Zouk

Zouk is a musical movement and dance pioneered by the French Antillean band Kassav' in the early 1980s. It was originally characterized by a fast tempo (120–145 bpm), a percussion-driven rhythm, and a loud horn section.[1] Musicians from Martinique and Guadeloupe eventually added MIDI instrumentation to their compas style, which developed into a genre called zouk-love.[2][3] Zouk-love is effectively the French Lesser Antilles' compas,[4] and it gradually became indistinguishable from compas.[4]

Zouk béton

[edit]

The original fast carnival style of zouk, best represented by the band Kassav', became known as "zouk béton", "zouk chiré", or "zouk hard".[5] Zouk béton is considered a synthesis of various French Antillean dance music styles of the 20th century, including kadans, konpa, and biguine.[6]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Torres, George (2013). Encyclopedia of Latin American Popular Music. ABC-CLIO. p. 453. ISBN 978-0-313-08794-3.
  2. ^ Occo, Jean-Claude (2019). The Codification of Zouk. BoD – Books on Demand. p. 10. ISBN 978-2-9567965-2-7.
  3. ^ Ellingham, Mark (1999). The Rough Guide to World Music. Rough Guides. p. 299. ISBN 978-1-85828-636-5.
  4. ^ a b Popular Musics of the Non Western World. Peter Manuel, New York Oxford University Press, 1988, p74
  5. ^ Guilbault, Jocelyne; Averill, Gage; Benoit, Edouard; Rabess, Gregory (1993). Zouk: World Music in the West Indies. University of Chicago Press. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-226-31042-8.
  6. ^ Manuel, Peter; Bilby, Kenneth; Largey, Michael (2012). Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae. Temple University Press. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-59213-464-9.