The Folk Music of Jamaica

A blog about the folk music of Jamaica, featuring interviews with musicians, reviews of concerts and albums, and articles about the history and culture of the music.

Origins

The folk music of Jamaica is a mixture of African and European music. The African influence comes from the slaves who were brought to Jamaica from Africa. The European influence comes from the British who colonized Jamaica. The music is also influenced by the music of the native people of Jamaica, the Arawaks and the Caribs.

African influences

Although many of the traditions and instruments of African music were lost during the years of slavery, some remained and were transported to Jamaica. The most important of these was the drum, which was used in African religious ceremonies to produce a hypnotic effect on participants. The drum was also used to communicate messages over long distances. In Jamaica, the drum became an important part of both religious ceremonies and secular entertainment.

One type of Jamaican drum is the banjo, which is a small drum with a skin stretched over one end. The other end is open and has a handle attached to it. Banjos are usually played with two sticks, one in each hand. Another type of Jamaican drum is the bongo, which is a large drum with two skins stretched over the top and bottom. Bongos are usually played with the hands.

Jamaican folk music also includes a variety of wind and string instruments. Wind instruments include flutes, harmonicas, and horns made from conch shells. String instruments include guitars, fiddles, andbanjos.

European influences

The European presence in Jamaica began in 1494 with the arrival of Christopher Columbus. The Spanish colonizers brought with them African slaves, and within a few decades the island’s population was predominantly black. As the Spanish empire declined in the latter part of the 17th century, Jamaica came under the control of the British, who would rule it for more than two centuries.

The English colonizers brought with them their own form of music, which had a significant impact on Jamaican folk music. English ballads and hymns were adapted by the Jamaicans and became part of their musical tradition. The English also introduced instruments such as the violin and clarinet, which were incorporated into Jamaican folk music.

In addition to the English influence, Jamaican folk music was also influenced by the music of the African slaves who were brought to the island. African musical traditions can be heard in Jamaican folk music, particularly in the use of drums and percussion. Reggae, a popular style of Jamaican music, is heavily influenced by African rhythms and sounds.

Styles

Folk music is the music of the people and is usually passed down from generation to generation. It is usually simple in form and lyrics and is often about the everyday life of the people. Folk music is usually sung in the vernacular and is often about love, loss, work, and social issues.

Mento

Mento is the folk music of Jamaica, and perhaps the most well-known style outside of the island. It is a fusion of African and European elements, with influences from both calypso and quadrille. Mento is usually performed by a small band consisting of acoustic guitars, banjo, percussion, and sometimes wind instruments. The lyrics are often lighthearted and humorous, and mento songs are often about everyday life.

Ska

Ska is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. It combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues. The style was developed by Jamaican musicians who were exposed to these American forms of music through radio broadcasts from the United States. Ska also incorporated elements of British Trad jazz, which was popular at the time in Jamaica.

The earliest ska recordings were made in 1957 by Jamaican recording artist Prince Buster. These recordings featured various artists including The Skatalites, a band which was instrumental in the development of ska. Ska went on to become Jamaica’s national music in the 1960s, and it remained popular throughout the 1970s. Some of the most popular ska artists include Desmond Dekker, Toots & The Maytals, and Bob Marley & The Wailers.

Rocksteady

Rocksteady is a style of Jamaican popular music that developed out of ska and R&B in the late 1960s. It was especially popular between 1967 and 1968.[1] The term rocksteady comes from a style of dancing called “the rocksteady” which was started at dancehalls like the one in the 1967 Alton Ellis song “Rock Steady”.[2]

Musically, rocksteady was slower than ska, and incorporated smooth, soulful vocal harmonies, bass guitar slaps, and piano or organ melodies. The tempo was slower than that of ska and the emphasis was on the offbeat rather than on the 2 and 4 beats. Bass lines were often simpler than in ska and sometimes used a walkingbass variation (as opposed to ska’s “boom-chick”). Guitar solos were rare in rocksteady songs. The organ sound became more important during rocksteady’s development; it was often used to fill in for horns.[3]

One key innovator in the rocksteady sound was Lyn Taitt, a member of The Texans who began using a two-feel or cut Organ groove with shuffling quarter note hi-hat patterns.[citation needed] This can be heard throughout his work with the Paragons on hits like Only A Smile (1966),[4] as well as on Taitt’s own 1966 solo instrumental hit “Sweet Violina”. By 1967 guitarist Eric Monty Morris had perfected his own original Jamaican fuzz guitar style on Slickers hits like “Johnny Too Bad”, while Wycliffe ‘Steelie’ Johnson created what is still considered one of Jamaica’s all-time greatest drumming performances on Patsy Todd’s 1967 hit “I’m In Love With A Dreadlocks”.[5] Other musicians contributing to the birth of rocksteady included Lloyd Knibb, Ernest Ranglin,[6][7] Cat Coore,[8] and Jackie Mittoo.[9][10][11][12] By 1968 some Ska tracks were beginning to re-incorporate elements of rock & roll (“The Gun” by Desmond Dekker & The Aces[13]), as well as Chicano soul (“Do It Twice” by Joya Landis[14]).

Reggae

Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, “Do the Reggay” was the first popular song to use the word “reggae”, effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.

Reggae is based on a rhythmic style characterized by regular beats on off-beats, and often features improvisation ontop of the rhythm. The tempo is usually slower than that of ska and rocksteady, around 60–70 beats per minute (bpm). The dominant rhythm can be broadly categorized into four groups:

-One drop: A steady pulse accentuated on counts one and three
-Rockers: Similar to one drop but with a more syncopated feel
-Steppers: A slower, more deliberate version of Rockers
-Roots: A very slow, almost meditative style characterized by heavy bass accents

Notable Artists

The Wailers

The Wailers were a Jamaican reggae band and, earlier, R&B vocal group created by Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer. The group developed from the earlier ska vocal group, the Wailers, created by Marley with his childhood friends Bunny Wailer and Peter Tosh. By late 1963 singers Junior Braithwaite, Beverley Kelso, and Constantine “”Vision”” Walker had joined on. By the early 1970s, Marley-Tosh-Walker trio had come to dominate the Jamaican reggae scene. From 1971 to 1974 the Wailers had an exceptional run of successful singles and albums; at one stage between February 1972 and February 1974 they placed seven songs in succession on the UK Singles Chart. These included three chart-toppers: “”No Woman, No Cry””, “”Jamming””, and “”Stir It Up””.”,
The Original Wailers reformed in 1989 with Bunny Wailer and surviving members Aston “”Familyman”” Barrett (bass), Alvin “”Seeco”” Patterson (percussion), Earl Lindo (keyboards), Tyrone Downie (keyboards), and Junior Marvin (guitar). The new group continued to tour worldwide into the 1990s.

Bob Marley

Born in 1945, Bob Marley was a reggae singer, songwriter, and guitarist who rose to international fame in the 1970s. His music combined elements of reggae, ska, and rocksteady, and he is credited with helping to spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement worldwide. He died of cancer in 1981 at the age of 36.

Jimmy Cliff

Jimmy Cliff, OM (born as James Chambers on 1 April 1948) is a Jamaican musician, singer, and actor. His career began in 1963 with a cover version of The Harder They Come and he soon became one of the most popular reggae artists in Jamaica. He has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the UK Music Hall of Fame, and received the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.

Legacy

Folk music is the oldest form of Jamaican music. It is a mixture of African and European musical elements. The African elements are the drumming and the use of call and response. The European elements are the use of the fiddle and the guitar. Folk music was the first type of music to be performed in Jamaica.

Influence on other genres

Jamaican folk music has had a significant impact on the development of other genres of music. Reggae, ska, and rocksteady are all genres that have been directly influenced by Jamaican folk music. In addition, Jamaican folk music has also influenced the development of American hip hop and British grime.