territory of becoming more affluent as well as more accepting to other cultures and their beliefs. Often with the growth of large proportions comes many problems, problems also can come about when incorporating of different cultures as a whole as well as just bringing in their beliefs and mannerisms. None the less it can be argued that the struggles being faced in
Music has played a role in society since the dawn of man. Said to be the beginning of communication in early civilization, music and dance have influenced how we think, act and treat members of our own society. Song and dance is used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. Jamaican and Yoruba cultures have made many contributions to our society. The uses of this music as a vehicle for political issues, values, and beliefs have been used by many musicians from different cultures. I intend to discuss the Contribution of these two contemporary cultures music and their effect on society.