MUH6515 Wk5 Blog
· Title of piece – Wind Storm
· Performer(s) – Jam Band
· Culture of Origin – Virgin Islands
(Caribbean) Calypso
· Instrumentation – trumpet, saxophone,
trombone, synthesizer, guitar, bass, drums, vocals
As Campbell stated, “When music is treated respectfully,
with ample time given to its study, it is often a source of pride for people
from a culture to hear their traditions…”
This piece was written in the aftermath of Hurricane Marilyn,
which devastated the islands in 1995. The strategies used were to create a
composition that recreated the sounds of the hurricane while poking fun at
persons that were looting in its aftermath. The creation process included
coming up with a melody and accompanying parts, then including sound effects to
give it a realistic sound of a hurricane.
A bit of history: Calypso is a form of music with a double kick
drum beat that is heard around the Caribbean. There are variations of the beat
like soca and zouk, but the basic rhythm is calypso. The roots of the music is
quelbe which has influences from former owners of the Virgin Islands. The
accompanying square dances originated in France and have been passed down over
the years.
I share this piece since we are at about 75 days since Irma hit my
home, St. Thomas. Additionally, the
young man that wrote the horn lines for this and many other Jam Band hits was
laid to rest this past weekend. This is
my tribute to him.
Hello, and thank you for your post. I didn't really know what classified as calypso, so reading your post was very informative. I would have loved to see a live performance of this song, but hearing it and sharing it was a nice tribute to Nick Friday. usually when I think of a tribute song, I always think of a slow song, so this was a nice upbeat tribute to a terrible hurricane. Thank you again!
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