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Synopsis
This text introduces 120 of the song texts and dances that call and entertain the ancestors who are central to Carriacou religious experience. Lorna McDaniel looks at the nine coded rhythms of the boula drums and the history of the nine African "nations" that inhabited early Carriacou.
From the Publisher
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"This interdisciplinary study is rich in research, subtle in analysis and humane in intent, a model of diasporic scholarship. A brilliant achievement." -- Sterling Stuckey, University of California The Big Drum is the lively ancient dance rite of the small island of Carriacou, Grenada. This book introduces 120 of the song texts and dances that call and entertain the ancestors who are central to Carriacou religious experience. Performed since the early 1700's, the big drum dance reveals an African-Caribbean religion at its inception as practiced by enslaved people and in its current expression as a vital, livng aspect of Carriacou society. No other Caribbean ritual like it still exists. Lorna Mc Daniel is the founding editor of the journal New Directions: Readings in African Diaspora Music. She has taught at the University of Michigan, the University of Nigeria and Cheyney University and is the author of articles in The Black Perspective in Music and Black Music Research Journal.
