Researching Steelband and Calypso Music in the British Caribbean and the U. S. Virgin Islands

Abstract

The music of both the British Caribbean and the U.S. Virgin Islands is undoubtedly the calypso, although many other forms of music exist.' Across these islands are musical forms associated with plantation slavery, such as the bamboula, the kalenda, and kwelbe music; the French Creole-inspired bele (or belair); English chants and hymns; and the Spanish parang. The kalenda (sometimes spelled kalinda or calinda), like the bamboula of the Virgin Islands, is a ritual involving dance, drums, and stick fights and was part of the enslaved Africans' celebration to welcome the sugar cane harvest. Such Carnival celebrations were known as Cannes Brulees (French for canes burning), or later Canboulay. The bele is a pleasure dance with drums and chants and is clearly African in function. With the influx of Asians as indentured workers in the nineteenth century, East Indians and Chinese made their contribution to the melting pot of Caribbean cultures, but their music, although known and played in the area, has not attained a level of 1. The British Caribbean comprises those islands of the Caribbean that were or are presently ruled by Britain. They include mostly the smaller islands that stretch from Jamaica to Guyana in South America. The U.S. Caribbean comprises three islands in the Virgin Islands chain: St. Thomas, St. Croix, and St. John (see the map on page 97). The calypso is rooted in West African musical forms that in time underwent changes as Caribbean people adapted to the experiences of a new environment. It is a topical song of praise, derision, protest, and celebration based on a West African rhythmic pattern, using cut time and a blend of European and African melodies.