The discovery of the Americas by Columbus in 1492 initiated a
whole wave of European immigration towards the west. Nations such as
England, France, Spain and Portugal set out across the Atlantic to
explore, conquer and colonise huge territories of what are now known as
the Northern and Southern American continents. So as to maintain the
smooth running of these colonies, these nations brought with them black
African slaves. It is of interest to examine how, under different
influences and oppressions, the descendants of these slaves have
developed to form significantly different cultures.
Today, a very
noticeable contrast can be seen between the populations of Central and
South America when compared to the black societies of North America.
This contrast is particularly distinct in regards to music. It seems
apparent that there is far more reminisce and reference to traditional
African cultures in the music of Latin America then the Jazz of the
North. Is this so? If it is then what number of things could have
contributed to it? Could it be due to different oppressing regimes,
perhaps dictated by religious differences? Maybe the cultural
differences of the colonialists. Possibly even the indigenous natives
made a difference. Most likely these things would be true due to a whole
combination of contributing elements.
The Spanish were the first
to leave for the New World. Within a couple years of Columbus' arrival
in the Caribbean they had started to work their way south and inland
down the Isthmus. The Portuguese, French and British soon followed. The
British and French where most active in what is now known as the USA and
Canada as well as the Caribbean islands. The Portuguese settled in what
is now known as Brazil and the Spanish conquered territory from today's
Mexico all the way down to Chile and Argentina. As well as these large
nations there were also various smaller settlements such as the Dutch
and Russians. By the 19th century these nations had between them,
shipped over 11 to 12 million Black African Slaves.
It would not
be possible in this study to attempt to include every relevant culture.
In South America alone there are 13 countries each with diverse music
traditions and all relevant to a study of Black African Cultural
development. Therefore the Caribbean Islands will largely be excluded.
Also there will not be time to give a detailed analysis of the many
diverse African cultures from which the slaves came before colonialism,
although a general understanding of African culture and music is
acknowledged in the writing of this essay. Finally due to its
particularly rich music and strong African influences, the areas of
Spanish and Brazilian colonisation in Latin America will be examined as
the primary comparative against the Jazz music of North America. In
order to understand what it is that has made these two cultures so
different it is necessary to closely examine both in their modern
context as well as their history along with considerations towards the
cultures that oppressed them.
Although Jazz has vast and varied
origins, many of its influences can be found in the 'deep southern'
states of North America such as the cotton fields of Mississippi Delta.
The main oppressors here were the protestant British who lay down their
regime in cold unforgiving rigidity. In an attempt to control black
slaves and manipulate them as a work force, they found it necessary to
hammer out all expression of African culture. If two slaves were found
to speak the same native language they would be separated. Possibly most
significantly, the slaves were forbidden their drums, a resource which
is of great importance to African traditions. "Drumming, in particular
is a highly sophisticated activity in Africa" and is used to accompany
many day-to-day events, from religious ritual and worship to marriage
ceremonies, celebration and even communication. In what ways the
deprivation of their percussion (as well as all other African
instruments) affected them is difficult to say but it is evident that
African percussion can no longer be found in the music of these people.
However,
despite their oppressors, black Africans have often found ways to
express and maintain their traditions. For instance the colonial
authorities seemed unable to (or chose not to) prevent the singing of
work songs. Such forms as call and response can often be seen in Jazz
music today. Black slaves were forced to convert to the Christian
religion. They were required to go to church and sing hymns although
again here we can see an example of them maintaining their own culture
by adopting the western hymns and personalising them to create the style
now known as gospel music. This is very similar to the vocal styles
found in Africa.
Having been deprived of their traditional
instruments, around the 1880's/90's, black Africans were permitted to
play in marching bands (such as the music of John Phillip Sousa) and
funeral marches in New Orleans. This put at their disposal, brass
instruments (although not saxophones until later) and percussion that
finally gave them a means to a musical outlet. The large 'marching' drum
was set on the floor and later developed in to the early American
'trap-kit'.
All these elements combined to give the black musician
of 1915 a formidable array of skills and influences to put to his
disposal. As the black population gathered in large metropolitan areas
(i.e. New Orleans, New York, Chicago etc...), the melting pot was ripe
for the creative explosion that formed the basis of early jazz. It may
seem to the casual observer that obvious African features are uncommon
among much of the Latin American populations. However this should not
lead to the assumption that there was not a significant genetic
contribution. "In some parts of Latin America, Africans outnumbered
Europeans by a margin of 15 to 1".
In the early stages of colonial
Latin America, the black slaves were not always used solely for manual
labour. There are even some accounts of some slaves actually fighting
alongside the conquerors and even having been rewarded for their bravery
as mentioned by Daren J. Davis, author of 'Slavery and beyond'. In
allowing slaves this status it could be argued that the Spanish regarded
them with more respect than perhaps did the English. Attempts were made
to enslave the indigenous populations of Latin America although many
were killed in battle and epidemic diseases wiped out many more. Those
still alive were often too weak for efficient labour. This resulted in
the further increase in black slaves shipped from trading posts along
the west coasts of Africa. This could explain a less significant
influence of indigenous music in the Latin American music of today.
It
is important, in understanding the development of Latin America, to
know that an extensive amount of interbreeding took place between the
black slaves, the native populations and even the white Spanish
(Portuguese in Brazil). Although the latter would more likely have been
due to rape. Due to the established class system it would not be
considered acceptable for a white person to lower himself to partake in
relations with a darker skinned race. Nonetheless this still resulted in
offspring which contributed towards a new race often known as
Afro-Creoles. A fusion in races meant a further fusion in culture and
music. Also considering that the level of social class was determined by
the darkness of the skin, it could be deduced that new offspring with
lighter complexions would be able to obtain higher status in society
enabling them to have greater cultural input.
In both North and
South America African slaves were forced to acknowledge the oppressing
religion. In the North; British Protestant Christianity and in the south
Spanish Catholicism. How this might have changed the ways the slaves
were treated is hard to say. It would be assumed that the Protestants
might have had a more liberal frame of mind than the Roman Catholics.
However research has suggested that the Spanish were more open minded
and the British more controlling. Perhaps then, the colonialists
political point of view wasn't so much derived from their religion but
more their culture and heritage. It may be the case that the Spanish
were a lot more understanding of African ways of life due to their close
proximity to Africa. Also it must be noted that in previous centuries,
the Arabic empire had occupied Spain. Much evidence of this can still be
seen today such as the Alhambra in Granada.
In terms of the
African reaction to western religion they were generally known in the
south, to simply associate their own deities with Christian saints. This
is another great example of Black slaves maintaining their culture
despite all odds. "Afro-Creoles religions constitute powerful sources of
inner strength enabling them to reaffirm their African identity" The
combining of African and Western religion fused to form a new religion
in Latin America often known as 'Voodoo'. Study shows that despite the
names of Western Saints "Catholicism has very little to do with Voodoo",
implying that essentially Voodoo is derived solely from African
concepts and that music is a key part of African religious ceremony. The
maintenance of the African's religious expression would mean the
further maintenance of their music. Today we can see many obvious
African influences in the drums and percussion Latin American. Despite a
significant amount of development and evolution of both the drums and
rhythms, many of the fundamentals remain. This would suggest that Latin
American slaves were allowed to keep their drums. Peter Manuel, author
of 'Popular Music of the Non-Western World', suggests that due to the
innate African influences of Latin American music, the musical practices
of these black slaves must have been "tolerated by colonial
authorities". This may well have been because the authorities enjoyed to
hear their music but certainly because they found it to increase the
work efficiency of the slaves. "In this respect they differed from their
Northern European neighbours in the USA who lacked the Mediterranean
peoples cosmopolitan balance and required an ideology of virulent racism
to legitimise expression of blacks in an otherwise democratic state"
In
conclusion, we can clearly see a difference between African influences
in music in North and South America. In the old Spanish colonies,
African influences are far more prominent, due, as has been discussed,
to the open-minded nature of the Spanish colonialists. In the north the
African slaves where more oppressed and therefore they expressed their
cultural influences elsewhere, leading to new genres in Jazz. It is
interesting to note that Latin and North American music fused together
in the 50's and 60's to create genres such as Salsa and 'Cu-bop' (Cuban
bebop), this could be seen as a reuniting of African cultures.
No comments:
Post a Comment