Rara music

Template:Haïtianmusic Originating in Haïti, rara is a form of festival music used for street processions, typically during Easter Week. The music centers on a set of cylindrical bamboo trumpets called vaksen (which may also be made of metal pipes), but also features drums, maracas, güiros (a percussion instrument), and metal bells, as well as sometimes also cylindrical metal trumpets which are made from recycled metal, often coffee cans. The vaksen-s perform repeating patterns in hocket and often strike their instruments rhythmically with a stick while blowing into them. In the modern day, standard trumpets and saxophones may also be used, and the music may also weave in funk and reggae basslines.

The songs are always performed in Haitian Kreyòl and typically celebrate Haïti's African ancestry and the use of vodou. Rara is often used for political purposes, with candidates commissioning songs praising them and their campaigns. Rara lyrics also often address difficult issues, such as political oppression or poverty. Consequently, rara groups and other musicians have been banned from performing and even forced into exile—most notably, folk singer Manno Charlemagne who later returned to Haïti and was elected mayor of Port-au-Prince in the 1990s.

Rara performances are often performed while marching, and are often accompanied by twirlers employing metal batons. Performances generally begin on Ash Wednesday and culminate at Easter Weekend.

Discography

• 1978 - Rara in Haiti - Gaga in the Dominican Republic. Produced by Verna Gillis. Folkways 4531.

Films

• Rara. Produced by Verna Gillis and Gail Pellett. Researched between 1975 and 1978.
• "The Other Side of the Water" http://www.othersideofthewater.org Documentary on Haitian Rara in Brooklyn

External links

• http://rara.wesleyan.edu Rara: Vodou, Power and Performance in Haiti and Its Diaspora
• http://www.djarara.net Rara band in America
• http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/rara.htm Observation of a rara band in Haiti