[Column] History of Martinique music and grooves that cross borders
Column en Caribbean Culture Music History![[Column] History of Martinique music and grooves that cross borders](/../assets/images/column-martinique.webp)
“Music Crossroads” floating in the Caribbean Sea
| Text: mmr | Theme: Martinique, an island where French culture and African rhythms intersect. The music echoes the very history of the Caribbean. |
The history of the island shaped the music
Martinique is a French overseas department located in the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean. It is still treated as part of the French Republic, and its administrative, educational system, and currency are the same as mainland France. However, culturally, it is a complex mix of influences not only from Europe, but also from Africa, the West Indies, and South America.
From the 17th century onward, as France colonized the country, slaves brought from Africa were forced to work on sugarcane plantations. They brought with them not only language and religion, but also a sense of rhythm, singing, dance, and percussion culture.
After that, dances, military music, and church music originating from Europe were mixed with polyrhythms originating from Africa, forming a unique Creole culture. This ““mixing’’ is the most distinctive feature of Martinique music.
Island music is not simply traditional music. Multiple layers of history overlap, including colonial rule, slavery, immigration, urbanization, tourism, relations with mainland France, and diaspora culture.
The collision of European harmonies and African rhythms created a unique Martinique oscillation. There is a ““groove that is not neatly organized’’.
Music has always been connected to society. Festivals, labor, political movements, religious ceremonies, carnivals, dance halls. Music was at the center of every scene.
What is Creole culture?
The concept of “Creole” is essential when talking about Martinique.
Creole is not just a mixed-race culture, but a new cultural system that was created through contact between different cultures. Martinique speaks a Creole language that is based on French but has a unique variation, and Creole sensibilities permeate its cuisine, festivals, literature, and music.
In terms of music, there are many ways to layer European melodies with African rhythms. The lyrics have also depicted social satire, love, a sense of community, and the colonial experience.
This cultural mix greatly influenced the subsequent birth of the Zouk.
Martinique music was not a monoculture, but a creole music formed by a mixture of histories themselves.
Bere and drum culture
Rhythm born in a plantation society
When talking about Martinique’s traditional music, the first thing that becomes important is the beret.
Bere is a traditional performing art that integrates singing, drumming, and dancing, and retains strong cultural elements originating from Africa. Percussion instruments play a particularly important role, with giant drums forming the core of the rhythm.
The bere was often performed as a community activity after plantation work. It was not just entertainment, but also a shared sense of community memory and resistance.
During slavery, rulers tried to suppress African culture, but music and dance never completely disappeared. Rather, it was passed down like an underground water vein.
In bere, a call-and-response format is often used. This is a common form of African music, and is structured as a dialogue between the singer and the community.
Dancing is also important. The dancers engage in improvisational tactics, and the music and bodies are closely linked.
The drums were words
In Martinique, percussion instruments were not just accompaniment.
Drums shared emotions, brought communities together, and sometimes became a symbol of resistance. Rhythm contained more meaning than words.
Although many people in colonial society did not have access to literacy education, music was passed down as an oral culture. Rhythm also played a role in preserving history.
Bere culture temporarily declined in the 20th century, but was reevaluated during the subsequent cultural revival movement. Today, it is treated as a symbol of Martinique culture.
Bere was not just a folk performing art, but a memory device of a community that had survived a history of oppression.
Birth of Begin and urban culture
Fusion of French dances and Caribbean rhythms
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a type of music called ““beguine’’ developed in Martinique.
Beguine is dance music that incorporates Caribbean rhythms while being influenced by European dances. It featured a light and sophisticated sound, using clarinet, trombone, piano, and percussion instruments.
Dancehall culture developed, especially in urban areas, and biggin became popular as social music.
Begin is often compared to jazz. They share a commonality of improvisation and a sense of rhythm, and from the 1930s onwards they gained popularity in mainland France as well.
Caribbean musicians were active in Paris, forming a cultural hub for the colonial community.
The presence of Alexandre Stelio
Alexandre Stelio is known as an important figure in the development of Begin.
He gained popularity as a clarinetist and played a role in spreading Beguine to mainland France. The sophisticated arrangements and dance-friendly rhythms captivated many audiences.
During this period, Martinique music changed from “local music” to “cross-border music.”
Caribbean musicians who immigrated to Paris formed a new urban style of Caribbean music, interacting with jazz and chanson.
Begin was the first urban Caribbean sound to bring island music to the world.
Carnival and street music
Festivals in Martinique society
Carnival culture is extremely important in Martinique.
During the annual carnival, the entire city transforms into a gigantic music space. A mix of costumes, parades, percussion corps, dance, and political satire, the music reflects society itself.
Carnival was established as a combination of European-originated celebratory culture and the physical culture of African communities.
There, the class order is temporarily overturned. Voices that are normally suppressed become expressive during the festival.
This structure is also shared with carnivals in Brazil and Trinidad and Tobago.
Percussion instruments and street culture
Brass bands and drum corps play an important role in the carnival.
The rhythms played on the streets are particularly powerful and have the power to directly move the bodies of participants.
In Martinique music, ““listening” and ““dancing” are not separated. The physical experience is central.
This culture is directly connected to the later Zouk. Huge bass, repetitive rhythms, and collective enthusiasm are an extension of street culture.
Martinique’s Carnival was a huge device that translated social tension and joy into music.
Zouk Revolution
Impact of the 1980s
In the 1980s, a genre emerged that propelled French Caribbean music to the global stage. That is “zouk”.
Zouk is a dance music that developed mainly in Guadeloupe and Martinique and featured electronic instruments, synthesizers, and powerful rhythm sections.
Rather than simply preserving traditional music, it was groundbreaking in its bold fusion of disco, funk, soul, and Afro-Caribbean music.
The central group that spread this new sound to the world was Kassav.
Introducing Kassavu
Formed in 1979, Kassav catapulted zouk into an international genre.
They actively introduced studio technology and created a huge dance sound. Complex percussion, synthesizers, chorus work, and bass lines were fused to create a unique sense of exhilaration.
Particularly important was the emphasis on the Creole language.
At the time, in a cultural structure dominated by French, it had cultural significance to make Creole the main character of pop music.
Zouk was not just dance music, it was also an expression of cultural identity.
Spread to the world
Zouk also gained great popularity in Africa, Europe, and South America.
It was a big hit, especially in French-speaking Africa, and influenced many artists.
It further developed into ““zouk love’’ in Portuguese-speaking countries, and influenced later dance culture.
Zouk was not just a genre of Caribbean music, but functioned as global pop.
Zouk was not a project to preserve traditional music, but to update Creole culture for the future.
Deep relationship with jazz
The intersection of the Caribbean and jazz
Martinique music also has a deep relationship with jazz.
The closeness between New Orleans jazz and Caribbean rhythms has long been noted. In fact, syncopation and polyrhythm have a lot in common.
Since the mid-20th century, many Caribbean musicians immigrated to mainland France and joined the jazz scene.
Musicians from Martinique retained a Caribbean sense of rhythm, even as they absorbed bebop and modern jazz.
Fusion with French Jazz
Jazz culture developed rapidly in France after the war.
Caribbean musicians play an important role in this. He had a particularly big influence on percussion instruments and the rhythm section.
Additionally, the dance sensibilities derived from the Caribbean brought a new physicality to European jazz.
The relationship between jazz and Martinique music is not unidirectional. They developed while influencing each other.
Martinique music was not absorbed into jazz, but changed jazz itself.
Distance from mainland France
Same country but different cultures
Martinique is still part of the French Republic. However, culturally, a unique sense of distance has existed.
While the educational system and administration are strongly tied to mainland France, there are clear differences in language, lifestyle, and musical sensibilities.
Music was an important area to visualize these differences.
Creole singing and carnival culture were also associated with opposition to Francocentrism.
Particularly since the 1960s, with the rise of decolonial cultural movements, Martinique’s unique culture has been reevaluated.
Aimé Césaire and cultural consciousness
Martinique-born thinker Aimé Césaire is known as an important figure in the Négritude movement.
He advocated the need to reevaluate black culture that had been denied by colonialism and regain cultural independence.
This idea also influenced musical culture.
The revival of Bere, the reappraisal of the Creole language, and the growing interest in traditional culture were not just nostalgia. It was also a movement for cultural independence.
Martinique music has always questioned cultural independence behind the fun.
Dance and physicality
Music is not something you listen to
A characteristic of Martinique music is its strong physicality.
西洋クラシック音楽では「静かに聴く」ことが重視される場面が多いが、マルティニークの伝統音楽では踊りが不可欠だった。
Rhythm exists to move the body.
In both bere and zouk, the line between audience and performer is ambiguous. All participants create a musical space.
この身体性はカリブ海文化全体に共通する特徴でもある。
Rhythmic repetition and trance sensation
Repetition plays an important role in zouk and traditional percussion music.
同じリズムを繰り返しながら少しずつ変化を加えることで、集団的高揚感が生まれる。
This is a common feature of African music, and can be connected to later house, techno, and club music.
In fact, many DJs and producers are influenced by Caribbean music.
It has many things in common with modern club culture, such as the bass-oriented sound, the body-centered structure, and the communal nature of the dance space.
In Martinique music, the body itself functions as part of the instrument.
Music that crosses borders with the diaspora
Immigration and Music Network
Since the late 20th century, many people from Martinique have immigrated to mainland France.
A large Caribbean community formed in Paris, and musical culture also migrated.
Through clubs, radio, record stores, and live music venues, French Caribbean music became part of urban culture.
At the same time, they came into contact with African music and North African music, and a new mix of music progressed.
Martinique music in the digital age
Since the Internet, Martinique music has become even more widespread.
ストリーミングによって地域的制約が弱まり、ズークやカリブ系ダンスミュージックは世界中で聴かれるようになる。
In addition, the younger generation of artists is actively integrating hip-hop, reggaeton, Afrobeats, and electronic music.
Martinique music is not a fixed tradition, but a dynamic body that is constantly updated.
The music of the island changes each time it crosses the ocean, creating a new Creole culture.
Contemporary scene and inheritance
Tradition preservation and modernization
In Martinique today, traditional music preservation and modernization are progressing in parallel.
While bere workshops and cultural education are held, young artists are also experimenting with fusion with electronic music.
What is important is that it is not just ““preservation of the old style.’’
Martinique music has historically been mixed. In other words, change itself was tradition.
Therefore, the experiments by the new generation are also in line with the essence of Martinique music.
Creole culture in the global era
In modern times, the boundaries between “local” and “global” have become blurred.
However, Martinique music embodied this situation from a very early stage.
French, African, Caribbean, American and electronic music. This is because they have formed their own identity by freely mixing them together.
Creole culture may not be about fixed purity, but about flexibility to accept change.
マルティニーク音楽は、過去を保存するのではなく、過去を未来へ変換し続けている。
Chronology
History of Martinique music
| 年代 | 出来事 |
|---|---|
| 17th century | French colonization progresses |
| 18th century | African musical culture formed under slavery |
| Late 19th century | Development of the Beguin prototype |
| Early 1900s | Begin spread as urban dance music |
| 1930s | Caribbean music becomes popular in Paris |
| 1960s | Cultural revival movement becomes active |
| 1979 | Formation of Kassav |
| 1980年代 | ズークが世界的成功 |
| Since the 2000s | Progressive fusion with electronic music and hip-hop |
マルティニーク音楽の歴史は、植民地史と文化創造が同時進行してきた歴史でもあった。
Why Martinique music is special
Music that continues to transcend boundaries
The appeal of Martinique music is that it cannot be pinned down to a single genre.
It is both traditional music and urban music, dance music and a historical record.
カリブ海という海域は、常に人と文化が移動する場所だった。
マルティニーク音楽は、その移動性をそのまま音にした文化と言える。
Behind the rhythm is a history of colonial rule, behind the celebration is communal resistance, and behind the dance is cultural identity.
それでも音楽は重苦しいだけではない。
むしろ圧倒的に踊れて、開放的で、身体的で、喜びに満ちている。
Perhaps the depth of Martinique music lies in the simultaneous existence of suffering and celebration.
Influence on contemporary music
If you listen to current club music and global pop, there are many similarities with Martinique music.
低音を重視する感覚、リズム主体の構造、共同体的ダンス空間、ジャンル横断的姿勢など、多くの要素が現代音楽にも引き継がれている。
The spirit of Zouk, as well as Bere and Begin, lives on in various forms.
マルティニーク音楽は小さな島のローカル文化ではない。
むしろ世界音楽史の中で、もっと重要視されるべき巨大な交差点なのである。
Martinique music was born on the border and has continued to shake the border itself.
