Caribbean Currents
Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae
by Peter Manuel with Kenneth Bilby and Michael Largey
ISBN-10: 1899365079
Paperback, 1st August 2005
Price: £12.99
Music is the most popular and dynamic aspect of Caribbean culture, featuring a rich variety of styles. From the well-known genres - salsa, merengue, reggae, calypso and batchata - to more localised forms like chutney and kaseko, Caribbean Currents surveys them all.
Unparalleled in its coverage, embracing much new information, Caribbean Currents explores the region's music - its forms and innovations, its musicians, its festivals and dance halls, and its fans - and traces its African, Asian and European roots.
Chapter Breakdown
- Introduction - The Caribbean crucible: the Indian, African and European heritage.
- Country studies: Cuba; Puerto Rico; the Dominican Republic; Haiti and the French Caribbean; Jamaica; Trinidad - Calypso and Carnival.
- Salsa and beyond: the Son sires a son; Ruben Blades: the cutting edge; style and structure; the Salsa life; Salsa Lite?; Latin Rap: Nueva Canción.
- The other Caribbean: East Indians in the West Indies; introducing the popular music of Suriname - Kaseko and Aleke.
- Themes in the study of Caribbean music: unit and diversity in a continent of islands; race and ethnicity; music, sex and sexism; Caribbean music international; music and politics.
What Reviewers Say about Caribbean Currents
"A welcome overview of a region distinguished by the unique range and vitality of its music. Manuel's writing is precise and highly readable, his mix of musical analysis, social and political comment, and snatches of travelogue doing ample justice to his fascinating subject."
Q Magazine
"Erudite and quasi-musicological (tho' rarely overtly academic) ... a lot of fascinating detail and impeccable political insight."
Venue
"Manages to be infectiously enthusiastic as well as scholarly."
Wanderlust
About the Author
Peter Manuel is Associate Professor of Music at John Jay College and the City University of New York Graduate Center.
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