LAMECA - Afrovenezuelan Music

(see 1 - Introduction)

(Audio 1 - “El saqueo”, Village Group 'Sentir Sabanera', Tierra Del Cacao - Afro-Venezuelan Music And Dance)
El Saqueo (The revolt) is a song of social protest, commenting on the outbreak of a popular revolt on the 27th of february 1989. It spread rapidly, and "El 27" marks a break in the history of Venezuela, preparing the ground for the rise to power of Hugo Chávez. A good illustration too of the vitality of music as a news medium, continuing oral tradition. The style of the song is a parranda, nominally the music played during the Christmas season, and by now one of Venezuela’s many national musical styles (amongst other things, through the huge success of groups like Un Solo Pueblo and constant media-exposure). This composition is by Alexis Laya who also blows the guarura, a sea-shell:
Looting has started!
On the 27th of february in Guarenas there started
a rebellion that set the whole of Venezuela aflame.
The people were sick and tired of corruption
they left the people in a troubled state.

(see 1 - Introduction)

(Video 2 (youtube) - Francisco Pacheco)
Francisco Pacheco – lovingly called “El Negro de Cata” (‘The Black Man from Cata,’ a village on the coast) – is a real star in Venezuela. Over many years he was the voice of the hugely successful band Un Solo Pueblo and now performs with his own band. His popularity contributed to the wider acceptance of black roots music. This song “Viva Venezuela” has become the unofficial national anthem of Venezuela.

(see 1 - Introduction)

(Video 3 (youtube) - Los Vasallos Del Sol performing "Bolivar, Tu Voz Florido")
The Vasallos del Sol is a band sponsored by the Fundación Bigott, which made a huge effort to promote Venezuelan popular culture. The band here performs on the Plaza Sucre in front of the headquarters of the foundation. This song pays homage to Simón Bolivar, Independence hero and the founder of the nation (and one could say, also of the national state religion, as the Bolivarian Revolution is in full swing). The band consists of a group of vocalists – with Betzayda Machado as soloist – and a group of drummers. The only other instrument is the cuatro, which has become a symbol of Venezuelan identity.

(see 1 - Introduction)

(Audio 2 - “Raíces”, San Millán, The drums of freedom)
The song Raices (Roots) reflects the constant roots-searching of the Afro-Venezuelans: Ay donde estan, donde estan las raices de mi raza negra ? (“Where are the roots of my black folks ?”). The band Tambores de San Millán arose out of the “Movement for the Rescue of Afro-Venezuelan Culture in the Community of San Millán, Puerto Cabello,” in 1976. It is a revival group, with the aim to better the position of blacks in society. In 1992, the band was awarded a Casa del Tambor (House of the Drum), and the band was declared “cultural heritage of the state of Carabobo.” Local author Asdrúbal González wrote about San Millán: “Tambor, puro tambor . . . Es el rescate de la africanidad.“ Drums, just drums . . . This is the rescue of the African heritage,” and he continues: “It is the consolidation of popular wisdom expressed through avocado wood and goatskin, through instruments that are the testimony of a race and a language of resistance against oppression, drums that in the hands of those of African descent—all of us born in the Venezuelan melting pot—represent a form of being in the musical universe. This tellurian essence, a voice of the people, African roots, are the rhythms and sounds of the drums”. Respect for tradition has always been guideline for San Millán, but music travels and outside influences have been incorporated. By now, the name of the group has become the name of a rhythm too; to play a sanmillanero means to execute a drum-song in the style of the band San Millán.

(see 2 - Historical background)

(Video 4 (youtube) - the Diablos Danzantes)
The Diablos Danzantes – the Dancing Devils – are a male brotherhood who celebrate their festival at Corpus Cristi. From medieval, Roman Catholic origin, in Latin America this fiesta took on many syncretic forms. In Venezuela the festival only survived in a few isolated black communities, like the one filmed here in Chuao. There is no priest in the village, but this year the bishop came to visit it, thus bestowing great honor on the pueblo.

(see 2 - Historical background)

(Video 5 (youtube) - San Millan)
These images were shot at a live performance in Petare, Caracas. These are the opening shots of a documentary on Afro-Venezuelan music: “Of Saints and Drums” (released under the title “Going Native in Venezuela” by PAN Records). The locations of several black communities are shown on the map. San Millán is one of the most emblematic Afro-Venezuelan bands and in time has come to define a proper style.

(see 3 - The African contribution to Venezuelan music)

(Video 6 (youtube) - Chimbangueles)
This is another, longer selection from the documentary on black subcultures in Venezuela. First we see images from Curiepe – long the archetypical black village in Venezuela, ‘discovered’ by intellectuals in the 1950’s, and still a very popular destination at the time of the local fiestas. It is followed by an interview with Juan de Dios Martínez (1945-2005), “captain of the captains of the Chimbangueleros”. Born in Bobures within its traditions which reach back to Africa, he took these to the aulas and became the defender of “Afrozulianidad” – the African presence in Zulia, Venezuela’s easternmost state. He also recorded the Tambor veleño, the drum music from the area around Coro, which resembles the tambu from the nearby Dutch Antilles. He was Venezuela’s most ardent promotor of the Afro-Venezuelan heritage. Festivals for San Benito and San Juan last for several days and nights without any break. A quite exhausting affair, but to devotees it is unquestionably the most cherised event on the yearly ritual calendar.

(see 3 - The African contribution to Venezuelan music)

(Video 7 (youtube) - Chuao beach session)
During holidays, an exodus starts from the overcrowded cities. Many people flock to the beaches and the party is on. On these images one sees a group of young students bringing back the music from the black villages to its source, a music and a culture they can now identify with. The images were shot on the beach of Chuao. A valley that can only be reached by crossing the sea in small fishing boats. This village evolved out of a hacienda, founded in 1568 as an encomienda of native Amerindians. At an early stage slaves were introduced, in the beginning to work alongside the ‘indians.’ In 1671 the hacienda was donated to the church, and an estimated 350 slaves worked at the Obra Pía de Chuao. Only very recently, the hacienda has become the property of those who work it, a local cooperative. Its cocoa is still renowned as one of the world's finest.

(see 3 - The African contribution to Venezuelan music)

(Video 8 (youtube) - Vasallos tamborero)
This song – “Lucero” (Morning Star) – is a typical drum song. Here the drums explode full force (tambores trancao). Part of the Vasallos band is a dance troupe, dressed in a more or less folklorized fashion. In order to bring the repertoire of the villages to urban audiences, accomodations have to be made to the performance. It has to be structured in space and time, and made more attractive to spectators willing to consume these performances, be it as part of their own identity or as a form of ‘local exotism.’