Gwoka is Guadeloupean music, dance and oral history. In gwoka the fullness, sadness, beauty of life and the rage to live are present. “From the vocal intonations of the marketplace to the way people move, all are captured in its music, just listen” says Ste. Anne native and singer Glawdys N’Dee. “When you close your eyes, your ears become your eyes. When you listen to gwoka, the musicians are giving you a part of themselves, and when you open your eyes you see the rhythm of life.”
On July 9-14, the picturesque seaside town of Sainte Anne hosted five nights of music and dance at the 27th annual Gwoka Festival. The festival embraces the ideals of gwoka, implicitly making the statement: This is our music. On tap was a wide range of music all tied to the seven basic rhythms and the drum. Hundreds turned out each night, mostly Guadeloupean with handfuls of tourists and international fans of the music. All shows were free, many taking place in public space around town, with main stage at Plage Galba.
July 9
Discussion of the future of the music began at the opening reception and continued with panels over the course of the weekend. One topic: How to expand opportunities for the local economy through the music. One day of panels was organized just to inform artists how to go about gaining international exposure. A concern was that gwoka would drift from its roots. Spurring passions was the development gwoka is now under consideration for UNESCO World Heritage designation.
The history of the music, of resistance, rebellion and as a voice of the working people, is what merits the music for such an honor.
Cameroonian vocalist Gino Sitson gave perspective saying the music originated with Africans who were brought to the island to work in the sugarcane fields, more particularly the maroons who were drawn to the Grands Fonds region inland from Sainte Anne on Grande-Terre where the rugged landscape provided refuge. The drum was the common denominator among the slaves speaking different dialects but seemed like noise or worse to colonial rulers and Catholic church leaders, in 1843, five years before emancipation, drumming was banned. In response drummers in Grands Fonds the area developed boulagel (mouth drums) a throat-singing rhythmic vocal technique. As a singer this technique reminded him of traditions found in Africa and he worked with the Geoffroy family, masters of boulagel.
A turning point came with the independence movement in the 1970s to 1996. Gwoka, strongly associated with that movement had until then been marginalized and not considered music, says Felix Cotellon. Through the struggle of the workers and patriots it caught the attention of students and intellectuals and grudgingly gained mainstream acceptance.
Cotellon, then National Director of the U.P.L.G. (Popular Union for the Liberation of Guadeloupe) is now president of Repriz, the force behind the festival. He says the history of the festival also overcame the same prejudices as the music, and currently is striving to be more inclusive of music and dance of other Guadeloupean cultures.
After the opening throngs of fans gathered around several traditional gwoka bands on the local streets, including one who sang a humorous take on recent arrival of chikungunya, with lyrics loosely translated as “My arms hurt, my legs hurt... I was calling for my mama she said I got chikungunya.”
July 12
The voice of Esnard Boisdur is as timeless as the street musicians spontaneous.
In his singing complex melodic patterns rise and fall over gwoka rhythms, answered by a chorus that echoes the rhythm. the drumming itself is understated in comparison to other gwoka bands heard at the festival. There is more than a hint of saudade in his voice. Elegant in all white with a red patterned scarf tied around his neck like an ascot, he patrolled the front of the stage making eye contact with listeners. The music and his presence created an intimacy with his audience backed by three ka hand drums and a chorus of three and two percussionists on calabash. Guitarist Christian Laviso made a spontaneous appearance towards the end of the long set, introducing a solo that Boisnard answered.
After his performance, Boisdur invited Afropop to stop by his house the next evening. The twisting road twisted passed through sheer cliff canyons. His simple house was located at the end of a dirt road in an area, secluded without being remote. While we waited for him to come out we could hear him inside singing softly to himself. He told us and Francois Bensignor, journalist and author (Fela Kuti: Le genie de l’Afrobeat), who translated, that he and the band rehearsed right there in the yard, which must be a treat for neighbors close enough to hear, and that his songs are factually based on the life around him. He performed three from his last album during an approximately 80 minute festival set.
Included were "A Bwa Vigne" a song about the social conditions of workers, set in the past, hungry sugarcane workers workers decided to eat the farmer’s mule, and the farmer wakes up to find he no longer has a mule, a metaphor in the context of human comedy.
"Proteje Yo" is a song about the problems of youth delinquency, saying the same kids who are calm when sober, turn nasty under the influence.
"Las Fé Mal" Stop practicing witchcraft, a song he composed after being afflicted by a curse.
Another from the same album Yebois is "Anka Pati" which means: Mother I will leave you alone. The song portrays the conflicts between generations, in this case abuse of elders by their children.
"Kratchen Kratchen" (pay cash, no credit transfers) features lyrics “God made the sun free”; “God made the moon free”; “money is the creation of man, why all the struggle for money”. It is about the workers' struggle against greedy bosses., and a criticism of the capitalist exploitation of workers.
Playing music is a practice that began as a child, it was a family activity. There was no radio or TV at that time in Grands Fonds region of Grande-Terre. He remembers his first instrument an East Indian tambu (katho) with a long string. They would also use bottles and plastic bowls as instruments. Plucking the guitar like a drum was another memory he had. Music making wasn’t an everyday activity but it was common.
He shared another example of how music was a part of everyday life. Before there was running water they used to go to the water pool to wash, where they would sing while doing the chores. If there was a conflict it was sometimes carried over in song to the gardening chores where parables were used to express feelings about that particular neighbor. That neighbor may in turn sing a retort in parable which was a way to diffuse the conflict without physical confrontation.
Gwoka singers were also like the journalists of the time, broadcasting news through song.
It wasn’t until later in life that he connected gwoka to African music, particularly feeling the connection after a trip to Senegal.
He has recorded 15 albums, however, due to unscrupulous business relationships he has soured on touring more widely and led to him declining to record although he says he has plenty of material ready. These days prefers to perform for the people, until he gets management he can trust one will have to travel to Grande-Terre to hear him.
Kan’nida, Konvwaka and Fondong also performed on a night featuring traditional gwoka. Kan’nida, named after a traditional work song, is made up mostly of Geoffroy family members led by brothers Rene and Zagalo. Cousins of Boisdurs, and both families from the Grands-Fonds region exemplify the oral tradition of the music. Their parents handed down to them the knowledge of the music.
Kan’nida performed with three drummers, (Maké, lead and two Boula, rhythm) two percussionist/vocalists and a chorus while the two brothers traded lead vocals. Their set included two boulagel, which they are masters of, ‘Tankitan’ sung by Zagalo and ‘Bonjou’ sung by Rene. Also a spontaneous piece, "Chikoungounya," sung by Zagalo in the kaladja rhythm perhaps, judging by the smiles, poking fun at Rene who is suffering with the illness.
While the Geoffroy and Boisdur families were making music in Grande-Terre, Vélo was beating his drum with that “rage to live” on the streets of Pointe-a-Pitre. Now a revered figure, he then was shunned as a vagrant by many. The streets around the market in the heart of Pointe-a-Pitre on Saturday morning became his stage. Today the sound of drums still ring through the colorful and crowded streets downtown, Francois Ladrezeau and others carrying on the tradition in the market on Saturday afternoons, not far from the intersection where Vélo is remembered with a plaque.
Konvwaka is led by drummer Yves Thole on maké, two boula, two percussionists, a chorus of four female, two male vocalists, and Christian Laviso on guitar, Laviso played a searing solo in a “Gita Ka” style in which he translated gwoka rhythms to the guitar. Also performing was guest drummer and vocalist Francois Ladrezeau. Thole in June organized a tribute to Velo, a week of music and mas honoring the drummer. He also made the ka in a tribute exhibit on view at the festival. Ladrezeau and Laviso both collaborated with David Murray on The Devil Tried to Kill Me album.
Opening the evening was Fondong, a relatively new configuration of veteran musicians led by drummer Gistavelabeka. The group uses their experience in traditional music, lewoz, padjenbel, granjanbel, and using those as a springboard for an evolving form of self expression in original music. The boula keeps the rhythm, said Klod Kiavue, ka, percussion and vocals who also played with Murray. The changes - improvisations occur around the boula, play with the rhythms and create a more open unstructured sound moving in the direction of jazz without the chord changes and harmonies. Vocalist Nathalie Jeanlys mixed Creole and Zulu words in a loose narrative based on a text about Segu. Jocelyn Marboeuf on piano, Guy “Guyto” Jean-Jacques on bass, Patrick Zamore on tenor sax, and Dominique Tauliaut on congas rounded out the band.
July 10
An evening of children’s dance and music from Lekol. Lekol are schools providing community-based formal education in traditional arts of Guadeloupe, there are seven or eight major organizations serving children including those who performed at the Plaj Galba, Kamodjaka, Lékol Amadéus, Sakitaw, NouvelGeneration Ka, Atelier Marcel Lollia, and Liberté.
Social issues are addressed in the dances, Kamodjaka, for example, performed a dance about hunger and signs parents should notice that indicate bulima.
Students from Lekol Amadeus on violin, backed two adult vocalists in a short set of beguine music.
July 11
A traditional lewoz was held. A circle of open space in the sand beneath a towering banyan tree at Plaj Galba was ringed by hundreds of spectators facing a gwoka ensemble, master drummer Bébé Rospart and Solboko from Basse-Terre. This was a youthful new generation’s take on lewoz and a musician referred to the style of gwoka as indestwas. Rospart called out an introductory phrase a cappella, and was answered by the chorus of percussionists surrounding him. This signaled the drummers what rhythm would be played. Once the music was rolling dancers were invited to enter the circle, where they first made eye contact with the drummers, then challenged them to stay in tune with their movements. The ritual began anew when a new dancer entered, and carried on into the early morning hours.
July 13
An evening of dance performance, traditional companies, Akadamiduka, Klethnica, Cie Detotiye, and Sakitaw, Martial arts company Djok, and the modern dance of Cie Koklaya.
July 14
Closing night featured karnival band Voukoum, vocal ensemble Famn Ki Ka, traditional gwoka from Kalbas Ka, and Gwoka Moderne from Rozan Monza.
Voukoum Mouvman Kiltirel, a Basse-Terre based carnival band known for their fierce street presence, their weapon in their commitment social struggle of the poor and working class. The warlike two-note rhythmic call of the conch sets the heart racing. Twenty members of the troupe took the stage and gave a taste of the chaos they bring to the streets. West Indian j’ouvert bands use the same rhythmic call. Fred Demetrius, a leader of the group, refused to speak to me at first because I did not speak Creole, after my stumbling attempts satisfied him he relented with a laugh. The message he said is “The strength of cultural power, if we believe in our cultural power other people will believe in us.” Rozan Monza’s music moves gwoka in a new direction. Using the tradition as a foundation he explores blues and jazz as well. In addition to the ka, drums, guitar, bass, sax, percussion and keyboards back his vocals.
