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 Welcome to the Dutch Caribbean! As mentioned in Tour de Force by Christine Ganglehoff and Cathleen LeGrand, the Dutch Caribbean consists of the Windward Islands also known as SSS. SSS stands for Saba, Sint Eustatius and Sint Maarten. There are also the Dutch Leeward islands also known as the ABC islands. These islands are Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao. The focus of this blog will be on the ABC islands. The Dutch Leeward islands' musical history centers around the tambu, a drum instrument, and instruments that were made from farm tools or any items that could be constructed to play music. Most of those instruments were "percussive in nature, made from discarded metal implements" (Ganglehoff & LeGrand, 2019).  The ability of the people, from the ABC islands, to transform everyday tools to make music was ingenious and it shows in the versatility of the artists that hailed from those islands. One such artist is Juan Chabaya Lampe who was also called Padu del Caribe. Accord...

In my previous blog posts it was mentioned that a musician's ability to adapt to social changes in order to sustain their musical lifestyle is called their versatility. In Tour de force written by Christine Gangelhoff and Cathleen LeGrand, we are introduced to a prime example of this versatility, Mr. Alain Pierre Pradel. Pradel was born on Basse- Terre, Guadeloupe where he began studying the piano at twelve years of age. However, when he matured, Alain Pierre Pradel did not focus solely on a career as a composer. He worked for many years as a banker until his retirement. Pradel is quoted as saying, "I never thought about making a career in music. My one goal was to have a score written by my own hands and...my own name inscribed, with the dedication to the person of my choice" (Gangelhoff & LeGrand, 2019). Pradel used the money he made as a banker to fund his musical career. One of Pradel's greatest compositions is called Cannelle Pomme which was written in dedica...

 The English Caribbean has had many influences throughout time. The main influence is that of the British(British is used to mean any English Speaking country that colonized a Caribbean island). For instance, the island of Barbados was " claimed by England in 1625 and remained in British hands until its independence in 1966"(Gangelhoff&LeGrand, 2019). In Tour de Force we are introduced to competent musical composer Roger Gittens. Gangelhoff and LeGrand write, " Roger Gittens does not write for international audiences and his works are not much known from outside Barbados". Gittens is further described as a music teacher who has influenced musical education throughout Barbados(2019). Below is a photo of Roger Gittens sitting at a piano where he composes his music. Below is a video displaying one of the performances, Hymns, Pslams and and Songs, that was composed by Roger Gittens. The performance begins with Mr. Gittens tapping into his teacher role as he explaine...

 Welcome! In " Tour De Force: A Musical Journey of the Caribbean" written by Christine Gangelhoff and Cathleen  Legrand, the reader is introduced to three thematic threads that occur throughout the Caribbean. They are Creolization, The Model of Versatility, and Mentorship. The focus of this blog will be "The Model of Versatility". The model of versatility refers to the ability of a musician to adapt to changes in their musical capabilities and their personal lives in order to sustain a long and successful career. An example would be Mozart. As described in Tour de France, Mozart started off as "a child prodigy who taught private music students. During his composing career, he composed music for the Emperor of Austria which would allow Mozart to survive because of his affiliation with a wealthy individual" (Gangelhoff & LeGrand, 2020).  The Mozart family: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (seated at piano) with his sister Maria Anna (left) and his parents, Leopo...