Music of Belize
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Belize is a small country in Central America, and its culture is a mix of Mestizo, Maya, British and African influences. After many centuries of Maya habitation, Spanish and then British colonizers arrived in the area, the latter keeping Belize as its only colony in Spanish-dominated Central America. Far more influentially than either European power's arrival, however, was the importation of African slaves. Europeans brought polkas, waltzes, schottisches and quadrilles, while Africans brought numerous instruments and percussion-based musics, including marimba. African culture resulted in the creation of brukdown music in interior logging camps, played using banjo, guitar, drums, dingaling bell, accordion and an ass's jawbone played by running a stick up and down the teeth. Brukdown remains a rural, rarely recorded genre.
Mestizo culture in north and west Belize, and also Guatemala, is characterised by marimba, a xylophone-like instrument descended from an African instrument. Marimba bands use trap drums, double bass and sometimes other instruments. Famous performers include Alma Belicena and the Los Angeles Marimba Band.
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[edit] Garifuna
Main article: Garifuna music
The Garifunas are descended from slaves enslaved from Nigeria and who later escaped from St. Vincent. Eventually migrating to Belize in 1802, the Garifunas kept themselves apart from the social system then nt, leading to a distinctive culture that developed throughout the 20th century. Punta is by the far most popular genre of Garifuna music and has become the most popular genre in all of Belize. It is distinctly Afro-Caribbean, and is sometimes said to be ready for international popularization like similarly-descended styles (reggae, calypso, merengue, etc).
Traditional Garifuna dances in the Maladio Wanaragua dance (also known as Yoncunu, perhaps related to the Afro-Bahamanian junkanoo celebration) during Christmas and Settlement Day, danced by the Waribagabaga Dancers [1].
[edit] Brukdown
Main article: Brukdown
Brukdown is a very popular modern style of Belizean music. It evolved out of the music and dance of loggers, especially a form called buru. Buru was often satirical in nature, and eventually grew more urban, accompanied by a donkey's jawbone, drums and a banjo. The word brukdown may come from broken down calypso, referring to the similarities between brukdown and Trinidadian calypso music; the presence of large numbers of Jamaicans in Belize also led to an influence from mento music.
In modern forms, new instruments have been added to brukdown. The "boom and chime groups" use bass guitar, electric guitar and congas, for example. Popular brukdown groups include The Tigers, The Mahogany Chips, Mimi Female Duet and Brad Pattico [2].
[edit] Modern music
Belize's musical base has expanded considerably in recent years with the addition of local reggae, hip-hop and jazz stars. Belize counts among its local reggae stars Dan Marcus I and Dan Man; various hip-hop groups often open for more accomplished international stars at local concerts, and there has even been a jazz revival, with an annual jazz festival and at least three popular jazz music programs on local radio.
This surge in local music can be attributed in some ways to the international popularity of such television stations as BET and MTV , which present hip-hop as something to aspire to and admire. In addition, there has been a concerted effort to promote local music among the Belizean population, who have almost never been trained to favor their own music above others.
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Belize - Costa Rica - El Salvador - Garifuna - Guatemala - Honduras - Nicaragua - Panama |
[edit] References
- Graham, Ronnie. "Drum'n'Flute Legacies". 2000. 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, pp 325-331. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
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