With its diverse people and rich culture, the Caribbean is a source of many fascinating music genre ranging from Reggae originating from Jamaica, calypso from Trinidad, Zouk from French Caribbean, Cadence from Dominica, Soca from the Leeward Islands, Meringue from the Latin Caribbean and so much more splice and dice in between.
But Parang music – Caribbean Christmas Music - is a potpourri of all these genres graced with a folk flavor a enhanced with an African accent; a unique sound, part gospel, part carnival.
It is a vibration that commands one to relax, unwind, chitchat with friends and family, while basking in the Caribbean sun, drinking ginger beer and sorrel (originating from a red flower), and munching on black (fruit) cake, a Christmas delight.
If you were to walk the streets of a Caribbean village in December, you will hear the sweet sound of Parang music gingerly echoing through the windows of almost every home and if you are not sure that it is Christmas then these beautiful salutations in your ear would give you a positive affirmation that Christmas is here.
Some will argue that Parang music originated from Trinidad & Tobago (the southward islands in the Caribbean archipelago known for its flamboyant carnival) by Catholic Monks during the time the Spanish rule. Others, however, maintain that its genesis occurred when the Venezuelans brought the first elements of Parang with them when they migrated to Trinidad to work on cocoa plantations in the sunrise of the nineteenth century.
Still, others differ by saying that Parang music was brought together by default – from a people lacking musical instruments and formal musical training – came together at Christmas time to entertain themselves; and so a milieu of sounds from various put-together instruments, like steelpan, tabou drums, chac-chac, “fishing line” guitars, toc-toc, cowbells and the like, evolved.
Even today, with its modern psychedelic sounds from electronic drum machines and computerized tonalities these put-together antiques are still part and parcel of Parang music. In fact, some will say that Parang music sounds diluted and deficient without the incorporation of these makeshift instruments.
If parang music was not created, then it would be necessary to invent it; for what is a Caribbean Christmas without parang music. From Grenada to Dominican Republic to St. Kitts & Nevis to the Virgin Islands. In the Caribbean, what cricket is to sports, parang music is to Christmas, some will say, even carnival.
By The Caribbean Association of North Alabama (CANA) – CANAonline.com
for the UAH Holiday Around the World Event
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