Gwo ka

Gwo ka (Big drum) is both a family of hand drums and the music created with them, which is a major part of Guadeloupean folk music. There are seven rhythms in gwo ka, which are embellished by the drummers. Different sizes of drums establish the foundation and its flourishes, with the largest, the boula, playing the central rhythm and the smaller, markeur (or maké) drums embellishes upon it and interplays with the dancers, audience or singer. Gwo ka singing usually guttural, nasal and rough, though it can also be bright and smooth, and is accompanied by uplifting and complex harmonies and melodies. There are also dances that tell folk stories that are accompanied by the gwo ka drums.

Rural Guadeloupans still use gwo ka drums in communal experiences called lewozes; this is the most traditional manifestation of gwo ka in modern Guadeloupe. Gwo ka is also played at Carnival and other celebrations. A modernized and popularized form of gwo ka is well-known on the islands; it is known as gwo ka moderne.

• Ecole de musique et danse Gwo ka CEFRIM (Gadeloupe)

Zouk-UK: Gwo Ka In The Heart of The City

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Example of Gwo Ka in the street of Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe

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Origins

The origin of Gwo Ka goes back to slavery time in the 18th Century. Musical research show that the instrument can find its roots in the drums and songs in the West African countries (Guinea gulf, Congo...)From the diverse music and dance of their homelands, the slaves eleborated a communication tool, a new form of art just as the creole language: the Gwo Ka. This musical genre is characterised by an African typology: - repetitive form - improvisation - physical movements linked to music - a response between a soloist and choir - a syncopation weak times Gwo-ka, is a quadruple entity: dance, music, instrument, song.

Gwo Ka: the rhythms

The influences (lifesyle and musical genre) of the "master" fusioned with this base to create the 7 rhythms or dances: the Lewoz, the Mindé, the Kaladja, the Grage, the Roulé, the Granjanbel and the Toumblak.

The Lewoz is the war rhythm and use to give rhythm the attacks against the plantations but was also an incantatory dance.

The Kaladja symbolise the struggle in love.

The Pagenbel is the cane cutting dance.

The Toumblak, like the Kaladja, deals with the love theme, belly dance, fertility dance.

The Grage accompanies the agricultural work.

The Roulé is the "creole waltz" to charm and mimick the whites.

The Mindé would be the last rhythm that arrived in the islands with the "Congos" under contract after the abolition. It symbolises the carnival, collective celebration.

Gwo Ka: the dance

“Gwo-ka is a dance of improvisation by excellence, a dance of the instinct, of the moment. (…) Gwo-ka, dance of resistance, of resilience and adaptation: Dance of Life”

Lénablou, Techni' ka,Editions Jasor, 2005 http://guardian.co.tt/features/entertainment/2009/08/17/bending-continuum http://www.africultures.com/php/index.php?nav=groupe&no=167