Music and Us

        Welcome to my blog! I am excited that I get to share some of my favorite music from around the world. 

Link for the Short Video of Jamaican Music History  (North America)

    One of my all time favorite artists is Bob Marley. Growing up my parents always had Bob Marley playing, especially in the summer time. When I got a record player when I was younger, my first record was, "The Best of Bob Marley and The Wailers." From my love of Bob Marley, it inspired me to do a little digging into the music history of Jamaica. The first thing that I learned was that Jamaica was originally colonized by Europe in the 15 and 1600's. They took slaves from Africa and sent them to Jamaica to work on the sugar plantations. This created a blend of European and African influences, which created "Mento," which is described as the "Jamaican folk sound." This eventually turned into Ska, which is described as taking the elements of mento and combining it with American R&B. Which is said to be "characterized by a walking bass line accented with rhythms on the off beat." The big hitters of Ska were, Arthur 'Duke' Reid, Prince Buster and Coxsone Dodd. As time went on Ska morphed into "Rock Steady" which was slower and more rhythmic and this is where the "Reggae Revolution took charge." That's when you see names like Toots and The Maytals. Because of all of the political turmoil there, Jamaica's biggest stars started leaving and going to the UK. The UK's first #1 Reggae record was Desmond Dekkers "Israelites." So you had Reggae booming in both Jamaica and the UK making music to bring the Jamaican people hope in a time of political struggle. Back in Jamaica, in a placed called Trench Town, Bob Marley made a name for himself. Bob Marley's music, like many Jamaican musicians, was a message of peace and Unity. Yeah, I really went down a rabbit hole here. From all of this information I think it is safe to say that Jamaican music is syncretic and here are a couple of my favorite Jamaican masterpieces;  

                                    Bob Marley and the Wailers- 'One Love/People Get Ready'

                                              And Desmond Dekker and The Ace's- 'Israelites'

    

  Brief video of Thailand's Music History  (Asia)

     The next place that I decided to do some exploring is Thailand. When I was younger my family had a foreign exchange student live with us for about eight months who was from Thailand. She actually became really close with us and has come back many times since then. She is the one who sparked my interest into music form Thailand. Like many other places, the music of Thailand was created as a sort of "combination" of the music and cultures from the places around it. Thailand was, in a sense, formed as the "Khmer Empire," (which is present day Cambodia) fell and much of the Khmer culture and musical traditions helped form what became known as Thailand's classical music. One of the most famous music groups/traditions to come from Thailand's (high-class) classical music style is the "Piphat Ensemble." Which is a musical ensemble that consists of traditional Thai percussion and woodwind instruments. These ensembles were used for things like traditional Thai dances, sacred ceremonies, weddings and funerals and are often very improvisational and ornamental. 

                                               Here is a traditional Thailand Piphat Ensemble 

 

Eventually more "westernized" influences made their way to Thailand and so came along with it, more Western style sounds and instruments. So the music that once relied mainly on instruments that were idiophones and aerophones, are now incorporating instruments like pianos, and brass instruments. Which eventually lead to the more modern sound of contemporary Thai music. Here is an example. 

    Brief Music History of Brazil (South America) 

Another place that I have always been fascinated with is Brazil. Mostly because when I was younger I was obsessed with soccer and I loved Brazil because I might have had a crush on Neymar. Anyway, the only thing I really knew about Brazilian music all had to do with soccer so I thought this would be a nice one to dive into. To start, Brazilian music is really a complex blend of many cultures. From the indigenous sounds to the influence of the European harmonies and the rhythms and beats from Africa. It is highly syncretic. One of the most popular genres of Brazilian music is the samba, which is known for being very upbeat an having lots of syncopation. This music became the "heart beat of Carnival." 

Here are some of my favorite musical examples; 

                                                           Jorge Ben Jor's "Mas Que Nada"

          And here is a more modern Brazilian song: "Pais do Futebol"- MC Guimê, Dubdogz, Emicida e Watzgood (KondZilla)

 traditional Cajun instruments

Brief Cajun Louisiana Music History  (North America) 

The last place that I have chosen for this blog is Southwestern Louisiana. Now this might seem a little strange but the culture and the music in this part of Louisiana is different from anywhere in the country. For me, I have always been intrigued by the culture and music here. I actually have a good bit of family that lives in Southern Louisiana. With The French originally claiming Louisiana and eventually it being sold to the US, much of Southern Louisiana still to this day is heavily influenced by the French roots that were left behind. By the 1930's there were new educational mandates for the state of Louisiana that were actively forbidding student from speaking French which was just the beginning of the Americanization of the culture there. Southern Louisiana no doubt still today has its own sound and culture that are unique to everywhere else in the country. One of those major difference is, Cajun music. With traditional Cajun instruments being the accordion, fiddle, guitar and eventually branched out to more blues and jazz heavy instruments like the piano and brass instruments. Here are some of my favorites; 

              Here is a more traditional example of Creole music by Canray Fontenot and Bois Sec Ardoin

And here is a little more 'modern' example by a group called "The Magnolia Sisters" which an all women Cajun band. 

 That's all from my rabbit hole deep dive into music from around the world. I really enjoyed getting to take a deeper look into the music of different cultures. It can be easy to stay in our bubble of what we like and what we are used to, but it is very eye opening to dive into the beauty of music all around the world.