Cadence-lypso is a fusion of

cadence rampa Cadence rampa ( ht, kadans ranpa, ), or simply kadans, is a dance music and modern méringue popularized in the Caribbean by the virtuoso Haitian sax player Webert Sicot in the early 1960s. Cadence rampa was one of the sources of cadence-lypso ...

from

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

and calypso from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, small ...

that has also spread to other English speaking countries of the Caribbean. Originated in the 1970s by the Dominican band

Exile One Exile One is a cadence musical group founded by Gordon Henderson in the 1970s with musicians invited over from Dominica, to be based in Guadeloupe. The band was influential in the development of Caribbean music. It became famous throughout the ...

on the island of

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 the ...

, it spread and became popular in the dance clubs around the Creole world and Africa as well as the French Antilles. Genres: Caribbean and Latin America. Gordon Henderson is the leader and founder of Exile One, and the one who coined the term ''cadence-lypso''. Performing the Caribbean Experience.

History

Dominican contemporary music, that is the music played by the dance bands from the 1950s, has played a very important role in Dominica national life. Dominica musical landscape has seen many changes in the intervening period from 1950. In the forties and fifties, there were bands such as the Casimir Brothers of Roseau. The

Swinging Stars The Swingin' Stars were an early popular band from Dominica, formed in 1959 in the Virgin Lane/Turkey Lane area. They were originally known as the Swinging Teens and changed their name in 1961. Their first major show was at the 1960 calypso compet ...

emerged at the end of the fifties. Their music was a dance-oriented version of many kinds of Caribbean and Latin popular music. By the beginning of the 1960s, calypso and Trinidadian steelpan became the most popular styles of music on Dominica, replacing traditional Carnival music like chanté mas and lapo kabwit, particularly in the capital Roseau. Many of the traditional carnival songs were performed in the new calypso beat.

Calypsonian A calypsonian,Definition of CALYPSO
calypso monarch competitions emerged and became extremely popular. It was in the 1960s that the trend towards drawing on original music, traditional music and songs of Dominica began. This was probably best exemplified by the music of the Gaylords and to a lesser extent, De Boys and Dem. Gaylords unleashed a string of hits such as "DouvanJou", "Ti Mako", songs in Dominican Creole French as well as powerful nationalist songs in English, as "Lovely Dominica" and "Pray for the Blackman". These songs were performed to calypso rhythms and later the new

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 ...

beat coming out of Jamaica. Early recording stars from this era included Swinging Busters, The Gaylords, De Boys an Dem and Los Caballeros, while

chorale Chorale is the name of several related musical forms originating in the music genre of the Lutheran chorale: * Hymn tune of a Lutheran hymn (e.g. the melody of " Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme"), or a tune in a similar format (e.g. one of the ...

groups also gained fans, especially Lajenne Etwal, Siflé and the Dominica folk singers. These early popular musicians were aided by the spread of

radio broadcasting Radio broadcasting is transmission of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based radi ...

, beginning with WIDBS and later Radio Dominica. The emergence of radio, first WIDBS and later Radio Dominica helped to spread the music. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the influence of rock,

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

and funk music from the United States was reflected in Dominican contemporary dance music. New groups originating from mainly the high school student population emerged. Groups such as Every Mother's Child, Woodenstool and Voltage Four specialized in rock and funk. The Latin-rock music of

Carlos Santana Carlos Humberto Santana Barragán (; born July 20, 1947) is an American guitarist who rose to fame in the late 1960s and early 1970s with his band Santana, which pioneered a fusion of Rock and roll and Latin American jazz. Its sound feature ...

and Afro-rock music of Osibisa became powerful influences on our younger bands, and were very popular in the dance halls.

The Cadence era

In the early 1960s,

an musicians introduced to the Caribbean, specifically, Dominica and the French Antilles (

and

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 ...

) the

or méringue, a sophisticated form of music that quickly swept the islands and helped unite all the former French colonies of the Caribbean by combining their cultural influences. In the early 1970s, the Dominican Kadans band

was born, based on the island of Guadeloupe. Its members were top rate Dominican musicians originating from bands such as Woodenstool, Voltage and De Boys and Dem. Trinidadian Calypso and Haitian kadans or méringue were the two dominants music styles of Dominica so Exile One, that featured calypso, reggae and mostly kadans or méringue, called its music Cadence-lypso however, most of the bands repertoire was kadans. Due to the popularity of Exile One, There was a virtual explosion of kadans bands from Dominica - Grammacks, Liquid Ice, Midnight Groovers, Black Affairs, Black Machine, Mantra, Belles Combo, Milestone, Wafrikai, Black roots, Black Blood, Naked Feet and Mammouth among others. Leading vocalists of the period include Gordon Henderson, Jeff Joseph, Marcel "Chubby" Marc, Anthony Gussie, Mike Moreau, Tony Valmond, Linford John, Bill Thomas, SinkyRabess and Janet Azouz among others. Dominica kadans bands became popular in Martinique, Guadeloupe,

and other islands in the Caribbean, Latin America and Africa. The music of Santana and Osibisa also influenced this new form as evidenced in the use of guitars, keyboards, horns and percussion. At that time too, the society was in nationalist ferment. The Black Power and

Rastafarian Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...

Movements, with their black pride, pro-African and anti-colonial ideological positions, influenced the young musicians tremendously. This was reflected in the music in terms of band names such as Wafrikai, Black Machine, Black Roots, Black Affairs and Black Blood, a definitive identification with blackness, with Africa. This was reflected in the melody, in the use of certain instruments such as keyboards, guitars and horns. This was also reflected in lyrical content, the positive, nationalist and social commentary of cadence-lypso. Cadence-lypso reflected and exuded the nationalist ferment of the seventies. There were a number of other important aspects of cadence-lypso music which impacted on our culture and society as well as the future direction of Dominica's contemporary music. Cadence-lypso used the Creole language as its prime means of expression, again feeding into our language traditions and our folk song traditions. Oral traditions such as proverbs were every much utilized in the music. Cadence-music was popular among the young and the old and united the generations. For the younger people, this music which was making Dominica famous overseas was also serving as a platform of protest against the ills of society and for conscious-raising. This music was popular among the older folk because of its similarity or relationship to rhythms of jing ping music and the use of the Creole language. During the 1980s, cadence-lypso popularity declined greatly. Some Dominican performers remained famous, such as

Ophelia Ophelia () is a character in William Shakespeare's drama '' Hamlet'' (1599–1601). She is a young noblewoman of Denmark, the daughter of Polonius, sister of Laertes and potential wife of Prince Hamlet, who, due to Hamlet's actions, ends u ...

, and became Dominica's first kadans female singer to achieve international star status. She is sometimes referred to as "Dominica's Lady of Song", the "First Lady of Creole", and "la grande dame de la musique Antillaise". She has toured widely in France and had concerts broadcast over much of the Francophone world. Her first recording was "Ay Dominique," a "lament for Dominica as the country underwent political problems in the 1970s". When the record was released, it immediately became a hit in Guadeloupe and Martinique although this was towards the end of the dominance of Dominican music in the French West Indies. Recently, efforts have begun to revitalize cadence-lypso and Creole music generally through the holding of the

World Creole Music Festival The World Creole Music Festival (WCMF) is an annual three-day music festival hosted on the island of Dominica during the final weekend in October, as a conclusion to Creole heritage month. WCMF is a noted festival of Dominica, and it provides en ...

here in Dominica. This festival attracts top bands of the French Creole-speaking world and in Africa. Exile One, Jeff Joseph//new Generation Grammacks, Anthony Gussie and Tony Valmond/Liquid Ice have released a number of albums as well as remastered vintage cadence hits of the 1970s.

Origin

The most influential figure in the development of Cadence-lypso was the Dominican group

(based on the island of

) that combined calypso music from the English speaking Caribbean and the

of Haiti with influences of Dominican traditional music. Cadence-lypso came from calypso from Trinidad and cadence rampa from Haiti, with influences from jing ping, the Dominican traditional music. Cadence-lypso has evolved under the influence of Dominican and Caribbean/

Latin rhythms 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 ...

, as well as rock guitars,

-style vocals and funk bass and horn styles - music from the United States. By the end of the 1970s, Gordon Henderson defined Cadence-lypso as "a

synthesis Synthesis or synthesize may refer to: Science Chemistry and biochemistry *Chemical synthesis, the execution of chemical reactions to form a more complex molecule from chemical precursors **Organic synthesis, the chemical synthesis of organi ...

of Caribbean and African musical patterns fusing the traditional with the contemporary". It was pushed in the 1970s by groups from Dominica, and was the first style of Dominican music to find international acclaim. Aside from Exile One, other bands included the Grammacks, Black Roots,

Black Machine Black Machine is an Italian electronic music group, most active throughout the 1990s. They are best known for the singles " How Gee", "Funky Funky People" and "Jazz Machine", all of which charted in several countries across Europe. In 1992, "How ...

Naked Feet Nudity is the state of being in which a human is without clothing. The loss of body hair was one of the physical characteristics that marked the biological evolution of modern humans from their hominin ancestors. Adaptations related to h ...

, Belles Combo, Mantra,

Black Affairs Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

Liquid Ice Slurry ice is a phase changing refrigerant made up of millions of ice "micro-crystals" (typically 0.1 to 1 mm in diameter) formed and suspended within a solution of water and a freezing point depressant. Some compounds used in the field are sa ...

, Wafrikai,

Midnight Groovers Midnight is the transition time from one day to the next – the moment when the date changes, on the local official clock time for any particular jurisdiction. By clock time, midnight is the opposite of noon, differing from it by 12 hours ...

, Bill-O-Men and Milestone, while the most famous singers included Bill Thomas, Chubby Marc, Gordon Henderson,

Linford John Linford may refer to: Places: * Linford, Essex, a location in England *Linford, Hampshire, England *Great Linford, historic village in the northern part of Milton Keynes, England *Little Linford, village in the Borough of Milton Keynes, England *N ...

Janet Azouz Janet may refer to: Names * Janet (given name) * Janet (French singer) (1939–2011) Surname * Charles Janet (1849–1932), French engineer, inventor and biologist, known for the Left Step periodic table * Jules Janet (1861–1945), French psych ...

, Sinky Rabess,

Tony Valmond Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

, Jeff Joseph,

Mike Moreau Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documenta ...

and Anthony Gussie.

Ophelia Marie Ophelia Marie, also known as Ophelia Olivaccé-Marie (born 28 March 1951), is a popular singer of cadence-lypso from Dominica in the 1980s. She is sometimes referred to as "Dominica's Lady of Song", the "First Lady of Creole", and "la grande dam ...

is a popular singer of cadence-lypso in the 1980s. Cadence-lypso was influenced by nationalist movement that espoused

Rastafari Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is a religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control ...

and Black Power. Many groups performed songs with intensely ideological positions, and much of the repertoire was in the vernacular Creole language.

Women in Cadence

Cadence, from its conception and through time, has classically been a male-dominated genre.

is a popular singer of cadence-lypso from Dominica in the 1980s. She is sometimes referred to as "Dominica's Lady of Song", the "First Lady of Creole", and "la grande dame de la musique Antillaise". Ophelia emerged and became Dominica's first kadans female singer to achieve international star status. She is considered to be the "Godmother of Cadence", and has toured widely in France and had concerts broadcast over much of the Francophone world. Her first recording was "Ay Dominique," a "lament for Dominica as the country underwent political problems in the 1970s". The song became a popular anthem among Dominicans, and she began recording with Gordon Henderson, placing herself at the forefront of cadence-lypso. Ophelia's contribution to the development of regional music, particularly cadence, is well known, ever since she burst onto the music scene in 1979 with her popular hit "Aie Dominique" and later "Chante d'amour". She often sung about women's issues, a rarity at the time, and was among the first women to sing at the Théâtre Noir,

Cirque d'Hiver The Cirque d'Hiver ("Winter Circus"), located at 110 rue Amelot (at the juncture of the rue des Filles Calvaires and rue Amelot, Paris 11ème), has been a prominent venue for circuses, exhibitions of dressage, musical concerts, and other events, ...

and the Théâtre de la Renaissance. She was the first non-French winner of the

Maracas d'Or Award 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 ra ...

from

Société Pernod Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

, and has been awarded

International Women's Year International Women's Year (IWY) was the name given to 1975 by the United Nations. Since that year March 8 has been celebrated as International Women's Day, and the United Nations Decade for Women, from 1976 to 1985, was also established. His ...

in 1985, the

Sisserou Award of Honour The Sisserou Award of Honour is a national award of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Created in 1967, it is the second highest honour presented by the President of the Commonwealth of Dominica on behalf of the state. The Dominican Awards are spa ...

(the second highest award in Dominica), a

Lifetime Award Lifetime may refer to: * Life expectancy, the length of time a person is expected to remain alive Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Lifetime (band), a rock band from New Jersey * ''Life Time'' (Rollins Band album), by Rollins Band * ...

in 2005 and a

Golden Drum Award The Golden Drum Award is the Commonwealth of Dominica Dominica ( or ; Kalinago language, Kalinago: ; french: Dominique; Dominican Creole French: ), officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. The capital, R ...

in 1984. In 2005, Ophelia hosted the fifth Dynamith d'Or Caribbean Music Awards. She has inspired CHS's own Charmed Simplicity "BIG UP"

NCCU cadence-lypso competition

The NCCU launched its Cadence-lypso Show/Competition June 20, 2012 at 10:00am at its head offices in Roseau. Mr.

Leroy Charles Leroy or Le Roy may refer to: People * Leroy (name), a given name and surname * Leroy (musician), American musician * Leroy (sailor), French sailor Places United States * Leroy, Alabama * Le Roy, Illinois * Le Roy, Iowa * Le Roy, Kansas * Le R ...

, NCCU Cadence-lypso Show promoter, presented the background of Cadence-lypso and applauded NCCU for taking the step to preserve Dominica's indigenous music. NCCU President, Mr.

Dexter Ducreay Dexter may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Dexter, the main character of the American animated series ''Dexter's Laboratory'' that aired from 1996 to 2003 * Dexter, a fictional character in the British web series ''Diary of a Bad Man'' * Dexte ...

stated that NCCU took this initiative to give back to Dominica and keep the Cadence art form alive. Fifteen individuals and groups will be selected to compete at the show at the

Newtown Savannah Newtown may refer to: Places Australia * Newtown, New South Wales *Newtown, Queensland (Ipswich) * Newtown, Queensland (Toowoomba) * Newtown, Victoria, a suburb of Geelong *Newtown, Victoria (Golden Plains Shire), a locality near Ballarat Canad ...

. The winner will walk away with an attractive prize of $15,000. Inspiring addresses were also delivered by Honourable

Justina Charles Justina and Justine are anglicised versions of the Latin name ''Iustina'', feminine of ''Iustinus'', a derivative of ''Iustus'', meaning ''fair'' or ''just''. For the masculine version of the name, see Justin (name). Translations *Russian: Ус� ...

, Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports. Honourable Ian Douglas, Minister for Tourism and Legal Affairs and Chief Cultural Officer, Mr. Raymond Lawrence. They all confirmed support for the show. The various media houses were also present as partners in this Cadence Show venture. The show was held at the Newtown Savannah and was well-attended by Cadence lovers who danced and grooved to the infectious music, which comprised old school and new fusions of the Cadence-lypso beat. The show was organised by the NCCU as part of efforts to revitalise Cadence and to help develop and expose young talent in keeping with the International Year of Cooperatives 2012.

References

External links

{{Calypso music 20th-century music genres Dominica music Guadeloupean music Calypso music Caribbean music genres