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Zouk

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Zouk
Stylistic originsMusic that became popular in the mid-1980s by groups originating from the French West Indies. The music was a mix of French Antillean Biguine[1], influences from the Haitian Compas[1], Cadence-lypso[1], gwo ka elements and caribbean rhythms.
Cultural originsStarted in the mid 1980s by groups from the French West Indies (Guadeloupe & Martinique), Haiti, St. Lucia, Dominica
Typical instrumentsrhythm section: bèlè, makè and boulè drums, ti-bwa, rattle chacha[2];brass section, two synthesizers, guitar, bass guitar
Derivative formsZouk-love - Kizomba - Cabo-Love
Subgenres
Zouk-love - Kizomba - cola-zouk
Fusion genres
Zouk-lambada- Zouk-R&B- Compas-love
Regional scenes
French West Indies - Haiti - West Africa - France - Portugal

Zouk is a style of rhythmic music originating from the Caribbean islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. 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, that was introduced to the French Caribbean in the 19th Century.[1]In Africa, it is popular in franco- and lusophone countries. In Europe it is particularly popular in France, and in North America the Canadian province of Quebec. Zouk (club) is also a world renowned dance club in Singapore which regularly features leading world DJs.[3] It is ranked number 10 in DJ Magazine's list of Top 100 clubs in the world in 2010, as well as in 2006 and 2007.

Origin

Zouk arose in the early to mid-1980s from cadence-lypso, a combination of Cadence rampa and calypso. Elements of gwo ka, tambour, ti bwa and biguine vidé are prominent in zouk. Though there are many diverse styles of zouk, some commonalities exist. The French Creole tongue of Martinique and Guadeloupe is an important element, and are a distinctive part of the music. Generally, zouk is based around star singers, with little attention given to instrumentalists, and is based almost entirely around studio recordings.

The band Kassav' remain the best known zouk group. Kassav' 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.

Description

Music authors Charles De Ledesma and Gene Scaramuzzo trace zouk's development to the Guadeloupan gwo ka and Martinican tambour and ti bwa folk traditions. Ethnomusicologist Jocelyn Guilbault, however, describes zouk as a synthesis of Caribbean popular styles, especially Dominica cadence-lypso, Guadeloupean biguine, and Haitian compas.[4] Zouk arose in the late 1970s and early 1980s, using elements of previous styles of Antillean music, as well as imported genres.[5]

Kassav

The leading band to emerge from this period was Kassav', who came from Guadeloupe and Martinique. They gave the style a pan-Caribbean sound by taking elements from compas, reggae, and salsa music, and became one of the most famous bands of the genre in the world. Kassav' was formed in 1979 by Pierre-Edouard Décimus, a long-time professional musician who worked with Freddy Marshall. Together, the two of them decided to take carnival music and make it a more modern and polished style. 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 1985 with Yélélé, which featured the international hit "Zouk la sé sèl médickaman 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.

Zouk Styles

Zouk in the Caribbean (Traditional way)

Caribbean zouk, is a dance performed in the Caribbean, most often in the islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique. As merengue, it is danced basically by changing the weight from one leg to the other in the music, which many teachers of dance simply call the time. The choreography is simple and little elaborated.

The dance steps of Caribbean zouk dance style differ significantly from the Brazilian zouk-lambada dance style. In Caribbean zouk two steps are performed on the music ("1-2, 1-2, etc"), where in Brazilian zouk three steps are performed on the music ("1-3-4, 1-3-4, etc"). This changes the dynamics of the dance.

Zouk-love

Main article: zouk-love

A special style within the zouk is zouk-love, where the music is more dramatic and slow. Zouk-love has its origins in a slow tempo form of Cadence sang by Ophelia Marie of Dominica. The music kizomba from Angola and cola-zouk from Cape Verde are also a derivative of zouk, which sounds basically the same but has more computerized sound, although there are notable differences once you become more familiar with these genres.

Popular zouk-love artists include French West Indian artists, Patrick St. Eloi, Edith Lefel, Nichols, Harry Diboula or Haitian artists like Alan Cave, Ayenn and Daan Junior, Italian artist like Gianni Miele, Netherlands based Suzanna Lubrano and Gil Semedo, or African artist like Philipe Monteiro.

Compas-love

Compas-love is a fusion of zouk-love with Compas, also known as Zouk-Compas "New Generation". It is almost identical to Zouk-love but a bit faster, it features more live instruments, and it relies heavily on the Haitian Compas guitar. Sometimes it resembles pure compas, sometimes it can just be a blend of Zouk-Love, compas, and RnB. This style of zouk is more popular in France, and the Caribbean. Caribbean, Cape Verdean and African zouk artists usually feature each other via compas-love songs. Popular Compas-Love 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" . These songs are available through youtube.

Afro-Zouk

There is also Afro-Zouk, unlike zouk-love or compas-love, Afro-Zouk features elements from soukous and sometimes relies on the soukous guitar. Popular Afro-Zouk artists include artists like Monique Séka, Oliver N'Goma

The Zouk r 'nb ' or New Generation

Today, there is an alternative of Zouk influenced by the American R&B. It is a mixture of R&B and Zouk Love. This trend has taken birth in Paris with artists such as Slaï, Thierry Cham, Jane Fostin, Ali Angel, Medhy costs, Nichols, Kimberlite Zouk, Warren, Marvin, Kaysha, Elizio, Teeya, Soumia Linsha and etc. .... but it is also Jean-Michel Rod is the precursor of 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 seems to now the accession of the French public due to the success of Slaï, Thierry Cham, Medhy costs, and Pearl Déesses Lama.

Some purists did not like the name "Zouk R 'NB" and prefers "Zouk Nouvelle Génération", and that this new trend is very popular among young people of Cape Verde.

Zouk dancing

There are multiple ways to dance to zouk music:

  1. Zouk Love (Traditional way)
    1. French Caribbean way (Antilles/Haiti).
    2. French-speaking Africa way.
  2. Zouk-Lambada style. A fusion of French Caribbean Zouk and Brazilian styles danced to Zouk rhythmic music.
    1. Brazilian zouk. An evolved Brazilian version of Zouk dancing utilizing French Caribbean, Portuguese Cape Verdean and other Zouk-like rhythmic music.
    2. Lambazouk or Lambada. Lambada dance style (or a variation of it) danced to Zouk music.
  3. Angolan Kizomba, and Cape Verdean cola-zouk dance style. The music was developed directly from zouk.

Notable zouk artists and DJ's

Kassav Jocelyn labylle

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d World Music: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific. Rough Guides. 2000. p. 290. ISBN 1858286360, 9781858286365. Retrieved 2010-05-22. {{cite book}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); More than one of |pages= and |page= specified (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ YourSingapore.com - Zouk
  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. ^ > "Zouk: world music in the West Indies". By Jocelyne Guilbault. Retrieved august 10, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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