That industrial revolution spread since the later 18th c. to continental Europe, but sooner to some places than to others: Belgium, Germany, France, Netherlands, northern Italy, for a large part industrialized..
It reached on the other hand some other main colonial powers, Spain and Portugal, much later and less. Even today, as a country, Spain is much less and limitedly industrialized than e.g. Britain or Germany. Some “pockets” of industrialization in Catalonia, Basque country, or Madrid aside, Spain remained since then economically behind other European nations. The same applies to Portugal, with industrialization mainly limited to main cities Lisbon and Porto.
COLONIAL EMPIRES
Yet, Spain (and Portugal) had of course once vast colonial empires as well, or as bad, as Britain and France, with similar brutal exploitation and slavery in what is now Latin America. The “blood money” gained at the cost of enslaved Africans, was – historians explain – spent only less efficiently in both Portugal and Spain, mostly on luxuries, or expanding the wealth of already wealthy families, with less wider economic investments.
Portugal was the first European country enslaving Africans on a larger scale, though there were precursors by Arabs, serving as a kind of model. Even during the Moorish (Islamic) period in Spain and Portugal (8th c.-15th c.) – known as a relatively enlightened period – sub-Saharan Africans in Iberia were often the slaves or servants of lighter-skinned Arabs or Berbers (or Iberians converted to Islam).
The “discovery” of Christopher Columbus (at the time a Portuguese citizen, of Genoese origin) in 1492, of American lands in the name of the Kingdom of Spain – that in turn claimed them - started Spain’s colonialism, and in fact broader Europe’s.
IBERIAN COLONIES
Like Britain, Spain thus has a long colonial past, with much African enslavement, thus helping to shape cynically this African Diaspora.
A difference of Iberian slavery systems with British (and Dutch) slavery systems, was the less modernized, or efficient, “industrial” nature of them: less specialized. While still inherently dehumanizing, Iberian slave systems were said to be also a bit less "harsh" (with a few more protective "rights" for slaves) when compared to stricter British or Dutch slavery systems. Nonetheless, enslaved Africans were also forcibly brought throughout the whole of Latin America, to most Spanish colonies. Often this was to “societies with slavery”, rather than to specialized “plantation slavery societies” as e.g. colonies like Jamaica, Haiti, St Vincent, or Barbados, where the majority population even became enslaved Africans.
Even then, people of African descent can be found throughout Latin America, in quite significant numbers, even if minorities. US scholar Henry Louis Gates, jr. made a series of interesting documentaries about Black in Latin America, highlighting this, and often persisting discrimination and inequality, even in nominally “multiracial” or “mixed” societies like Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, or Peru.
MUSIC
The African Diaspora thus results from a tragic history, and includes persisting historical inequalities in several Latin American countries. On the positive side there is survival, also culturally.
Many Black music genres have become internationally spread and known by now, both as a result of Anglo-Saxon slavery: from the US: Blues, Jazz, Gospel and off-shoots Soul, Funk, etc. Then, from the British Caribbean e.g. Reggae, Calypso.
Yet also, “Afro-Latin” music genres also became quite international and influential. Large, former Portuguese colony Brazil is known as the country with most people of African descent outside of the African continent, and gave the world Samba, derived Bossa Nova (largely mixing elements of Samba and Jazz), and some other genres, while Cuba – one of the Spanish colonies with most people of African descent – is musically the roots of most of what we know as Salsa, while also Afro-Cuban Rumba and Son have become quite well-known internationally by now.
Outside of Cuba, also Merengue and Bachata from the Dominican Republic (with evident African retentions and roots) became internationally known, and also Afro-Colombian Cumbia has spread by now well beyond Colombia(ns) as well.
I know all this, and often listened to these music genres my whole life, and even play now this music myself as a musician and composer, occasionally. As for other fans and lovers of Black music or “African Diaspora music”, the music helped shape my life in a beautiful way, as beautiful culture and music, albeit resulting from a tragic past.
Blues and Jazz certainly gained fans of all races, also in Europe, the same applies to Hip-hop, Funk, and Reggae. For the latter, the international fame of Bob Marley, helped spread the genre of Reggae.
Afro-Latin music remained – due to the language barrier – a bit more restricted to Spanish and Portuguese speakers (though there are many Salsa fans outside it too, of course), but widely spread across countries. Salsa and related Cuban music has had a strong influence throughout Latin America.
What we know as ‘Salsa’ music is in fact for at least 70% Afro-Cuban music (Son-based, Rumba-influenced), with Afro-Puerto Rican and Afro-Dominican elements, added among Latino migrants in the US (first the New York area).
Still, you have quite substantial “Salsa scenes” throughout non-Iberian Europe and the US and Canada as well, whereas artists like the Buena Vista Social Club or Juan Luis Guerra helped spread Spanish Caribbean music genres like Son or Merengue, outside of just the “Latin music scenes” .
There were a few international Samba, Bossa Nova, or Cumbia (La Colegiala, notably) hits in the international “mainstream”.
VENEZUELA?
This made me wonder, though.. what about Venezuela? We don’t hear much about Venezuelan music genres in Europe, or even the “Latin” world.
This applied to me personally as well. More focused on Afro-Cuban music, I still knew quite something about Afro-Dominican, Afro-Brazilian and Afro-Colombian music as well, albeit broadly. What I knew, I tried to use – e.g. rhythmically - in several of my compositions and live patterns, fused at times with other influences.
The term “Joropo” - for presumably the best known Venezuelan genre - was on the other hand, until recently, unknown to me. I read something about Gaita music in Venezuela in a book about world music, but somehow I changed my attention to other music genres, in other countries.
My mother – who had several Latin American friends – had an album – a long-play vinyl disk - of Billo’s Caracas Boys. I liked to play this album – some groovy rhythms and dynamic singing – and assumed at that time that it represented “Caracas” (capital of Venezuela) music. Later (when I learned about the musical Cuban influences in Latin America), I found out that the Billo (lead singer) in question – real name: Luis Frómeta - was actually from the Dominican Republic, influenced by Cuban genres, but also by Merengue from his native Dominican Republic. He just was more or less “stuck” in Caracas, Venezuela. Literally, as he could not return to the Dominican Republic because dictator Trujillo banned him.. for changing the band name from Santo Domingo Jazz Band to Billo’s Caracas Boys. Trujillo saw this as an insult and prohibited Billo from returning to the Dominican Republic.. Strange but true story, and a weird dictator: exiled because of a band name change..
Billo’s Caracas Boys made good, danceable music, with certainly talent there, but the Billo’s songs I heard were hardly representative of Venezuelan indigenous, own music, as it represented more Cuban, Dominican, and some Colombian (Cumbia) influences, in a Caracas context.
I began to think about this more also, because I know some Venezuelan musicians in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, where I live. I even played with them as musician, and they at times infused the jam sessions with “Afro-Latin” sounding music (Salsa, Cumbia, Samba, or otherwise).
I noticed the Cuban influences in what they played, but also Colombian ones. Somewhat simplistically I imagined that Venezuela, as bordering Colombia, might have music genres that resemble some Colombian ones. Upon asking Miguel Padrón, a Venezuelan percussionist I know, also active in Amsterdam, he responded with something insightful.
Miguel explained how there is quite a rich musical history in Venezuela itself, with interesting genres, also with African influences, and from a percussion perspective (we shared that percussion passion), with different drums, etc. It was, he pointed out, only less known internationally, because Venezuelans tended to “travel” or “migrate” less in recent history. There was simply less need to, because of the “oil”, the petroleum industry, simply said, and a resulting more profitable economy. Probably unequally distributed and ending up mostly in privileged pockets, but still making the economy in general relatively stronger, than e.g. the ones of Colombia, or the Dominican Republic. Less Venezuelans needed then to migrate abroad, to e.g. the US, and therefore neither could spread their culture and music. An interesting explanation.
Indeed, Venezuelan music genres like Joropo or Gaita, are even by their very names, not very much known, outside - or even within - the “Latin music scene”. As said: because Venezuelans up to recently, migrated less.
Less known, but – of course! – not per se less interesting. I will therefore focus on this own traditional and popular Venezuelan music, especially with African influences, in the remainder of this post.
The differences with music from also former Spanish colonies nearby (Afro-Colombian, or Afro-Cuban music) is interesting as part of that analysis, I think.
FACTS AND FIGURES
First some facts and figures, as needed context. Though perhaps not in quite the high numbers as neighboring Colombia or Cuba, also Venezuela received an influx of enslaved Africans, mostly for cocoa and coffee plantations as in surrounding areas. These concentrated a bit in certain parts of Venezuela, like the Miranda state in the coastal North of Venezuela (around Caracas city), and around the Maracaibo lake, in Western Venezuela. Some went to inland (Llanos area) indigo plantations.
Wikipedia says that Africans came from different parts of Africa (as in other colonies) and numbered a total of about 100.000 brought to Venezuela (in comparison: to Cuba a total of over 700.000 enslaved Africans were transported over time).
Venezuela has today around 30 million inhabitants. Of these around 9% claim significant African heritage (some say somewhat more), while over 65% of Venezuelans are considered Mestizo (mixed Spanish/Amerindian), and about 20% White/European.
Still, so while around 9% of all Venezuelans – that would be close to 3 million persons - claim main African heritage, the country’s population (as in surrounding areas) is overall very racially mixed: many combine even European, Amerindian, and African ancestry, so precise figures are difficult to ascertain.
The cultural and musical influence is certainly there, however.
JOROPO
I mentioned the funny word “Joropo” a few times now. It is the name of a genre from Venezuela’s interior central Llanos (high plains) region, characterized by semi-dry tropical grassland, and comparable to Savanna landscapes elsewhere. That’s where Joropo the music and dance genre originated, apparently among people with a “cowboy”-type of living, mostly of Mestizo descent (mixed European and indigenous), but also with some Africans in the mixture. Joropo is string-instrument dominated, with the small guitar called “cuatro” often leading, including further at times a bass, mandolin-likes “bandolas” a harp, but also maracas (shakers) and sometimes a drum or cajon.
The Joropo, known even as “national music of Venezuela, is rhythmically loosely based on Spanish examples, such as the Fandango, while also South Spanish/Flamenco-like influences are noticeable in the melismatic singing.
On the other hand, the rhythmic and shaker-instrument flow – and the ways the string-instruments are played – rhythmically – allow polyrhythm, showing all in all Amerindian as well as African influences.
MARACAIBO LAKE REGION
The Gaita music from the western Maracaibo lake region, the state Zulia – therefore it is also known as Gaita Zuliana, – mixes likewise broadly European, indigenous, and African influences, but the balance – so to speak – tipping more to African influences than in Joropo. The small but broad double-sided Tambora drum (also found in Dominican Merengue) is for instance common in most Gaita, while also shakers and other percussion (such as a metal scraper) further add rhythmic and polyrhythmic texture. Gaita as genre relates to Christmas celebrations, and funnily a Spanish-type of rubbing drum (like the Cuica: with a stick attached to the skin being pulled) is also used in it. Venezuelan musicologists recognize African musical and spiritual retentions from the Ashanti (from Ghana) in this region, but also from Dahomey (the Benin region).
More purely African musical genres are found in the Maracaibo lake region in western Venezuela as well, especially South of the lake and city of Maracaibo. These include the 'Chimbánguele' genre, with mostly drums and African-style call-and-response vocals. The drums are interesting. Most used are about 7 drums called Cumaco or Mina drums. The models were probably from the Mina people, from what is now Benin (Fon Ewe speaking peoples), explaining why similar drum types and musical characteristics are found in Haiti, and, well, Benin. They are played mostly with stick and one hand, also found in the Benin region. Less common in Yorubaland (East of Dahomey, now Nigeria), and descended Afro-Cuban musical forms (there more played by hands).. An interesting difference: more sticks are used in the drumming in Afro-Venezuelan than in Afro-Cuban or Afro-Brazilian music.
MIRANDA STATE (AND AROUND)
I say broadly ‘Afro-Venezuelan’, because other Afro-Venezuelan genres I have not mentioned yet use sticks too for drumming, such as those found in the central-coastal Barlovento region in Miranda state: with relatively many people of African descent. A region not far from the capital Caracas.
Tall, quite thin, cylindrical drums, with slight similarities to the conic Ashiko drums, but thinner and taller, are known as “culo e’ puya”, and are found in this Barlovento region. Similar tall, but with small diameter of skin, drums, are found among Jamaican Maroons.. Also broader and shorter Tambora-like drums are found in genres in Barlovento as Fulia. While some differences in drum types with the western Maracaibo region (and similarities), they are often similarly played with stick and one hand.
Some more pure Congo-influenced styles in the state of Miranda and bordering coastal states like Carabobo (a funny state name, probably to some Spanish-speakers) in Venezuela use more hand drumming, such as the Sangueo: this includes hand drumming on the skin of a larger drum one sits on, with sticks hitting the side (similar to also Congo-influenced Kumina in Jamaica).
The enslaved Africans brought to this coastal Barlovento region came more relatively often from Bantu-speaking regions (Congo, Angola), leaving their musical heritage, but also the stick-played cylindrical Mina/Cumaco drums are found there, and mentioned larger drums sat upon, combined with cuatro guitar, other string instruments, and shakers. These more “bass” drums are played with both bare hands. Both the rhythmic, “heartbeat-like” bass patterns, as the type of drum and playing style, show these Congo influences, also found elsewhere in the African diaspora (Kumina in Jamaica, parts of Cuba and Brazil).
These genres in the Barlovento region – often related to festivals – Parranda, and the more purely African Luango, show mainly Congo, but also some Yoruba, influences. Yet, with some drums and aspects shared with the (part) Afro-Venezuelan music in the Maracaibo region (with more Benin and Ashanti influences, musically and spiritually). Some rhythmical differences, relating to different African origins, are interesting to notice: more lower “repeated heartbeats” from central (Congo) Africa (oversimplified, of course), and the longer "semi-melodic" patterns from the Benin culture and Ghana region (again: oversimplified).
They all share recurring sub-Saharan African features like polyrhythm and call-and-response (also in singing), but with different accents and drums.
The Congo and Yoruba influences (in coastal Venezuela) are also found in other Spanish colonies (Cuba) and in Brazil, whereas the Benin influence causes similarities with the music in Haiti, and the Ashanti influence with Jamaican or Surinamese Maroon music (and a bit with Puerto Rican Bomba, or Afro-Peruvian Pacific Coast music.
Finally, the interesting genre ‘Quitiplás’ should be mentioned, also in the Barlovento/Miranda region. This is played with solely thick Bamboo sticks, and arose once when drums were banned by colonial policies, as (portable) replacements. Bamboo sticks are dropped on ground, as well as slammed together in Quitiplás, creating polyrhythm and cross-rhythm in the African tradition.
Interesting, lesser known African diaspora connections, and beautiful survivals of African heritage, or as academically known: African retentions. Even watered-down in Joropo, more African but mixed with other influences (similar to Colombian Cumbia), but in some regions with more African influences.
CONCLUSIONS
As a preliminary study – to term it academically – I did not go into all or full detail of all Afro-Venezuelan music. I restricted myself to indigenous, locally developed music genres, not “imported” ones (even if reworked in a Venezuelan way). Calypso from nearby Trinidad even reached Venezuela, I read, and I already mentioned the strong influence of Salsa, and Cuban music, on Venezuela, with Oscar D’León being Venezuela’s best known international Salsa star.
I however wanted to get an idea of the distinctiveness of Afro-Venezuelan music within the Americas, its uniqueness. At the same time study inevitable parallels with Afro-American genres elsehwhere.
I can conclude that there are unique aspects of Afro-Venezuelan music genres. This includes especially the instrumentation, with own type of drums. While some similarities with drums elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean, they are not “quite” the same. The most unique is the very tall/long, yet small-diametered and thin, ‘culo e’ puya drum’.
What in my judgement is most distinctive within the region, is the way most drums are played, most commonly with stick and hand: stick in one hand, and the other bare on skin. This is more common in Venezuela than elsewhere, for drums. The sticks on drum cases or sides, probably of Congo origins, can be found elsewhere (Jamaica, Cuba, Haiti, Brazil), the stick-hand playing to a lesser degree. Afro-Cuban drumming is mostly bare hands-based, as is most Afro-Brazilian, and other parts (Jamaica, Haiti), though it occurs in Afro-Surinamese music.
It (stick-hand combination) is found in parts of Africa too, so is not necessarily (or totally) an adaptation to Venezuela.
The latter is the case with the Bamboo sticks-played polyrhythmic music called Quitiplás, relating to colonial bans, and bamboo growing by then in Venezuela, while originally Asian.
The rhythmic structures, patterns, and musical pieces, are in some ways unique, yet share more similarities with other Afro-American genres. The cuatro –small guitar – can be compared to the small Tres guitar combining with percussion in some Cuban Son and Dominican and Mexican genres. Parranda, Gaita, and Joropo – as string instrument-led but with some African influences too – have unique song structures, related to Christmas or other festivities, in the Venezuelan context. More akin to music in Colombia, the Amerindian/indigenous influences, mixed in with European/Spanish and African ones, in e.g. Joropo, are nonetheless an unique mix, mixed uniquely.. you dig?, haha, in Venezuela.
The more (relatively) purely African genres like Chimbánguele, Luango, Sangueo in different regions of Venezuela (central coastal and Maracaibo regions) follow general patterns of clave-based “forest” Africa music: call-and-response (in singing), poly-rhythms (several rhythms at once, on several drums and percussion instruments), and the idea of invocation of spirits, surviving amid or behind Catholicism. These are found in the whole of Afro-America, especially in Latin America, where “forest Africa” slaves, from less-islamicized areas (Southern Nigeria, Cameroon, Congo, Angola) were more common.
The “swing” aspect in some African cultures originate more from what can be called Griot Africa, or Sahel Africa: the Guinea, Mali, and Senegambia regions, sources of slaves for British and US slavers (and to lesser degrees French, Portuguese, and Spanish). This “swing” and other “griot” characteristics of the US Blues from the Mississippi region clearly show these origins in Sahel/Mali/Guinea, Mande-speaking parts of Africa, with Islamic influences and own string instruments (like the kora), less found more to the south in forest Africa (Yorubaland, South-Benin, and South-Ghana, Congo, and elsewhere).
Musical characteristics of more purely African Afro-Venezuelan genres are therefore evidently shared with Afro-Cuban or Afro-Colombian ones, yet.. with an own twist, of course. Playing styles (more often with stick on drum skin) and patterns became unique to the genres in Venezuela.
The way Venezuelan speak the Spanish language has own accents, some more similar to Caribbean Spanish (like the Caracas region), some more to the Colombian accents. Own accents of the Spanish language also influences, of course, how sung music comes across. In Cuban Spanish there is a Congo intonation, while in Peru and around a Amerindian, Inca intonation. In Colombia – the influence of the Basque (Northern Spanish) accent – more “pronounced” - is more stronger, elsewhere of the South Spanish (Andalusian) or Canary Islands variant of Spanish (in Caribbean Spanish, for instance). In some not uninteresting way, this all also affects type of musicality.
My overall conclusion (and lesson learned) would be that Afro-Venezuelan music (and culture) stands on its own within the African Diaspora – with own creations and distinct genres - , yet with several cultural parallels with other parts of especially Spanish America, related to origins within Africa of the enslaved Africans. It remained well alive today, also in popular Venezuelan music, alongside Joropo or foreign (Latin) genres.
As already said, having "travelled" or "migrated" less - thus less internationally known than other "Afro-Latin" genres - but nice, danceable genres as well, representing in their own way beautiful examples of cultural survival and creativity, within the wider African Diaspora.
