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The rhythms of Curaçao - Riba Dempel

VA
Riba Dempel: Popular Dance Music of Curaçao 1950-1954
Otrabanda (www.otrabandarecords.nl)

The cultural and commercial crossroads of Riba Dempel, Curaçao's riverside central market place, gives its name to this superb compilation of early 1950s Dutch Antilles song. Sitting off the Venezuelan coast, Curaçao was open to musical influences from across the Caribbean, accessible via radio, recordings, and touring bands, with Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Venezuela at the fore. Booming with postwar oil development and the Shell refinery's economic presence, Curaçao took it all in, and the enthusiasm of a handful of local businessmen for Papiamento music (after the Dutch Creole language of the so-called ABC islands) gave rise to a vigorous hometown recording industry.

Working from rescued 78 rpm discs originally produced by the Hoyco and Musika labels, Tim De Wolf painstakingly restored and digitized the music, while producer Scott Rollins compiled the fascinating and extensive documentation that rounds out this package, with period photos, transcribed lyrics in English and Papiamento, personnel listings, and recording information. Working at times from multiple copies of the original 78s, De Wolf and Rollins lovingly pieced together two dozen illuminating examples of Curaçao reinterpretations of the bolero, guaracha, meringue, son montuno, and pambiche styles from abroad, as well as local waltzes, danzas, and tumba.

All this is not just resurrection for resurrection's sake, either. More than a half-century later, the arrangements hold their own, the vocals are powerful, and the musicianship remains top-notch. Every would-be historical compiler could learn something by delving into this stellar tribute to the roots of Curaçao's contemporary music. Best of all, perhaps, De Wolf and Rollins are currently at work on comparable compilations from the 1960s and 1970s. Stay tuned! - Michael Stone

Listen to Tipico Moderna's guaracha "Hunga Rol"
http://www.rootsworld.com/audio/ribadempel.html

CD available from cdRoots
http://www.cdroots.com/st-otb-03.html

posted by cf @ 12:13 PM