Cunningham_Jonelle Musi322

 Jonelle Cunningham

Survey of Caribbean Music

Exploring Caribbean Connections

English Caribbean

 

The term English Caribbean refers to regions in the Caribbean that primarily speak English.  These consist of Jamaica, Barbados, Barbuda, Saint Lucia, Grenada, St. Vincent, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, St .Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Anguilla. This blog  focuses on Barbados its music, artists and culture. Some of the Music Styles featured in Barbados would be Spouge, Calypso, Soca, and Tuk band music to list a few examples.

 

Central Artist: Rodger Gittens This playlist focuses On the influences and works of Rodger Gittens. Gitten was born in 1964 and he writes locally not for international audiences. His works are mostly known in the country of Barbados. He is a teacher and he writes styles such as calypso,jazz,choral, and gospel music. Most of the works I researched is that he did gospel, works for choirs, and cantatas.

                                                       Rodger Gittens Local  Artist in Barbados 

 

Playlist: The first song we will look at would be “I Believe” By Mr Roger Gitten. This song features Fiona John who is the vocalist of this piece. The song is from an Easter Musical movie "Fragrance of Love" which was produced in 2022 at Beluah Methodist Church. It talks about having a different perspective on love and Believing that a person who you love can truly be all and everything that matters as well as  loving a person as they are.

  

Rodger Gitten Hymns, Pslams, and Songs

This video is a compilation of several gospel songs written by Mr. Gittens. It is his own interpretation of scripture in the Bible Psalms for example. In the Video shown above, Mr Gittens Himself speaks to the congregation about the different kinds of love. He mentions that there are 7 but he focuses on the Phillia Love which deal with the concept of brotherly love. The name of these songs are "Feed My Lambs" and "Love Thy Neighbor" the latter is sung by male voices. The instrumentation consist of a Keyboard and conga drums and voices of the Choir. There are other songs such as Psalm 23, Christ for the World sing, and Everyone needs a friend. As He interprets the music his theme is mainly on live, Unity and brotherhood.

"Boom Boom" Rodger Gittens

The previous Video . Mr. Gittens spoke about when he created this song it was a Jazz tune he created in 2021. This song was Requested By Dr. Christine Gangelhoff A song for flute and flugabone Tuba. The song essentially describes the sound of the drums and how people react by dancing to the sound of the drums. I feel this is an example of how Mr. Gitten has influenced his listeners and collaborated with Dr Gangelhoff and Mr. Justilien (Bahamas) to create a Unique piece for listeners to enjoy

  The Song Rest of the Weary by Gittens has a calypso like feel and style and I like the feel and rhythm of this song. The Words are by John Monsell and Mr. Gittens did the Music. This was recorded in 2008. It is one of his styles on a known piece of music.

Another Playlist would be the song “Bethlehem” By Gittens. It is a song about the birthplace of Jesus Christ. It is from a series of advent music By Red Create and The World council of churches is also featured.

The King of Love My Shepherd is 

The king of Love My shepherd is was also performed in 2019 the music was done by Mr Gitten and the words was written by Henry Williams Baker. This was one of his works recorded at Ebenezer Baptist Church. This showcases Glittens unique musical interpretations.

Blessed Is The Man

Lastly, Blessed is the Man which was written By Mr. Gitten is his interpretation of Psalm1. This Took Place at Ebenezer Baptist Church in April 2019. The it includes 10 voices consisting of the four voice type soprano, altos, tenors, and Basses.

Bibliography

Gangelhoff, C., & LeGrand, C. (2019). Tour de force: A musical journey of the Caribbean. Sound Caribbean.

https://youtu.be/AATN0GfabJs?si=hMvCeSP3W2lBL44s

Where are the English Speaking Caribbean Islands https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+the+english+region+of+the+carribean&sca_esv=38d5b1a6813f14da&sxsrf=AE3TifMfX2VvyeSUKNnbrrt8JlK5O7_k3Q%3A1759408310251&source=hp&ei=

Heritage: Art Music by Bajan Composers | At the Barbados Archives