Tropicology - Episode 115: Pirates' Radio of the Caribbean

Today we are going to return to that musical melting pot in our own backyard… I’m talking about the Caribbean, that tropical sea that connects so many Tropicology ports including Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Guadeloupe, Martinique, and Venezuela. But we will also hear some Caribbean influenced sounds today from Panama and Peru. This will be another episode of Pirates’ Radio of the Caribbean. I’m kicking off today with sounds from the French speaking Caribbean; we’ll hear some biguine, some compas, and some creole jazz in the opening set; these are all jazzy sounds, but with drumming that steps beyond the typical kit drum conventions of the US jazz scene, allowing more African drumming influences, and embracing time signatures like clave that are outside of the Western tradition. Then the playlist turns to the music we most often associate with the Caribbean, the latin sounds invented in Cuba, featuring a selection of tropical descargas to close out the first hour. The second hour today begins in the same Cuban tradition, but dialing up the dance floor potential with some deeper drum lines. This set starts on guaguanco, but we’ll also hear some cumbia and compas fusions. Then I jump back to the French West Indies to close the show, featuring a few extended disco style stormers.