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Zouk or zouk béton is a fast tempo carnival style of music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique, popularized by the French Antilles kassav in the 1980s. Actually zouk is the French Antilles compas music

Zouk means "party", well-named because it uses carnival rhythms and contains West African influences. Zouk arose in the early to mid-1980s from kadans. Elements of gwo ka, tambour, ti bwa and biguine vidé are prominent in zouk. The French Creole tongue of Martinique and Guadeloupe is an important element, and are a distinctive part of the music.

In Africa, it gained popularity in francophone and lusophone countries. In Europe, it was particularly popular in France and in North America in the Canadian province of Quebec.

History

The Haitian cadence or compas music has been dominating the Antilles music scene since its introduction in the late 1950s. During the 1970s Antillean and Dominican musicians became important players in the style with solid bands such as La Perfecta, Exile One, Grammacks, and Simon Jurade.

In 1969, Gordon Henderson decided that the French Overseas Department of Guadeloupe had everything he needed to begin a career in Creole music. Gordon Henderson joined forces with the famous cadence band called the Vikings of Guadeloupe. The Vikings are considered the precursors of Kassav' whose co-founder Pierre Edouard Decimus was a member of the group. Gordon recorded a few songs with Les Vikings which became instant hits in countries beyond the usual market such as Surinam and Holland. At some point he felt that he should start his own group and asked a former school friend Fitzroy Williams to recruit a few Dominicans to complete those he had already selected. The group was named Exile One.

In the late 1960s, the Dominican band Exile One, settled in Guadeloupe due to the lack of recording studios back home. In the early 1970s, Exile One called its repertoire cadence-lypso featuring the Trinidadian calypso and mostly Haitian compas/cadence rampa, however, most of the bands repertoire was kadans. Cadence-lypso or the Dominica kadans quickly became popular in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Haiti and other islands in the Caribbean; France, Latin America and Africa.

Exile One is the pioneering group of the genre, other important groups include Les Aiglons, Grammacks, Midnight Groovers and Liquid Ice. The Dominican band Exile One led by the talented Gordon Henderson introduced a full-horn section and synthesizers to their music that other young cadence or compas bands from Haiti (mini-jazz) and the French Antilles emulated in the 1970s and 1980s. Exile One was the most promoted creole band of the Caribbean. The first to sign a production contract with a major label call Barclay Records. The first to export kadans music to the four corners of the globe: Japan, the Indian Ocean, Africa, North America, Europe, The Cape Verde islands.

In 1978, Pierre Edouard Decimus relocated in Paris after a successful career in the French Antilles. Pierre Edouard Decimus was on the verge of retirement from the music business until he and his brother Georges Decimus met fellow Guadeloupean Jacob Desvarieux, a popular guitarist/songwriter kwown in Paris as a studio wizard. The surroundings of the Paris music recording technology gave him the idea of making "just one more record". Subsequently, Pierre Edouard Decimus, his brother, and Jacob Desvarieux pulled together a team of Paris-based Antilles musicians and created a group named Kassav' and a new sound called zouk.

The original Kassav' was all Guadeloupean but was later joined by Martiniquans Jean-Claude Naimro, Claude Vamur, Jean-Phillipe Marthely, Jocelyn Berouard and Guadeloupean Patrick St-Eloi . Kassav' created its own style by introducing an eleven-piece gwo ka unit and two lead singers, tambour, ti bwa, biguine, cadence-lypso: calypso and mostly cadence or compas with full use of the MIDI technology. Originally, Kassav' style had a certain political dimension. Their famous song "zouk-la se sel medikaman nou ni" implied that zouk constituted a banner for the cultural unity of Guadeloupe and Martinique. Kassav created the fast zouk style but remains mostly a great compas music band.

Music authors Charles De Ledesma and Gene Scaramuzzo trace zouk's development to the Guadeloupean gwo ka and Martinican bèlè (tambour and ti bwa) folk traditions. Ethnomusicologist Jocelyn Guilbault, however, describes zouk as a synthesis of Caribbean popular styles, especially Dominica cadence-lypso, Haitian cadence, Guadeloupean biguine. Zouk arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s, using elements of previous styles of Antillean music, as well as imported genres.

Kassav

Kassav was formed in 1979 by Pierre-Edouard Décimus (former musicians from the Les Vikings de Guadeloupe) and Paris studio musician Jacob F. Desvarieux. Together and under the influence of well-known Dominican and Guadeloupean kadans or compas bands like Experience 7, Grammacks and Exile One, they decided to make compas and Guadeloupean carnival music recording it in a more fully orchestrated yet modern and polished style. Kassav' created its own style call zouk béton by introducing an eleven-piece gwo ka unit and two lead singers, tambour, ti bwa, biguine, cadence-lypso: calypso and mostly cadence or compas with full use of the MIDI technology.

In the 1980s they took Caribbean music to another level by recording in the new digital format. Their first album, Love and Ka Dance (1980), established the sound of zouk. They continued to grow more popular, both as a group and with several members' solo careers, finally peaking in 1984 with Yélélé, which featured the international hit "Zouk-la-sé Sel Médikaman Nou Ni". With this hit, zouk rapidly became the most widespread dance craze to hit Latin American in some time, and was wildly popular even as far afield as Europe and Asia. Zouk became known for wildly theatrical concerts featuring special effects spectacles, colorful costumes and outrageous antics.

With Kassav's popularity, zouk and mostly the compas music they feature became the most widespread dance to hit the Caribbean, Europe, and Africa. Kassav music has thrilled and inspired millions of fans from around the world. The influence of Kassav has been felt in Brazilian lambada and other Caribbean styles like bouyon, soca and combined rhythm, as well as African styles such as soukous, Zouglou, Coupe-Decale, and Gumbe.

Origins

Zouk beton and mostly meringue-compas or cadence are the popular music of the French Antilles of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

Zouk beton

Guadeloupeans Jacob Desvarieux and the brothers Decimus are widely credited for having created the fast carnival zouk beton phenomenon in the high-tech recording studios of Paris in the 1980s. Yet they themselves acknowledge that zouk was merely a natural progression from the "kadans-lypso" of such bands as Exile One (led by singer Gordon Henderson), Grammacks, and the Midnight Groovers –all from the tiny island of Dominica.

Kassav mixed gwo ka, tambour, ti bwa, biguine, cadence-lypso: calypso and mostly cadence with full use of the MIDI technology. The band drew in influences from balakadri and bal granmoun dances, biguine's and mazurka's, along with more contemporary Caribbean influences like compas, reggae and salsa music. Zouk live shows soon began to draw on American and European rock and heavy metal traditions, and the genre spread across the world, primarily in developing countries.

The style lost ground in the 80s due to the strong presence of kadans or compas, the main music of the French Antilles.

Zouk-love or the French Antilles compas music

Zouk Love is the French Antilles cadence or compas music, characterized by a slow, soft and sexual rhythm. The lyrics of the songs often speak of love and sentimental problems.

The music cabo-love from Cape Verde and Kizomba from Angola are derivatives of the French Antilles compas music. A main exponent was Ophelia Marie of Dominica. Other artists come from the French West Indies, the Netherlands, and Africa.

Popular artists include French West Indian artists Edith Lefel and Nichols, or like Netherlands based Suzanna Lubrano and Gil Semedo, the African artist Kaysha.

Etymology

The word zouk means "party" or "festival" in the local Antillean Creole of French, although the word originally referred to, and is still used to refer to, a popular dance, based on the Polish dance, the mazurka (mazouk), that was introduced to the French Caribbean in the 19th century.

Actually the Creole word zouke, sekwe, zouke, etc. from the French verb "secouer" meaning "shake intensely and repeatedly" was used by Haitian artists who toured the French Antilles during the late 1970s and 1980s.

The dictionary Le Petit Robert gives the following definition of zouk: "Very rhythmic music and dance originating in the Lesser Antilles (Guadeloupe and Martinique) in 1980".

Kizomba

Kizomba is one of the most popular genres of dance and music originating from Angola in the late 1980s. It is a mix of traditional Angolan semba and compas music from the French Caribbean sung generally in Portuguese. Although Kizomba was not originally a fusion of semba and zouk, presently arose a version of kizomba influenced by the French Antilles compas music, and is wrongly being popularized as kizomba, as the name given to this version is "Kizouk" or "kizombalove". This French Antilles konpa influence of kizomba is actually becoming very popular throughout the world.

Zouk-R&B or zouk love or light compas music

An alternative of zouk influenced by the American R&B is call zouk-R&B. It is a mixture of contemporary R&B and zouk love. This trend has taken birth in Paris with French Antilles artists such as Slaï, Thierry Cham, Jane Fostin, Ali Angel, Medhy costs, Nichols, Kimberlite Zouk, Warren, Marvin, Kaysha, Elizio, Teeya, Soumia, Linsha and etc. Jean-Michel Rotin is the precursor of zouk-R&B (also known as zouk RNB, zouk R'NB) or "américanisé" with their song "Le Ou Lov", "Sof will," "Stop", "Cigaret", "Chut j'taime" "Mwen'm not," "And I love her" and "Ella". This trend has been made popular with the French public due to the success of Slaï, Thierry Cham, Medhy Custos, Les Déesses, and Pearl Lama.

compas nouvelle génération

In the early 2000, several of the compas nouvelle génération bands such as Carimi, T-vice, Top vice, and Zeglen toured the French Antilles as usual with success. The singer Vro with Softcore and many other Antillean artists features the compas nouvelle génération style, which is more popular in France and the Caribbean.

Cabo Verdean, Caribbean and African artists usually feature one another via compas songs. Popular artists includes artists like Jacky Rapon in song like "Mi Amor", Ludo in song like "Weekend", Jackito in song like "Je l'aime a mourir" and Priscillia in song like "Dis le moi", Ali Angel in song like "Zouk Bordel 2003", and Iron in song like "Mr DJ" .

Zouk or compas music dancing

As a compas music style the dance is the same

1. Angolan Kizomba, and Cape Verdean cola-zouk dance style. Are all derivatives of compas music.

Zouk in Brazil

Zouk-lambada

In Brazil, the zouk rhythm is used to dance a Brazilian dancing style, however, with movements more suited to the music. The Lambada is usually very fast and frantic. Unlike that, the zouk in Brazil is often slow and sensual, enabling many steps and turns.

Rio-style zouk

Rio-style Zouk (also called Carioca Lambada meaning Rio-style Lambada), was first developed in Rio de Janeiro. It is mainly danced in Brazil (Rio and Brasília), Australia, The Netherlands, Spain and some other European countries. It uses a modified, slower, smoother, even more sensual version of the lambada and is typically danced on zouk style music. In the Netherlands this dance style goes under the name of zouk love.

Notable French Antillean zouk or compas artists and DJs

• Kassav
• Zouk Machine
• Grammacks
• Exile One
• Edith Lefel
• Francky Vincent
• Gilles Floro
• Jocelyne Béroard
• Jocelyne Labylle
• Joëlle Ursull
• Patrick Saint-Éloi
• Jade
• Kaysha
• Laureen
• Les Déesses
• Maléna
• Michael
• Princess Lover
• Soumia
• Suzanna Lubrano
• Tess

See also

Zouk (club)

References

1. Manuel, Peter (2001). "Indo-Caribbean Music". Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. New York and London: Garland Publishing. pp. 918–918. ISBN 0-8240-6040-7.
2. ) Peter Manuel, Musics of the Non-Western World, p74, University Press 1994
3. "Martinican bèlè". YouTube. Retrieved September 10, 2005.
4. Guilbault, Jocelyn, Gage Averill, Édouard Benoit and Gregory Rabess, Zouk: World Music in the West Indies (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1993), cited in Manuel, pg. 142
5. Jocelyne Guilbault. Zouk: world music in the West Indies. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
6. ^ Neva Wartell. "Zouk - Tracing the History of the Music to its Dominican Roots". The Dominican. Reprinted from National Geographic. Retrieved August 10, 2010.
7. Jocelyne Guilbault. www.Haitianobserver.com. Retrieved April 10, 2012.
8. Skah Sha and Magnum band were among the first Haitian music groups to use the word souke/zouke in the French Antilles. Magnum band, which toured the Caribbean countless times has once spent two years in Martinique and Guadeloupe. The band leader, superb guitar player Dadou Pasket popularized the word zouke in many live tunes; especially in the album "La seule difference, Ibo Records, 1981, in the song "pike devan" meaning full speed ahead. During the same year "Les Skah sha #1 that frequently toured the French Antilles featured a nice LP album called "This is it" Produced by Mini Records, July 1981. Zouke is the second tune's tittle
9. Adebayo Oyebade. Culture and customs of Angola. p. 156.

• Peter Manuel: Popular Musics of the Non-Western World, Oxford University Press, 1988, p. 74

External links

• BrazilianZouk.Info - portal about zouk festivals, people, music and many more
• Template:Dmoz

• Zouk
• Caribbean music
• French styles of music
• Martinican music
• Guadeloupean music
• Saint Lucian music
• Dominica music