   #copyright

Music of the Bahamas

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Musical genres, styles,
eras and events

   Anglophone caribbean music

     British Caribbean         Other Anglophone islands
   Anguilla               Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica
   Bermuda and Montserrat Bahamas and Antigua and Barbuda
   Turks and Caicos       Barbados and the US Virgin Islands
   Caymans                Grenada and St. Kitts and Nevis
   UK Virgin Islands      St. Vincent and the Grenadines
   Timeline and Samples
   Pop genres Calypso - Chutney - Dancehall - Dub - Junkanoo - Ragga -
   Rapso - Reggae - Ripsaw - Rocksteady - Scratch - Ska - Soca - Spouge -
   Steelpan
   Other islands
   Aruba and the Dutch Antilles - Cuba - Dominica - Dominican Republic -
   Haiti - Martinique and Guadeloupe - Puerto Rico - Saint Lucia

   The music of the Bahamas is associated primarily with junkanoo, a
   celebration which occurs on Boxing Day ( December 26) and again on New
   Year's Day ( January 1). Parades and other celebrations mark the
   ceremony. Groups like The Baha Men, Ronnie Butler and Kirkland Bodie
   have gained massive popularity in Japan, the United States and
   elsewhere.

Junkanoo

   Junkanoo celebration in Nassau
   Enlarge
   Junkanoo celebration in Nassau

   The word junkanoo is said to be derived from a Ghanaian leader, John
   Connu, or from the Qujo supreme deity ( Canno) and ancestral spirits (
   jannanin). The junkanoo was formerly practiced in North Carolina and
   remnants still exist in Belize, Jamaica and, most commonly, Bermuda.
   Its capital, though, |Nassau]], and Freeport and the Family Islands.
   Bahamian music has been declining throughout the 20th century,
   partially due to the influence of American culture and the proximity of
   TV and radio stations in Florida (which can be picked up in the
   Bahamas) as well as the arrival of musical forms like calypso, reggae
   and soca from Jamaica, Cuba and Trinidad, among other Caribbean
   islands. Tourism has also had an impact, bringing in Japanese, European
   and North Americans with their attendant forms of cultural expression.
   In spite of this, Bahamian performers like Joseph Spence have become
   underground stars playing junkanoo, Christian hymns and the ant'ems of
   the local sponge fisherman, which include "Sloop John B", later made
   famous by The Beach Boys.

   Junkanoo's origins are obscure and much-debated. Researchers like E.
   Clement Bethel have studied the issue extensively, and likely
   conclusions include that African slaves were allowed celebrations only
   around Christmas-time, and chose to celebrate John Connu, a headman
   from 18th century Africa. Another theory is that the term derives from
   scrap metal or other objects (junk) used to create the distinctive
   goombay drum. Similar celebrations once existed cross the Caribbean and
   in North Carolina, but are now virtually extinct except in the Bahamas
   and Belize.
   Junkanoo celebration in Nassau in 2003
   Enlarge
   Junkanoo celebration in Nassau in 2003

   With the 1973 independence from the United Kingdom, black professionals
   of the middle- and upper-classes began to dominate junkanoo
   celebrations. Costuming and competitions became more complex and
   commonplace, and soon became a tourist draw.

   Aside from being a type of drum, goombay is also a percussion music
   made famous by Alphonso 'Blind Blake' Higgs, who played to tourists
   arriving at Nassau International Airport for several years.
   Rake-and-scrape music is a unique type of instrumental music made by
   bending a saw and scraping with a small object, most typically a
   screwdriver; it is used to accompany dances derived from European forms
   like polka and waltz. Rake-and-scrape's popularity has been declining
   in recent years, but performers like Lassie Do and the Boys continue to
   keep the tradition alive. Christian rhyming spirituals and the ant'ems
   of sponge fisherman are now mostly dead traditions, decimated by the
   arrival of pop music, a 1930s sponge blight and other causes.

   E. Clement Bethel's master's thesis on traditional Bahamian music was
   adapted for the stage by his daughter, Nicolette Bethel and Philip A.
   Burrows. Music of The Bahamas was first performed at the Edinburgh
   Festival Fringe in 1991, and was revived in 2002 for fresh Bahamian
   audiences. A recording of that show is available for sale from Ringplay
   Productions.

Ripsaw

   Ripsaw music comes from the musical traditions of the Turks and Caicos
   Islands, and is characterized by the use of a saw as the primary
   instrument. It was brought by immigrants from those islands from the
   1920s to about the 1940s, who settled on Cat Island, and elsewhere.
   Many of these Turks and Caicos Islanders became some of the most famous
   musicians in the Bahamas. Many eventually moved back to their
   homelands, bringing with them junkanoo. Turks and Caicos are now the
   second home for junkanoo.

Other

     * List of Bahamian musicians

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_the_Bahamas"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
