Sawyer_MUSI322

We will first explore the theme of creolization in the music of the English-speaking Caribbean. The textbook Tour de Force: A  Musical Journey of the Caribbean highlights numerous examples of creolization in English Caribbean music.  One example the text provides is the rake-and-scrape musical style of The Bahamas. Rake and scrape blends African and European musical elements to create its distinct sound. The authors also include instruments used in the rake and scrape music genre like the accordion, the goombay drum and the handsaw. They refer to other creole musical styles close to the Bahamian rack and scrape such as ripsaw from the Turks and Caicos, quelbe music from United States Virgin Islands and fungi music of the British Virgin Islands. Here is a photo of the rake-and-scrape band Ophie & Da Websites holding the instruments. Photo taken from https://folkmoot.org/bahamas-ophie-webb/ Below is a video of the band leader, Ophie Webb, discussing the dynamics of the rake-n-scrape

This blog will focus on the theme of creolization found throughout the textbook ' Tour de Force: A Musical Journey of The Caribbean . ' Authors Christine Gangelhoff and Cathleen LeGrand describe creolization as the process by which different cultural traditions are blended together. They went on to say that this blending creates new and unique cultures. They mainly highlight this process of creolization in the musical aspect of Caribbean culture. Caribbean musical forms for example came from the mixing of musical traditions brought to the regions from Africa, Europe and East Asia. Merengue, tumba and danza are several Caribbean musical styles that are creolized. Gangelhoff and LeGrand also state that The Caribbean is home to many creole languages and creole religions. The ways in which creolization operates and the distinct cultural products that result will be further examined throughout this blog. The textbook provides the example of jambalaya as an example of creolization in