The winter holidays are upon us, so why not take a look at holiday traditions in Jamaican culture and how these relate to ska? Then, make sure to get your vinyl ready because I have a fairly comprehensive list of holiday-related Jamaican tunes, some ska, some post-ska, for your festive parties! I’ve also included a few clips throughout to keep you dancing as you read!
First of all, here is a little primer on holiday traditions and history in Jamaica, which is very important to ska history, as you will see. Much of the showmanship and competition found in the music industry in Jamaica today and throughout the last century can be traced back to the pomp and swagger of the Caribbean festivals where music and performance combined in a flamboyant display of prowess. These festivals, Carnival in Trinidad, and Jonkunnu in Jamaica, were celebrations that took place during the height of the Great Revival (spiritual traditions that stemmed from African religions–Pukkumina, Zion, Kumina, etc.) and continue today. Jonkunnu in Jamaica has its origins in the Carnival celebration in Trinidad, which, in turn, had its origins in the Masquerade celebrated by Europeans. Carnival began at Christmas time and lasted sometimes until Ash Wednesday. Celebrations included feasting and processions through the streets, the biggest of which took place on Shrove Tuesday, or the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday.
These processions were called canboulay, a derivation of the French words cannes brulees, which translates as burning canes. Slaves carried burning canes as torches to light the way during the night when a plantation owner’s crops caught fire. Slaves from nearby plantations were summoned to help extinguish the fire. Taken to the field by a driver with a whip, the slaves carried flaming torches to light the way. Canboulay processions draw elements from these events, utilizing participants with whips who emulate the slave master, masked characters representing people and animals, in an entertaining lampoon of life. The content of these processions, these marches, were serious, but the tone was lighthearted and enjoyable.
One of the main displays in canboulay during Carnival is kalinda. Kalindas were stick fights, similar to the art of dula meketa in Ethiopia or mousondi in the Congo, and were tests of strength and skill. During Carnival, a group or band of some two dozen men were led by a “big pappy” who directed his crew through the streets until they encountered a rival group. In a spirit of camaraderie and competition, each group threw out boasts to one another, stating their prowess and challenges frequently set to song which was called kalinda, since the warlike song and the stick fight itself were part of the festival procession. Fighters chose their sticks carefully, visiting a region in Trinidad called Gasparillo to select a stick made of Baton Gasparee wood. They then prepared their stick by singeing it over a fire until the bark came off, then they rubbed coconut oil into the wood. The stick was ready to use and when horns or empty bottles were sounded, the bands assembled accompanied by instrumentalists, singers, and dancers who performed a dance called a belair, or bele. The display involved the participation of all and the boasting was competitive in a respectful, boisterous, convivial manner. This spirit of competitive camaraderie continued in the days of sound system clashes in the 1950s and 1960s as producers attempted to one-up each other to appeal to the crowds. And ska recording artists, following the lead of the big pappies, also threw down challenges to each other to boast of their talent–Derrick Morgan and Prince Buster is a classic example, as are the boasts and challenges between producers like Coxsone, Duke Reid, Prince Buster, and King Edwards.
Due to the perceived threat of riot and revolt, canboulay and kalindas were banned by the government and police. The masks used by characters in the procession were also banned in festivals in 1840 by the British governor. Drums and fiddles, associated with Africa, were considered heathen and therefore instruments of the devil, plus they were loud and disturbing late at night. Open letters in local newspapers called the revelers “savages” and spoke of celebrations as “orgies” full of “crime” and “barbarism.” The people resisted, but they were squashed by military troops and were forced to either conform to the establishment or they simply adapted the festival in ways to elude the establishment.
In Jamaica, this festival was called Jonkunnu, named after John Conny, a powerful leader of the Guinea people in the early 1700s. The British spelled his name John Canoe, hence the name Jonkunnu. The white planters allowed their slaves to celebrate this secular festival which took place during the Christmas season. Elaborate street parades began on the island as early as 1774. Like Carnival, Jonkunnu involved masked characters. Performance and music always went hand in hand. The leader of the festival wore cow horns, a cow tail, and sometimes carried swords or wore a mask with tusks. This character was John Canoe. Other characters included those mocking the military, aristocrats, police, sailors, the devil, Horsehead, Jack-in-the-Green, Pitchy-Patchy, Belly Woman, Warrior, Red Indian or Wild Indian, Koo-Koo or Actor Boy, King and Queen, and Red-Set and Blue-Set Girls. These characters did not remove their masks in public, nor did they speak or sing.
Those who did provide the vocal and instrumental accompaniment for the procession included a band of drummers, bamboo fife, banjo, and metal grater performers. Tambour-bamboo bands also provided percussion by banging together lengths of bamboo or using one to knock on the ground. Since they were hollow they produced varying tones. Soon musicians sought other items for their percussion as well, especially since the stick bands were prohibited by the British government. Participants used household items such as spoons, bottles, and metal pans. In Trinidad, this progression soon led to the use of oil drums which were crafted to produce different notes and tones, and the steel bands were born. But everyone was a participant. Jonkunnu was not a spectator event. Everyone performed, everyone played, everyone danced, and this custom was always a part of the people’s music.
The Burru, a group of men who became influential to ska musicians through their association with Rastafarianism, emerged during the days of slavery on the island. Bands of Burru, African drummers, were permitted by slave owners to play drums and sing for the workers in the Jamaican fields to raise the slaves’ spirits—not for emotional reasons, but to impose more productivity. After slavery was abolished, the Burru could not find work and so they congregated in the impoverished areas of Kingston. Their drumming style, like the African vocal styles, exhibited a call-and-response format with a drum leading the rhythm, followed by “licks” from the answering drums.
Each Christmas season, the Burru men gathered to compose their own music with words about local events or about people in the community who had committed an act of wrongdoing. They worked on these songs starting in September and then on the holiday they traveled throughout the community, in a procession not unlike Jonkunnu, going from home to home, playing their bamboo scraper, shakka, and rhumba box for percussion, singing their songs which were intended to purge the evil of the previous year before the new one began. Although the music was composed during the months previous to the event, they also improvised on the spot, a practice that musicians continued in the decades that followed. Because the Burru were mischievous in their songs, and because they lived in the slum areas of the city, they were mistakenly considered by many to be criminals or undesirables. In the 1930s and 1940s, the Burru came to live with the Rastafarians at camps throughout the island’s mountains, especially in Kingston, and the music of the Burru combined with the spirituality of the Rastafarians, as both groups found solace together from society’s rejection. These camps became a refuge for musicians as well during the ska era since they were a place for uninhibited musical communion, a place for performance without restriction or limitations, and a place for retreat from the hardships of oppressive life. The Burru drumming became a part of ska music as Prince Buster recorded “Oh Carolina” using Count Ossie and his drummers who were informed by the Burru tradition.
So, how can you enjoy this tradition this holiday season? Well queue up a little ska, rocksteady, and reggae–here is a list I compiled using the Roots Knotty Roots database, thanks to good friend Michael Turner. If you prefer something more contemporary, I would recommend Toasters Christmas Ska which is a killer selection of 11 holiday songs and it is available on colored vinyl from Jump Up! Records here: http://www.jumpuprecords.com/christmaska/
Here’s one of my personal favorite holiday selections from the incredible Byron Lee and the Dragonaires album Christmas Party Time in the Tropics–super fun stuff!
And for those who want to bring a little island flavor to the snow, here you go!
Admiral Bailey, Christmas Style
Al Vassel, Happy Christmas
Albert Morrison, Santa Claus is Coming to Town
Alton Ellis, A Merry Merry Christmas
Alton Ellis, Christmas Coming
Amlak, Christmas Is Here
Angela Stewart and U Brown, Gee Whiz It’s Christmas
Aquizim, Merry Christmas
Arcainians, Christmas In Jamaica
Barrington Levy and Trinity, I Saw Mommy Kiss A Dreadlocks
Black Crucial, Christmas Time
Black Pearls, Babe In Bethlehem
Black Pearls, Christmas Joys
Bob Marley and The Wailers, Christmas Is Here
Bob Marley and The Wailers, White Christmas
Boris Gardiner, The Meaning Of Christmas
Cables, Christmas
Cables, Christmas Is Not A Holiday
Cables, White Christmas (When Christmas Is Here)
Carlene Davis, White Christmas
Carlene Davis and Trinity, Santa Claus (Do You Ever Come To The Ghetto)
Carlos Malcolm and His Afro Jamaican Rhythm, Good King Wenceslas
Carlos Malcolm and His Afro Jamaican Rhythm, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
Carlton Livingston, Long Cold Winter
Cassandra, What Do The Lonely Do At Christmas
Cedric Bravo and Rico Rodrigues, Merry Christmas
Charmers, Merry Christmas Blues
Charmers, Long Winter
Chatanhoogatin, Christmas Reggae
Cimarons, Holy Christmas
Cimarons, Silent Night White Christmas (Medley)
Claudelle Clarke, Franking Scent and Merry Christmas
Coco Tea, Christmas Is Coming
Cornel Campbell and The Eternals, Christmas Joy
Count Lasher and Lord Tanamo, Christmas Time
Culture, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
Cutty Ranks, Christmas Time
Danny Dread, Winter
Dennis Brown, Trinity, Dhaima, Mighty Diamonds, Christmas Rockers
Denzil Dennis, Christmas Message
Derrick Harriott and The Tamlins and Joy White and Reasons and U Brown, Christmas Songbook
Desmond Dekker, Christmas Day
Desmond Tucker, Oh Holy Night
Devon Russell, After Christmas
Diane Lawrence, Have A Merry Christmas
Diane Lawrence, Ring The Bell For Christmas
Dicky Roots, Christmas Rock
Dillinger, Christmas Season
Doreen Schaeffer, Wish You A Merry Christmas
Eek A Mouse, Christmas A Come
Eric Tello, A Child Is Born (When A Child Is Born)
Father Richard Ho Lung, Christmas Mento
Frank Cosmo, Merry Christmas
Frank Cosmo, Merry Christmas
Frankie Paul, Christmas Time
Gable Hall School Choir, Reggae Christmas
Gaylads, Christmas Bells Are Ringing
Gladstone Anderson, Lights of Christmas
Glen Adams, Christmas Rock Reggae
Glen Brown, East Christmas Song
Glen Ricketts, This Christmas
Granville Williams and Orchestra, Santa Claus Is Skaing To Town
Granville Williams and Orchestra, Silver Bells
Heptones, Christmas Time (Give Me)
Home T 4, Rock It For Christmas
Home T and Trinity, Dub It For Christmas
Hopeton Lewis, Happy Christmas
Horace Andy, Christmas Time
I Roy, Christmas Dubwise
Inventor and Studio One Band, Caribbean Christmas
Iron Phoenix, Natty Dread Christmas
Jackie Edwards, Bright Christmas
Jackie Edwards, White Christmas
Jackie Mittoo, Christmas Rock
Jackie Mittoo, Joy Joy (Ghetto Child)
Jah Walton, DJ Christmas
Jamaican Folk Singers, A Christmas Carol
Jamaican Folk Singers, John Canoe Medley (Christmas A Come, Tenk Yu For De Christmas)
Jays, Dancehall Christmas Medley
Johnny Clarke, I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus
Judge Dread, Christmas In Dreadland
Judge Dread, Merry Christmas Mr. Dread
Junior Soul, Christmas Party
Karl Bryan, Christmas Version
King Everald, Santa Claus
King Kong, Nice Christmas
Kingstonians, Merry Christmas
Kojak, Christmas Style
Laurel Aitken, Rock Santa Rock
Lee Perry and Sandra Robinson, Merry Christmas Happy New Year
Little John, It’s Christmas Time
Little John, Save A Little For Christmas
Lord Creator, Merry Christmas To You
Lord Kitchener, Party For Santa Claus
Lord Nelson, Party For Santa Claus
Lucy Myers, Christmas Day
Maytals, Christmas Season (Christmas Feeling)
Maytals, Happy Christmas (Christmas Song)
Mel Turner and Souvenirs, White Christmas
Methodist Male Voice Choir, A Christmas Medley
Methodist Male Voice Choir, Silent Night
Michael Palmer, Christmas Time Again (Happy Merry Xmas)
Michael Powell, Christmas Time
Mikey Dread, Herbal Christmas Gift
Miss Misty, Merry Christmas
Mr. and Mrs. Yellowman, Where Is Santa Claus
Mutabaruka, Postpone Christmas
Neville Willoughby, Christmas Jamaica
Neville Willoughby, J.A. Xmas Day
Nicodemus, Winter Wonderland
Nora Dean, Merry Christmas
Norma Isaacs, Christmas Time
Norman T Washington, It’s Christmas Time Again
Norman T Washington and Lloyd Clarke, Happy Christmas
Nyah and The Sunflakes, Merry Christmas
Nyah and The Sunflakes, White Christmas
One Blood, The Christmas Present
Pablove Black and Bagg, God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
Palemina, Faith D’Aguilar and Cedric Brooks, Santa Ketch Up Eena Mango Tree
Pat Rhoden, Christmas Song
Pat Rhoden, It Must Be Santa Claus
Phillip Fraser, Rub A Dub Christmas
Raymond Harper, White Christmas
Reuben Anderson, Christmas Time Again
Rhythm Aces, Christmas (C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S)
Richard Ace, Christmas Reggae
Rio Guava, Christmas Day Is Coming
Robert French, Have A Merry Christmas
Roman Stewart, Christmas Affair
Roman Stewart and Glen Brown and Dean Beckford and Charley, Christmas Song
Ruddy Grant and Sketto Richard, Christmas Blues
Ruddy Thomas, Roots Christmas
Ruddy Thomas, What A Happy Christmas
Rupie Edwards, Christmas Rush (Christmas Parade)
Sammy Dread, Christmas Jamboree
Sheridons, Merry Christmas (And A Happy New Year)
Sheridons, Silent Night
Shorty The President, Natty Christmas
Sir Jablonski, Merry Christmas Day
Sonie and Pretty Boy Floyd, It May Be Winter Outside
Steve Golding, Strictly Rock Christmas
Sugar Minott, Christmas Holiday
Sugar Minott, Christmas Jamboree
Sugar Minott, Christmas Time
Tappa Zukie, Red Rose (Archie The Red Nose Reindeer)
Teddy Davis, Christmas Bells
Tim Chandell, Christmas Time
Tony J and The Toys, Christmas Dragon
Top Grant, A Christmas Drink
Trinity, Video Christmas
Trinity and the Mighty Diamonds, Christmas Carol
Triston Palmer, Christmas Jamboree
Tyrone Evans, International Christmas Medley
Ugliman, Christmas Boogie Christmas Is Here)
Vibrators, Merry Christmas (Merry Christmas Is Here)
Wain Nelson, Christmas Time
Wain Nelson, Santa Claus
Winston Groovy, Merry Christmas
Winston Jones, Joyful Christmas
Zoot Simms and Roy Robinson, White Christmas
Heather Augustyn 