Episode 11: Pirates' Radio of the Caribbean 1

This week we return to a theme from the Adventures: we will visit our backyard pool for a sampling of tracks from around the Caribbean including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Haiti, and Brazil... and we will even see the Caribbean influence in a handful of tracks from Peru. This is Tropicology's first show devoted to Pirates' Radio of the Caribbean.

Musical influences travel easily around the Caribbean, finding fertilization along the way with local influences in each port of call. Of particular interest today are the regions of Eastern Cuba, providing guajira and son, along with Northeastern Brazil, giving us forro and carimbo. These 2 regions share much in common: during the 17th and 18th Centuries, these were early frontiers in the Americas. Spain and Portugal respectively sought profit from these regions by planting sugar cane, and in both cases enslaved peoples from Africa were brought in large numbers to tend the crops. The regions are anchored by cities with similar profiles: in Cuba, Santiago; in Brazil, Salvador da Bahia. Facing East toward Europe, these cities were the early capitals of each region, but as Colonial powers faded and trade routes shifted, both cities declined, ceding power to Havana in Cuba and to Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. Today they are relatively poor cities with a large number of crumbling old Colonial buildings.

While both these regions have deep traditions of African drumming and African musical inspiration, today's show is focusing on country music sounds from the Caribbean. These musical traditions owe more to Spanish guitars than to African drums.