The music of the Lesser Antilles encompasses the musics of Martinique,
Guadeloupe, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, Aruba and the Netherlands
Antilles, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Anguilla, Antigua and
Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Virgin Islands, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts
and Nevis and Montserrat. The Lesser Antilles' musical cultures are
largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European
traders and colonizers. The African musical elements are a hybrid of
instruments and styles from numerous West African tribes, while the
European slaveholders added their own musics into the mix, as did
immigrants from India. In many ways, the Lesser Antilles can be
musically divided based on which nation colonized them. The ex-British
colonies include Trinidad and Tobago, whose calypso style is an
especially potent part of the music of the other former British
colonies, which also share traditions like the Big Drum dance. The
French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe share the popular zouk
style, and have also had extensive musical contact with the music of
Haiti, itself once a French colony though not part of the Lesser
Antilles. The Dutch colonies share the combined rhythm popular style.
The islands also share a passion for kaseko, a genre of Surinamese
music; Suriname and its neighbors Guyana and French Guiana share folk
and popular styles that are connected enough to the Antilles and other
Caribbean islands that both countries are studied in the broader
context of Antillean or Caribbean music.
Read the rest of this article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_the_Lesser_Antilles
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Today's selected anniversaries:
304:
Thirteen-year-old Saint Agnes, the patron saint of young girls, was
executed for refusing a marriage proposal.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Agnes)
1525:
The first Anabaptists in Switzerland re-baptized each other.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anabaptist)
1793:
French Revolution: After being found guilty of treason by the National
Convention, King Louis XVI was guillotined in front of a cheering
crowd.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_XVI_of_France)
1968:
Vietnam War: The People's Army of Vietnam attacked Khe Sanh Combat
Base, a U.S. Marines outpost, starting the Battle of Khe Sanh.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Khe_Sanh)
1976:
The Concorde supersonic transports began commercial flights to London,
Paris, Bahrain, and Rio de Janeiro.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concorde)
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Wikiquote of the day:
A revelation, that may be supposed to be really of the institution of
God, must also be supposed to be perfectly consistent or uniform, and
to be able to stand the test of truth... Reason therefore must be the
standard by which we determine the respective claims of revelation;
for otherwise we may as well subscribe to the divinity of the one as
of the other, or to the whole of them, or to none at all. -- Ethan
Allen
(
http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Ethan_Allen)