Introduction - Adventure Guide to Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao - page 22

Music
The Caribbean is well-known for distinctive music, and

residents of the ABCs enjoy a rich mix of island sounds,
Latin rhythms, and gospel songs. Aruba hosts several annual
music festivals and features a Calypso Road March during
Carnival. The local star, Claudius Philips , also known as
Mighty Talent, has won Carnival's Music Man of the Year award many
times, and is a great influence on musicians from all three islands.
Curaçao is home to many talented musicians, who play at local clubs and per-
form at the island's music festivals. Folkloric shows, Carnival, and radio pro-
grams feature the hot African drumming patterns of tambú, and its musical
cousin, tumba. Aurelius “Boy” Dap is the island's local music celebrity and
has won the Carnival title King of Tumba several years in succession.

Tambú & Tumba
Tumba is the official music of Curaçao's
annual Carnival and, like calypso, the lyr-
ics give singers a chance to mock politi-
cians and local leaders. Tumba evolved
from Tambú, a less tame style of music
and dance that was brought to the Carib-
bean by African slaves in the 1600s. Early
musicians played pulsing rhythms to ac-
company caustic lyrics that were deemed
a threat to social order. Today, tumba fea-
tures a more danceable beat, similar to ca-
lypso or merengue, and the words are
more satirical than harsh.
The word tambú has four meanings. It is the name of the small
drum played by hand to create the intricate beat, as well as the
distinctly African style of music, the vibrant dance, and the party
where the music and dance are performed. Traditionally, a chapi
(hoe) clinks along with the beat of the drum, just as it did during
the music's colonial beginnings.
On the ABCs, tambú/tumba lyrics are usually sung in
Papiamento, and dancers dress in elaborate costumes. Women
wear long colorful skirts, decorated blouses, and fancy head
wraps. Men don straw hats and simple working-class clothes,
sometimes resembling field hands in rough-fabric outfits, at other
times appearing in “church-going” white shirts and black slacks.
The music starts slowly, spectators clap to the beat, and dancers
warm up with a bit of smooth swaying and controlled motions.
Suddenly, the beat jumps into high gear, and the dancers follow.
As the singer belts out the rhythmic chorus, couples gyrate sug-
gestively, but never touch. Then, as suddenly as it began, the in-
tensity cools and the music returns to the original cadence.