What does the music of Madagascar or Trinidad tell us about the islands themselves and their inhabitants? Is there something unique about island musics? How does island music differ from its mainland counterparts? Drawing on a range of diverse examples from around the globe, this book examines the culture of island music and offers insight into local identities. Case studies look at how music, tradition, popular culture and islander life are linked in modern maritime societies. The islands covered include Crete, Ibiza, Zanzibar, Trinidad, Cuba, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea. In revealing the current practice behind modern island musics, the book considers the role of world music, exotica, global tourism, novels and travel writing in constructing fanciful images of islanders and island life. Island Musics throws into question some of our most basic notions and assumptions about island societies. There are a number of problems common to all island societies that vary in significance depending on an islands size, demographics and its proximity to the mainland. Problems include remoteness and insularity, peripherality to centralized sites of decision-making, a limited range of natural resources, specialization of economics, small markets, a narrow skills base, poor infrastructure and environmental fragility. These issues are discussed in relation to the creation of music in the construction of an islander identity. Of particular interest is the way in which islanders discuss their music and how it articulates the idea of the other and diaspora. Finally, Island Musics considers the musical industry, music education and the preservation of musical cultural heritage.

"Through the close analysis of musical performance and tradition, the scholarly contributiors to Island Songs provide a global review of how island songs, their lyrics, and their singers engage with the challenges of modernity, migration, and social change uncovering common patterns despite the diversity and local character of their subjects"--Page 4 of cover.

Pentecostals throughout Jamaica and the Jamaican diaspora use music to declare what they believe and where they stand in relation to religious and cultural outsiders. Yet the inclusion of secular music forms like ska, reggae, and dancehall complicated music's place in social and ritual practice, challenging Jamaican Pentecostals to reconcile their religious and cultural identities. Melvin Butler journeys into this crossing of boundaries and its impact on Jamaican congregations and the music they make. Using the concept of flow, Butler's ethnography evokes both the experience of Spirit-influenced performance and the transmigrations that fuel the controversial sharing of musical and ritual resources between Jamaica and the United States. Highlighting constructions of religious and cultural identity, Butler illuminates music's vital place in how the devout regulate spiritual and cultural flow while striving to maintain both the sanctity and fluidity of their evolving tradition.Insightful and original, Island Gospel tells the many stories of how music and religious experience unite to create a sense of belonging among Jamaican people of faith.

A valuable collection of folk music and lore from the Gullah culture, Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands preserves the rich traditions of slave descendants on the barrier islands of Georgia by interweaving their music with descriptions of their language, religious and social customs, and material culture. Collected over a period of nearly twenty-five years by Lydia Parrish, the sixty folk songs and attendant lore included in this book are evidence of antebellum traditions kept alive in the relatively isolated coastal regions of Georgia. Over the years, Parrish won the confidence of many of the African-American singers, not only collecting their songs but also discovering other elements of traditional culture that formed the context of those songs. When it was first published in 1942, Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands contained much material that had not previously appeared in print. The songs are grouped in categories, including African survival songs; shout songs; ring-play, dance, and fiddle songs; and religious and work songs. In additions to the lyrics and melodies, Slave Songs includes Lydia Parrish's explanatory notes, character sketches of her informants, anecdotes, and a striking portfolio of photographs. Reproduced in its original oversized format, Slave Songs of the Georgia Sea Islands will inform and delight students and scholars of African-American culture and folklore as well as folk music enthusiasts.

What does the music of Madagascar or Trinidad tell us about the islands themselves and their inhabitants? Is there something unique about island musics? How does island music differ from its mainland counterparts? Drawing on a range of diverse examples from around the globe, this book examines the culture of island music and offers insight into local identities. Case studies look at how music, tradition, popular culture and islander life are linked in modern maritime societies. The islands covered include Crete, Ibiza, Zanzibar, Trinidad, Cuba, Madagascar and Papua New Guinea. In revealing the current practice behind modern island musics, the book considers the role of world music, exotica, global tourism, novels and travel writing in constructing fanciful images of islanders and island life. Island Musics throws into question some of our most basic notions and assumptions about island societies. There are a number of problems common to all island societies that vary in significance depending on an islands size, demographics and its proximity to the mainland. Problems include remoteness and insularity, peripherality to centralized sites of decision-making, a limited range of natural resources, specialization of economics, small markets, a narrow skills base, poor infrastructure and environmental fragility. These issues are discussed in relation to the creation of music in the construction of an islander identity. Of particular interest is the way in which islanders discuss their music and how it articulates the idea of the other and diaspora. Finally, Island Musics considers the musical industry, music education and the preservation of musical cultural heritage.

"Includes complete lyrics, chord symbols & ukulele chord diagrams"--Cover.

Island Songs is a work of sonic anthropology that does more than probe song as a part of the sociocultural life on islands. It illuminates how song performs island life. Gathered here are 15 case study chapters on islands in the Caribbean, North Atlantic, Mediterranean, Baltic, and the South Pacific, all framed by four eclectic, conceptual essay contributions. In Island Songs, islands are presented as distinct vantage points for observing the merger of the local and the global, as poignantly expressed through song. This book brings together the perspectives and experiences of sociologists, anthropologists, geographers, cultural studies specialists, folklorists, ethnomusicologists, singers, and musicians. Island Songs will interest not only ethnomusicologists but any and all scholars interested in the effects of globalization on traditional cultures.