Versatility in Caribbean Music: Dutch Speaking Caribbean

 

Hello, Bounjour, Bon dia, Hallo 👋

Another post here in our Versatility in Caribbean Music series!

A new addition to our recap of previous blog posts would be that of the French-speaking Caribbean where we talked about when France first initiated its presence in the 1600s by establishing several colonies to help secure trade routes in the area to the history, music, and beauty that is portrayed in Guadeloupe.

Now let's dive 🏊‍♀️ into the Dutch-speaking Caribbean with a highlight on Curaçao as our featured Dutch Caribbean nation.

Curaçao

Photo courtesy of curacao.com

The Spanish took a capture of Curaçao, Bonaire, and Aruba, known as the Leeward groups in 1527. In 1634, the three islands were passed to the Netherlands with which they have remained excluding a few occasions where the British took possession of Willemstad. Being the center of the Caribbean slave trade during the colonial period, lost most of its economic importance after the emancipation of slaves by 1863. 

The "C" in the ABC islands, Curaçao consists of historical settlements, rugged terrains, and sun all around! Aruba and Bonaire are the older islands constituting the westernmost islands of the Dutch Leewards. Despite its rich history, there was not much benefit agriculturally due to the poor soil and limited rainfall that the island nation experiences. It was so bad to the point that even the Spanish declared the island useless after spending many years trying to vitalize any potential agricultural benefits(YIKES). 

But luckily like the strong and persistent people that we are here in the Caribbean, we did not let some dirt and rocks stop us from reaching our potential as a nation. When scurvy was the primary cause of death among sailors who had no access to fruits or vegetables, the native oranges that grew on Curaçao were the remedy for them. The name of the orange was the laraha orange and it was bitter in taste, but boy did it do its job!

Shifting our focus to the musical genre. Traditionally we have known musical instruments to be made of intricate materials such as wood and metals that would be known to give us the best quality sound of music possible, but in times were these materials were not readily available, musicians, in the Caribbean especially had to resort to farm tools for their version of musical instruments. Using the similar music of its neighbor Bonaire, Curaçao's music consists of the agan and chapi, which are farm tools. Also, the bastel is made up of an upside-down gourd shell that is then filled up with water. This is said to produce a softer sound in reference to how often times our ancestors had to participate in musical traditions in a quieter setting.

Versatility Aspect

In the Tour De Force: A Musical Journey of The Caribbean book, describes Roel Calister as a versatile percussionist due to his constant contribution to keeping the cultural traditions of his home country alive and going. Through the use of Tambu beats and electronic music, Calister created his own genre of Tambutronic. This genre of music uses elements in a popular setting with the cooperation of Curacao's history to make the music lively as it is now. There's nothing more versatile than artists who are able to create their own genre that sets them apart from others.

Photo courtesy of discogs.com

The attached video below provides a glimpse into the cultural heritage of African rhythms and how it has influenced past, present, and future music for the country of Curacao. As mentioned in the video's description "Their beliefs and traditions have left an indelible mark on Curaçao's music and dance which is nowadays still very prominent" and I couldn't agree more with this.

If you do not associate the Caribbean with delicious tasting food, I don't know what to say to you! Food is our culture and who we are as a people. The fastest way to get into our hearts is definitely and positively through our stomachs. In Buzzfeed Bring Me video, they took a trip to try out the best local food that Curacao has to offer. And the island nation did not disappoint with its endless variety of foods to eat.

As always, it was a great blog getting to discover and learn about the dutch speaking Caribbean with you all. Ayo or goodbye as they say in Papiamentu!

References:

Gangelhoff, C., & LeGrand, C. (2020). Tour de Force: A Musical Journey of the Caribbean (1st ed.). Sound Caribbean.

National Archives of Curacao. (n.d.). Curacao History 3400 B.C. - Present. Curacao History. https://www.curacaohistory.com/

African Rhythms in Curaçao. (2014, September 12). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSoC1PaSqbQ

We Tried The Best Local Food In Curaçao. (2020, January 4). [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtkIn_-vUEU