Zouk is a musical movement pioneered by the
French Antillean band
Kassav'
Kassav' is a French Caribbean band formed in Guadeloupe in 1979. The core members of the band are Jacob Desvarieux, Jocelyne Béroard, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Patrick St. Eloi, Jean-Claude Naimro, Claude Vamur, and Georges Décimus (who left ...
in the early 1980s. It was originally characterized by a fast tempo (120–145
bpm), a percussion-driven rhythm and a loud horn section. The fast zouk béton of
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: or ) is an island and an Overseas department and region, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of ...
and
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and th ...
faded away during the 1980s. Musicians from Martinique and Guadeloupe added
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and rel ...
instrumentation to their compas style, which developed into zouk-love. Zouk-love is effectively the French
Lesser Antilles
The Lesser Antilles ( es, link=no, Antillas Menores; french: link=no, Petites Antilles; pap, Antias Menor; nl, Kleine Antillen) are a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. Most of them are part of a long, partially volcanic island arc betwe ...
' compas.
[Popular Musics of the Non Western World. Peter Manuel, New York Oxford University Press, 1988, p74] Zouk gradually became indistinguishable from the genre known as
compas.
This light compas influenced the Cape-Verdean new generation.
Zouk béton
The original fast carnival style of zouk, best represented by the band
Kassav'
Kassav' is a French Caribbean band formed in Guadeloupe in 1979. The core members of the band are Jacob Desvarieux, Jocelyne Béroard, Jean-Philippe Marthély, Patrick St. Eloi, Jean-Claude Naimro, Claude Vamur, and Georges Décimus (who left ...
, became known as "zouk béton", "zouk chiré" or "zouk hard". Zouk béton is considered a synthesis of various French Antillean dance music styles of the 20th century:
kadans (cadence),
konpa
are a type of Japanese drinking gathering held by university students in a casual drinking establishment called an izakaya, and are more relaxed than the traditional ''nomikai''. It is often suggested that this word originally came from german ...
and
biguine.
See also
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Brazilian Zouk
Brazilian Zouk is a partner dance which began in Brazil during the early 1990s. Brazilian Zouk evolved from the partner dance known as the Lambada. As the Lambada music genre went out of fashion, Lambada dancers turned to Caribbean Zouk (from the ...
*
Music of Latin America
The music of Latin America refers to music originating from Latin America, namely the Romance language, Romance-speaking regions of the Americas south of the United States. Latin American music also incorporates African music from enslaved Afric ...
*
Music of Martinique and Guadeloupe
References
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Caribbean music genres
Martinican music
Guadeloupean music
Haitian music
Dominica music
Lesser Antillean music