Carib-Beat & Creole Funk

Jay Mitchell: Deep Heat

Kitch

The Caribbean has long been the crossroads of musical civilization, where African rhythm meets everything else. Reggae is just a drop in the bucket. West Indians dug 1960s and 1970s soul, jazz, and pop; covers of hit tunes by steel-drum bands are only part of the story. Eventually homegrown 1970s dance classics emerged, in the form of "Creole funk"; assimilated were elements from India, Brasil, Africa, France, Spain, Mexico, and other places.

Blue Note and Prestige soul-jazz LPs offer an extraordinary number of calypsos, and calypso-jazz efforts also came out of the islands. Jazz turned "instrumental calypso" from oxymoron into a novel, if not exactly successful, "new" rhythm for jazzbos. For dancers, calypso found counterparts in ska and mento. Without pop hits to cover, ad nauseum, ska would have gone nowhere. Then came a dance called "the regay," which slowly evolved into a style of its own. Serge Gainsbourg and other non-islanders dabbled in it, and reggae artists in turn covered many U.S. soul hits.

The Beginning of the End, with their smash hit "Funky Nassau" epitomizes the successful hybridization of West Indian with U.S. (or Afro-) funk. Carlos Malcolm, Boris Gardiner, and Sparrow's Troubadours prospected in the funk and soul mine. Latterday mining of rare and obscure recordings continues to turn up gems.

Below, a hodgepodge of classics and other items from post-calypso West Indies: interpreted funk, soul, pop, etc., as well as oddball soca, reggae, ska, dub, etc.

Buying: West Indian records continue to be overlooked by all but rabid calypso and reggae collectors, who nevertheless tend to focus on particular sub-styles and periods. Originals and compilations are good values.