music of the world c part 1

this is a bit of a no-brainer exercise
in terms of having to be even a little bit creative
when composing the contents of this post
this is part 3 in a series of about 26
covering the music of the world a-z
as presented in an article in songlines magazine july/august 2006
but even the process of transcribing the article
means re-reading, re-processing and hopefully re-membering
something about each of the various world music genres exposed
with thanks again to songlines magazine

calypso (trinidad)

late 19th century african work songs co-parented calypso
and the earliest recordings (1914) feature tambour-bamboo drums with acoustic guitars
by the 40's, tuned steel drums (pans) carried the lightly syncopated springy rhythms
which support the calypsonians' improvised poetry
patois, slang and double entendre satires of topical subjects
(political scandals to cricket)
are wielded in the annual carnivale calypso monarch contests
calypso reached post-war london via lord kitchener and friends
and 50's superstar mighty sparrow was overshadowed
by harry belafonte's diluted million-seller 'calypso' in 1956
by the 80's, calypso was displaced by the soul/calypso fusion, soca

songlines recommends london is the place for me trinidadian calypso in london 1950-1956
esne notes the blatant rip-off commercial end of the scale but does dreadlock holiday rate?

choro (brazil)

choro is the ragtime of brazil and the mother of samba and bossa nova
for just as jazz lies latent in ragtime, so those later rhythms lie latent in choro
the rhythm grew from a fusion of african and european dance hall styles - particularly polka
rio's masked balls, including those at carnavale were exclusive for the white and rich
and like carnavale itself, choro was born when poor african brazilians
created their own festivities in the favelas which honeycombed rio's hills
even in the early 20th century

songlines recommends pixinguinha (self-titled)
esne notes seems that this performer is to choro what robert johnson is to the blues

chamame (argentina)

from the rich soils of corrientes and misiones
chamame sprouted when migrant workers from eastern europe
rubbed hoes with guarani natives and africans from brazil
the sprightly rhythm has been a folk dance favourite since the late 19th century
but it was legendary accordionist mario del transito cocmarola (1918-1974)
who turned it into a powerful regional roots music
the title of his most iconic song, kilometro 11
evokes a landscape where there are no great cities
just milestones where people chat, flirt, dance and, occassionally, despair
in all his compositions, cocomarola balances the melancholy and passion of chamame
with it's sweet, rocking beat

songlines recommends estampa correntina by transito cocmarola
esne notes possibly a influence on the gotan project?

there's another 3 styles in the c part of the alphabet
will save them for next time
that's 10 down and 40 to go
....mind-boggling