Chouval bwa is a kind of

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

originated on the slave plantations of

Martinique Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...

. There are two versions, traditional and modern. Chouval bwa has been popularized by artists such as

Claude Germany Claude Germany is a French Antillean musician, known as a player of chouval bwa Chouval bwa is a kind of folk music originated on the slave plantations of Martinique. There are two versions, traditional and modern. Chouval bwa has been popula ...

Tumpak Marce et Tumpak is a Martinican pop band that uses elements of both traditional and modern music. Their instrumentation includes folk drums like the tibwa Historically, idiophones (percussion instruments without membranes or strings) have been ...

Dede Saint-Prix DeDe, De De, Dedé or Dédé may refer to: People Nickname or stage name * Dedé (Angolan footballer), born Adérito Waldemar Alves Carvalho * Dedé (footballer, born 1978), Brazilian footballer born Leonardo de Deus Santos * Dedé (footballer, ...

, and Pakatak.

History

The

bèlè is a legacy of the

slave Slavery and enslavement are both the state and the condition of being a slave—someone forbidden to quit one's service for an enslaver, and who is treated by the enslaver as property. Slavery typically involves slaves being made to perf ...

music tradition. The ''bélé'' itself is a huge

tambour In classical architecture, a tambour ( Fr.: "drum") is the inverted bell of the Corinthian capital around which are carved acanthus leaves for decoration. The term also applies to the wall of a circular structure, whether on the ground or raised ...

drum that players ride as though it was a horse. It is characterized, in its rhythm, by the "

tibwa Historically, idiophones (percussion instruments without membranes or strings) have been widespread throughout the Caribbean music area, which encompasses the islands and coasts of the Caribbean Sea. Some areas of South America that are not geogra ...

" (two wooden sticks) played on a length of bamboo mounted on a stand to the tambour bèlè. Added to the tambour bèlè and tibwa are the

maracas A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were r ...

, more commonly referred to as the ''chacha''. The ''tibwa'' rhythm plays a basic pattern and the drum comes to mark the highlights and introduce percussion improvisations. It is organized in a certain way, the first entry of the singer ( lavwa ) and choir ( lavwa Deye or "answer"). Then the "Bwatè" (player ti bwa) sets the pace, followed by bèlè drum. Finally, the dancers take the stage. A dialogue is created between the dancers and the "tanbouyè" (drummer). The "answer" plays opposite the singer, the audience can also participate.

Origin

The chouval bwa music is the music played by an orchestra to entertain the kids sitting on the wooden carousel in Martinique.

Characteristics

The belair percussionist is typically the leader of the chouval bwa orchestra. Chouval bwa features a drummer on the ''tanbour'' drum and the ''ti bwa'', a percussion instrument made out of a piece of bamboo laid horizontally and beaten with sticks; the most traditional ensembles also use

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

s, ''chacha'' (a rattle) and the ''bel-air'', a bass version of the ''tanbour'',Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289–303 bamboo flute and

comb and paper Comb and paper is a rudimentary musical instrument which consists of a comb with a piece of paper pressed to it. To play it, one has to press their lips to the paper pressed to the comb and sing or vocalize into it. The voice makes the paper vibra ...

-type kazoo.

Call-and-response Call and response is a form of interaction between a speaker and an audience in which the speaker's statements ("calls") are punctuated by responses from the listeners. This form is also used in music, where it falls under the general category of ...

singing completes the ensemble. The lead singer chooses the sequence of dances through his or her selection of songs, each of which goes with a specific dance. All songs are sung by a ''chantwèl'' in

créole Creole may refer to: Anthropology * Creole peoples, ethnic groups which originated from linguistic, cultural, and often racial mixing of colonial-era emigrants from Europe with non-European peoples * Criollo people, the historic name of people ...

and concern relations between the sexes, local gossip, and current politics.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chouval Bwa Martinican music French styles of music Caribbean music genres

History

Origin

Characteristics

See also

References