Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Reggae
Born in Jamaica and derived from a mix of ska (a 1950s blend of R&B with calypso), blues,
calypso and rock, reggae is the famous back-beat sound of social protest popularized by
Bob Marley and Jimmy Cliff. Today, the reggae sound dominates the airways as well as the
clubs of the Virgin Islands. Local bands not only cover all of the Marley classics, but many
play original works. St Croix has a particularly active scene. Keep an ear out for Dezarie,
Inner Visions and Bambu Station.
Virgin Islands Music Resources
Soca
Blend soul and calypso and you get soca, a dance music with bold rhythms, heavy on the
bass sound. Soca started in Trinidad in the 1970s, and you are sure to hear its rhythms in
Virgin Island clubs. Listen for songs by Super Blue (from Trinidad).
Quelbe
Quelbe is the official music of the US Virgin Islands. The indigenous style blends jigs,
quadrilles, military fife and African drum music, with
bamboula
rhythms from the Ashanti
in West Africa and cariso lyrics (often biting satire) from slave field songs. The music
evolved when self-taught island musicians playing in the colonial fife and drum bands (ba-
sically colonial propaganda machines) blended their skills with the illegal cariso songs of
the field.
As quelbe bands evolved in the 19th and early 20th centuries, they turned into an en-
semble of banjo, flute, guitars, steel triangle, squash (dried gourd) and 'ass pipe' (bass).
Since the 1960s, quelbe bands have added alto saxophone and electric guitar. The sound
of the music remains percussive and distinctly rustic. CDs of popular quelbe groups, like
Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights and Jamesie and the Allstars, are widely available in
island stores.
