About the Conference | Read Papers | Interactive Conference | Musics and Cultur
1. Introduction
2. The jazz community of Curaçao
3. The Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (AACM)
4. Conclusions
The conscious choice to align or identify oneself with a specific culture, ideology, or even race seems to differ widely among the descendants of subjugated and displaced African people.(1) Differing also are the particular agencies or means by which such choices are promoted and celebrated. Music is one such means. This paper examines two musical communities within the Americas that invent and celebrate identity chiefly through the idiom of music: namely, the jazz community of Curaçao (the largest of the Netherlands Antilles) and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians (a Black music organisation from Chicago, commonly referred to as the AACM). Both musical groups draw membership from persons of African descent and perform in a musical style defined as "jazz." (Please note that the term "jazz" is not preferred by members of the AACM, while it is the label preferred by members of the Curaçaoan jazz community. In the case of both groups, however, the musical style is defined, at least by outsiders, as "jazz.") Although certain similarities in their music occur, striking differences transpire when the nature and sources of their music are analyzed carefully. These differences include the ways in which elements of ritual are integrated into their compositions, and political themes are either carefully included or consciously ignored by the musicians, and, ultimately, how their choices of identity are reflected in their improvisations and compositions.
My research on Curaçao consisted of two extended visits during 1995 and 1996. My involvement with the AACM, on the other hand, began in 1984, while doing graduate work in Chicago. Briefly, the AACM evolved out of the growing Black Consciousness movement of the 1960s, with its members seeking to break from the conformity of White society and White expectations, and, through self-definition and self-assertion, recapture their African heritage and Black identity.
With regard to Curaçao, the Caribbean-African link I had naively assumed to exist on the island is not freely apparent among the Curaçaoan people. Instead, most of the Curaçaoan jazz musicians I met look toward and take musical influences from a variety of different geographical regions, including Cuba, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, China, India, and the Netherlands. Their choices of identity are made primarily on the basis of attraction - they perceive traits in those cultures with which they feel most comfortable. Often these individuals have no family roots pulling them in their chosen cultural direction; and, just as often, they have never travelled to the geographical locations of their identity choices. Nonetheless, their ethnic identifications are quite strong. As one Curaçaoan musician, John Wout, explained to me,
We are a mosaic of people, ideas, cultures, and identities. We do not turn exclusively to Africa, and I resent people thinking we should. Yes, we may be African. But we are also Arawak and we are also Dutch. And we have direct access to Venezuela, Santo Domingo, and Colombia. We are all of those things, or none of those things. Don't you understand? That's what being Antillean means.(2)
In my research on Curaçao, I concentrated on members of a jazz trio, called the Blue Apple. The three musicians from this ensemble embrace very different identities: bassist and group leader, John Wout, creates for himself an Arawak identity (the Arawak were the indigenous people in Curaçao prior to the Spanish occupation in 1498, but are now extinct); pianist Arnell Salsbach embraces a Cuban identity; and saxophonist John James Willekes accepts an African identity. The musical styles of these three are considerably different, with each having revealed in conversations with me that their choices of musical style directly parallel their own particular choices of identity.
Despite these very different stylistic approaches, the three have formed a well-polished jazz trio, making the Blue Apple an interesting model of Curaçao's diverse cultural make-up: although the musicians maintain quite different approaches to identity and style, they negotiate a balance among themselves in performance.
In the words of Wout,
Think of [the Blue Apple] as a miniature Curaçao. The three of us together represent the great cultural mosaic of Curaçao. Yet we accept our differences and even appreciate our differences. And when another musician comes in to sit in with us, like yourself, who represents yet another very different cultural make-up, you're welcomed, as are your differences. Just don't expect us to play, or think or be like you. (3)
As my study concluded, musical rhythm plays a primary role in the manifestation of Curaçaoan identity. In regards to members of Blue Apple, Wout claims an Arawak rhythmic pattern as his means of portraying his Arawak identity; Salsbach relies heavily upon the Cuban clave in his improvisations, admitting that the clave was what initially pulled him towards Cuban culture; and Willekes reconstructs Africa by combining the designated rhythm of Seu, an Afro-Curaçaoan ritual, with the harmony of the blues.
In contrast to the diverse approach to identity as pursued by the Curaçaoan jazz musicians, members of the AACM collectively turn to Africa, seeking specifically to create art forms reflective of the continent. During my research, I spoke with numerous persons involved with the AACM. As each carefully explained to me, the music generated by the organisation recreates Africa on several different levels. One of these levels is rhythm. Unlike the Curaçaoan musicians who use specific rhythms or rhythmic patterns to portray their identity choices, however, the AACM musicians focus more on the musical intent by which those rhythms or rhythmic patterns are played. As was pointed out to me, any rhythm they play is African if the intent behind its sound is African. In the words of drummer Ajaramu, "Rhythm really is our link to Africa. It is what makes our music Black music," adding, while gesturing to himself, "How could I play anything BUT African?" (4).
A second level at which the AACM recreates Africa is through visual effects. The wearing of African clothing, with faces often painted in mythical designs, is, in the words of AACM associate member, trumpeter Harry Hunt, "one way the AACM can transplant Africa on these shores"(5) Instrumentation is a third way the musicians create linkages with Africa. African instruments, including mbira, djembe, and elephant horns, as well as Afro-Caribbean instruments, including conch shells and Haitian drums, often grace the stages of AACM performances.
African-inspired folk tales are also integrated into AACM compositions. The piece, "Illustrum," written by saxophonist Joseph Jarman for the Art Ensemble of Chicago, introduces a tale about Odwala, who warns the Sun People of the destructive objectives of the evil ghost world. The manner in which the narrator presents this tale links the piece with Africa as well, likening the narrator in "Illustrum" to a West African Jali (or Griot) who travels from village to village delivering the news. Just as the people would flock toward the Jali and even participate in a call/ response partnership with him, so do the Art Ensemble musicians respond to the reciter of "Illustrum." The piece begins with a quick announcement by the reciter/ storyteller, to which the instrumentalists excitedly respond with an array of musical sounds. The music which follows is more than incidental to the presentation - it acts as the responsive audience that quickly gathers around the Jali to reinforce the meaning of this words.
As concluded from my study of the AACM, the organisation relies upon a variety of African traditions and cultures when creating musical compositions. Their combination of stage action, spoken word, exotic dress, and sound re-invents African-like festivals, constructing within their performances a "hybrid" concept of African identity.
As was concluded in my combined study of the Curaçaoan jazz community and the AACM, Black identity is neither fixed nor culturally homogeneous. Understandably, the displacement experienced by African people in the Americas is not felt in precisely the same way across the Diaspora. Rather, there are a wide range of positionings of the "Self" in relation to the "Other" or "Others." And as a result there exists an infinite interplay of identity possibilities. This combined study is not meant to be considered a model for connecting Black Atlantic worlds, but instead, it is intended to display and define some of the complexities involved in Black identity in the Americas and to explore the role of music in the celebration of that identity.
1. This paper is based on the author's Ph.D. dissertation,
"Chosen Identities and Musical Symbols: The Curaçaoan Jazz
Community and the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians,"
University of Michigan, 1997. [
]
2. Taken from conversations with Curaçaoan bassist
John Wout. []
3. Taken from conversations with John Wout, August 1995,
Curaçao. []
4. Taken from conversations with Ajaramu, March 1997,
Detroit. []
5. Taken from conversations with Harry Hunt, March 1997,
Chicago. []