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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZCADENCE dance styleDance style in 2/4, played on electric instruments and developed in Martinique and Guadeloupe '70s, derived from the Antillean beguine. The hybrid showed elements of calypso, soca, merengue; also Spanish melodies and a strong affinity for West African pop, since two-way exchange with Belgian Congo/Zaire in '70s when guitar bands in Africa were developing their own hybrid. Zairean infl. is evident in close-knit guitar parts and insistent hiss of cymbals over other parts of drum kit, though West African pop often relied excessively on studio technology; studio techniques had not yet overcome the freshness of cadence. Dance! Cadence! on UK GlobeStyle label was a sampler of eight bands revealing local variations: Group Guad'M, Come Back, Batako, Godzom Son Traditionnel, Makandjia, Eugene Mona, Georges Plonquitte and Georges Decimus, one of the best- known producers/performers. Others incl. popular big band Malavoi, a modernised Martinique string band heard on an eponymous 2-disc album; D‚d‚ St Prix, a player of wooden flutes inspired by local trad. music, also accompanied avant-garde, deep-voiced Martinique singer Jody Bernab‚ on eponymous 2-vol set, a curious mixture of styles: halfspoken intonations like voodoo chants, lyrical backing, surreal lyrics. Kassav, dir. by Jacob Desvarieux, led by George and P.E. (Pierre Eduard) Decimus, revealed infl. of soul, soca, even reggae, with heavy conga-drum rhythm patterns. Jean Philippe Marthely/Patrick Saint-Eloi was an album by a Paris-prod. splinter group from Kassav, revealing an emerging new hybrid of zouk, even more pan-Caribbean. Haitian variant is called mini-jazz, bands incl. Tabou Combo, Coupe Clou‚: with demise of the Duvalier regime there may be more input from Haiti. |