Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae, Revised Edition

by Peter Manuel, Kenneth Bilby, Michael Largey

"Caribbean Currents" presents an engaging panorama of the rich and diverse musics of the Caribbean region. This expanded and updated edition of the award-winning book covers recent developments in the region's music, such as the emergence of reggaeton and timba and includes a new and extensive study of Jamaican dancehall. Among the other additions are twenty-seven illustrations. The authors cover the historical development and current forms of the musics of Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad, the French Caribbean, the lesser Antilles, and their transnational communities in the United States and elsewhere. They also succinctly and perceptively situate the musical music styles and developments in the context of themes of gender and racial dynamics, socio-political background, and diasporic dimensions. Written in a style that is at once readable, entertaining, and scholarly, "Caribbean Currents" is an ideal resource for students, musicians, and general readers.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Academic

336 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 1995

Reviews

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is scholarly enough to be used as a textbook but warm and even occasionally funny enough to read for pleasure. Included are generous histories of the folk and popular musics of each Caribbean nation, not ignoring the political and cultural environments they grew in. And if you can read music a little you can make use of several clearly explained examples, including one that can teach you to pat a guaguancó rhythm on your thighs.

[Mills College Library]

780.9729 M294c 2006

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great intro to a variety of Caribbean popular music styles and reads pretty quickly.