contributed by Marlon Bishop

Though just a tiny nation of 9 million people occupying half of an island, the Dominican Republic has had a loud voice on the world music stage. National genres merengue and, subsequently, bachata have been prominent on the Latin music scene since the mid 80s. Yet far more lies beneath. As an Afro-Caribbean people (around 80% of the population is of mixed African and European descent), Dominicans have fused African and European elements to develop a rich culture--the syncretic "cult of the saints" known as vodu is widely practiced while Dominican music pairs Spanish song forms with African rhythmic aesthetics. However, decades of harsh rule by Eurocentric elites that sought to erase the country's African heritage has given many cultural practices a low profile. Only recently have many cultural figures sought to reclaim the African within the Dominican Republic.

The history of the Dominican Republic is not unlike that of other Latin American countries, turbulent, to say the least. After bearing the brutality of the Spanish colonizers, a Haitian invasion that lasted 22 years, a long period of chaotic rule by regional strong-men, and an American occupation from 1916-1924, the island nation suffered for thirty years under the rule of Rafael Trujillo, described as the "most totalitarian dictator in Latin America." He outlawed vodu and African-derived drumming traditions and forced merengue singers to write lyrics praising his regime, carefully controlling musical output through government radio stations. After his assasination in 1961, an explosion of latent creativity occurred as new bands were formed and records pressed. Merengue music was propelled into the spotlight, first within the DR and later in Latin nightclubs around the world. For people in the Dominican Republic and the 800,000 living abroad in New York, the high international profile of Dominican music is a source of great pride.

Look deeper and one finds that commercial merengue, with its flashy clothes and sizzling horn riffs, is just the surface of Dominican music. Old style merengue típico, also known as perico ripiao, is played in small, accordion-led groups at breakneck speeds and remains popular on the island. More heavily African-influenced genres persist as well. Palos and salve are religious drumming traditions, while gagá is a processional style played on interlocking single-note brass instruments during Lent. Descendents of Anglo-Caribbean people, the so called Cocolos, play groovy guloya music on fifes and snare drums.

Contributed by: Intern1