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Last Updated: Feb 13, 2017 - 1:45:37 AM |
 Carnival 2016 is OVER.
We played Mas, We Feted, We Bacchanaled) …… but what have we REALLY accomplished?
I’m not even delving into the financial aspects of the event but I’m very concerned about the Cultural and Artistic aspects ….. with focus on the Music.
From its inception, concerns mounted about the plans in place to ensure the preservation of the indigenous ‘Bahamian Music’.
It is still embarrassing that I need to refer to our music as ‘Bahamian Music’ due to the fact that NONE of our leaders have had courage to officially define and document our sound while our neighboring Caribbean countries have national titles like Soca, and Reggae.
It has become recently fashionable to use the words Rake ‘N Scrape’ when we talk about our music and when we hear anything with a saw placed in ANY rhythm, even though many of us have not even begun to understand the peculiar cadences that make the sound and rhythms unique.
From the moment the Prime Minister conceded and added the name Junkanoo to the ‘Bahamas Carnival’…. nothing much has changed and the local music is still placed on the back burner.
A Commission was formed with the majority of the personnel having very little involvement with or understanding of the Music aspect of a Festival or the Music Business… and the Country was pushed head first into a Cultural unknown. (Note that the biggest component of any Carnival is MUSIC).
Much talks happened about the Street Parades and the ‘bands’ that participated but from the Music perspective the only things noticeable and talked about were Junkamania and The Music Master. If we want to be honest, both of these events did not show the local musicians in a great light. Performances on both stages were sub-standard to say the least.
A Song Competition was established without much regard or consideration for the preservation of the local sound. There were talks about making the rules stringent and limited to Rake ‘N Scrape and Junkanoo. However, as expected, eventually that was washed away and the doors were left open for anything… as the thoughts became…’anything recorded by a Bahamian MUST be Bahamian music
For the 2015 Carnival, songs were entered, and 25 Semi-Finalists were selected to be placed on a commemorative CD from which the 10 Music Masters Finalists would be chosen. I accepted the task to oversee the recording and Mastering of the CD. The Soca content was present but NOT as pronounced and prevalent as the songs that were released this year.
(Just for the record….I’d like to admonish the organizers and spokespersons who continue to claim that there has never been a Song Competition where there were a large number of persons participating to do some research and ask the Ministry of Tourism to provide them with the data from the Junkanoo In June Song Competition where the rules were clearly defined to submit Rake ‘N Scrape or Junkanoo…..’jus’ sayin).
The Complaints about the growing amount of Soca music continued and the fears mounted among the diehard Bahamian Artists and Cultural Activists. Conversations continued about the challenges that we would face if we continued on the path being travelled.
This year…. Just as we thought… it got increasingly worse. The song competition created a HIGHER ratio of Soca songs and the standards and quality were significantly lower. Almost everyone sang in a Trinidadian dialect… or were using Trinidadian vernacular.
I was once again asked to oversee the production of the CD and I respectfully refused due to the fact that I did not want to be involved in producing or promoting a Soca based project.
I think that the Song Competition was developed on a false premise. Recognizing the little acceptance our Bahamian music has with the Bahamian public… and further recognizing that the word ‘Carnival’ suggests ‘Soca’ with the larger majority of the local artists, The Government decided to create the Carnival first and then the Commission asked the musicians to write songs to match the event. The results are clear. There was a complete overload of Soca songs complete with the Trinidadian dialect. The door was flung wide open. We were soon singing about ‘De Road’ and ‘waving flags and rags’ and feting and Bacchanal. It didn’t help that a few of the leading persons in the Commission and government were passionate Carnival and Soca enthusiasts.
In other festivals… the MUSIC drives the Festival. With ours, the Festival dictates the music.
I strongly believe that if we had taken the approach of developing our Rake ‘N Scrape and Junkanoo to an acceptable level, the challenges we are facing today, with the heavy focus on Soca, would have been eliminated. The Bahamian culture would have been preserved, the local songwriting skills would have improved, and subsequently the street parades would have had a different tone and spirit, which would have spoken to the true essence of the Bahamian people.
I believe we would have accomplished more if some of the almost $20 million allotted would have been spent on developing a SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS and a proper NATIONAL ARTS CENTRE where facilities would be created for our artists to be trained in developing their music and performance skills.It is clear that our music is NOT up to the standard of Trinidad’s or some of the other neighboring Caribbean countries… hence the general Bahamian public do not gravitate to the majority of the songs being released by local artists….. inclusive of the CD’s the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival Commission has produced. As a matter of fact, the music from both CD’s are barely played on the radio and was played VERY little ‘on de road’.
Sadly, even our leaders and persons representing the Commission and others given the platform to speak about our music and its use during the Carnival, (notwithstanding the fact that none of them are Entertainers) have been completely bitten by the Soca bug and have given interviews about how this music can be FUSED with our Rake ‘N Scrape to create the NEW Bahamian sound. This mindset does NOTHING but create an excuse for the importation of more Soca and the Trinidad Culture, and to move the pure indigenous Rake ‘N Scrape to a place of extinction.
Now that we’ve gone through another Song Competition and we’ve created a new set of locally produced Soca Songs sponsored by the Carnival Commission, let’s take a further look at the Music Master’s performances and the guest artists that we spent a huge amount of tax payers dollars to facilitate.
In my opinion, firstly as a Musician/Producer, (one that the Bahamas Government bestowed the honor of LEGEND during the 2015 Independence Celebrations) I think we have done NOTHING to improve the local Entertainment Industry. Actually from the Music Masters perspective… I think we have added another element of confusion. Apart from the heavy Soca influence, the judges need to explain how it is possible that the lady that won…. was able to do so although she sang her entire song ONE FULL STEP out of key. Is it that her earlier performances were so far superior from the others that even if she got deductions for the final performance…. she was still able to beat out the field? I congratulate her, however musicians and the general public would like to know.
I’ve heard through the grapevine that one of the executives of the Commission said that the competition was about the SONG and not the Performance. If this is so… then why did we waste the time and funds to have them perform on stage. The judging and announcement could have been done from weeks prior.
These answers will have a far-reaching effect on the competition going forward.
Further, the giant stage that was used for both last year’s and this year’s concerts on Clifford Park…… although VERY impressive….in my opinion did nothing that our local companies such as ZAMAR or LAV could not have delivered. Firstly, understanding that we are talking about improving our LOCAL industry, why not give the jobs to local companies. This is not the time to put our baskets higher than we can reach, or to try to impress the rest of the world.
Both of these local companies have done stages for NUMEROUS international performers…. very successfully I might add and I’m sure would have been able to provide the necessary equipment for this event.
Again for the record, I was part of a team that produced the 30th Anniversary of Independence on Clifford Park where ZAMAR assisted by providing THREE stages of which we were able to host acts like Baha Men, T Connections and numerous local artists. It was proven that we didn’t need international intervention then and I’m certain we do not need them now.
LOCAL performer D-Mac did a tremendous job of commanding his audience on the stage at Clifford Park. Apart from the unexplained reason why the plug was ‘pulled’ during his performance, his presentation was almost flawless…. supported by the local band, The Spank Band, much to the enjoyment of ALL who were there….. locals and visitors.
I accept the international appeal that Wyclef Jean might have as a Musician/Producer, but was his performance worth the disparity in pay between his fee and that of someone like D-Mac? Did he attract enough visitors (as the Commission continues to promote as the reason for the importation of the International artists) to justify his costs? Would the event be equally as successful if we worked with and promoted our very own top artists?
I noticed portions of his performance that were musically painful. Reference the section where he decided to play the piano and how it was completely out of key with his DJ and his bassist. Yet we speak of him in glorifying tones while we pull the plug on local sensation D-Mac.
Things that make me go…HMMMMMMM!!!!
Further, for the record……I don’t only have complaints about Wyclef’s performance…. some of our local performers on the Arawak Cay stage left me scratching my head and left me wondering how are persons from the Commission and others were singing their praises while it was obvious, to all right thinking musicians, their performances were weak to say the least.
It might appear to my critics as if I’m a bitter, complaining musician and that I am looking for all of the negatives that occurred during this Festival, however let me state for the record……I’m certain that if one day I decided to be bold and speak publicly as if I knew everything about law or accounting, or any other profession …and proceeded to offer advice on how the practitioners should act and behave, ALL of those professionals would come out in HUGE numbers to ‘put me in my place.’
My PROFESSION is that of MUSICIAN…… (the Government endorsed this by calling me LEGEND with a supporting document signed by the PRIME MINISTER of The Commonwealth Of The Bahamas).
If only on this merit, I think it is my DUTY to speak up and defend that which I live for and depend on for my daily survival.
I do not only perform actively in the Profession, but I also see it as my duty as a CITIZEN of The Bahamas to fight for the preservation of ALL things artistically Bahamian.
I therefore BEG our Minister of Culture to petition his colleagues and the Prime Minister to make it NATIONALLY known… what will be known as the National Music of The Bahamas. I’m begging that he does not flippantly respond and say it’s ‘Rake ‘N Scrape’ and then leave it there. If this is his answer… then I ask him to ensure that it’s enshrined in the same documents that recognize the National Flower, National Fish, National Anthem, etc. etc. and subsequently place it in the National Curriculum to be taught in our schools.
I encourage all to take a look at the Curriculum of the University of Trinidad, (the country that we are so happy to copy their music and dance) https://u.tt/?wk=14 and note how much focus is placed on ‘their tings’ inclusive of the study of the works of their Music heroes… eg. The Mighty Sparrow….. https://u.tt/index.php?btnShowVideo... .
What will it take for us to develop this mindset? When will we do the same in our College. Do we see it necessary to develop our Rake ‘N Scrape and Junkanoo or have we determined to become a ‘melting pot’ and continue saying that our music is not good enough to stand on it’s own and MUST be fused to be recognized?
Do we understand the importance of developing National Pride? Do we understand the importance of the Arts to the survival of our sovereign identity?
I’m submitting this from a place of DEEP concern. The implementation and the further promotion of the Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival gives me great concern as I continue to see our indigenous Music being kicked to the wayside, and the focus being shifted while we do almost anything to appease the ‘tourist dollar’ even if it’s to the detriment of our existence as a BAHAMIANS.
I BEG for a proper functioning Ministry of Culture with a Department that understands and is dedicated to the development and proper promotion of The Arts.
There are so many other negatives that have been and are being developed around the Arts in the Bahamas…. and I further submit the introduction of The Bahamas Junkanoo Carnival in its present state is not assisting to make it any better.
Fred Ferguson
Rake ‘N Scrape 4 ‘Eva
15th May, 2016
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