What is your reaction when these words are accompanied by the sweet rhymes of our cultural music?
Goh dung a mauel road, galang bwoy fi go bruk rak stone
Goh dung a manuel road, galang bwoy fi go bruk rak stone…
bruk dem one by one..(galang bwoy)
bruk dem two by two..(galang bwoy)
fingah mash nuh bawl..(galang bwoy)
How about this one? What images pop into your head?
Mi carry mi ackee go a Linstead Market
Not a quattie worth sell
Mi Carry me ackee go a Linstead Market
Not a quattie worth sell
Lord what night, not a bite
What a Saturday night
Lawd what a night not a bite
What a Saturday night
Folk music, whether it is happy, sad, slow, fast, captures the life, love and hardships we have to endure and re-frame them in such a fashion that we can extract meaning.
It uses the language that the heart can embrace and provides us with a timeless treasure to share with our children, and grandchildren.
Folk songs are typically about a community of people, and the issues they feel are important to them.
After the embarrassing profile of dance hall music, traditional folk music is making a strong comeback.
We have the privilege in entering into conversation with one of the leading protector and provider of folk music material , Ms. Joy Simons Brown.
Joy on the web
Ms. Joy Simons Brown is the managing director of Sound of Joy Music Productions Limited, an entertainment company dedicated to serving corporate and private clients with live entertainment, and managing music projects. She is a musician qualified by the Royal School of Music, London in classical piano and clarinet, and studied jazz piano and organ at the Edna Manley College. She also is certified as a music entrepreneur and arranging specialist by Berklee Music College in Boston.
Click to listen to her wisdom.
Hundreds of folk songs have been written and new ones are being written in Jamaica. The new ones mirror the style and content of the old ones…songs about relationships, country life, story telling and the instruments have not changed.
How are you relishing and sharing the treasure of our folks music to ensure that it will be an eternal Jamaican legacy?
