Music of Belize
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Music of Belize Topics | |
|---|---|
| Punta | Marimba music |
| Merengue music | Bura |
| Reggae | Hip hop |
| Bachata | Jazz |
| Boom and chime | Calypso |
| Reggaeton | Cumbia |
| Brukdown | Quadrille |
| Timeline and Samples | |
| Central American music | |
| Belize - Costa Rica - El Salvador - Guatemala - Honduras - Nicaragua - Panama | |
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.
[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 [1].
[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.
| Central American music |
|---|
|
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
- [2]
