HISTORIAN TREVOR MARSHALL calling for more indigenous Caribbean rhythms in gospel works.

by YVETTE BEST

GOSPEL GROUPS in Barbados are being urged to use more indigenous Caribbean rhythms in their work.

Historian Trevor Marshall made the call last Saturday while speaking on the topic: Barbadian Gospel Music Past, Present And Future at the
25th anniversary awards ceremony held by Promise at Almond Bay, Hastings, Christ Church.

Using popular mission songs to articulate his point, Marshall said Barbados had a tradition of producing original music since the 1950s until a demise in the 1970s, especially around the Christmas season, where one saw the Christmas band from suburban areas converge on Queen's Park.

He said a Barbadian sound emerged during that time, which was just as enchanting and tuneful as the sounds coming from overseas.

Marshall theorised that the sound had been disregarded and discouraged because it had originated around the rum shop.

"Caribbean gospel groups have religiously and deliberately avoided Caribbean sound types and have even tried to eschew calypso from their presentations.
But we must not do that, because historically calypso is a music of protest . . . . It is not only for rum shop songs and songs of lewdness and crudity and depravity.

"Calypso music, calypso rhythms have been the music of the black people of the Caribbean for centuries and yet our musical groups have tried to move away from calypso," he argued.

Strong tradition

Marshall noted that the situation was not the same in places like Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad, where there was a strong tradition of gospel music.

During his lament, the historian observed that the likes of Paula Hinds, Sister Marshall, Adrian Agard and Austral Estwick were being marginalised as Barbadians seemed to have gone with Kirk Franklin and that crowd.

While it was not enough to take music from other people, he said there was hope in the younger artistes who were stretching the boundaries and were incorporating Caribbean rhythms.

He added he was at one with the movement to emancipate the music from
external influences.

Against that background, he said there was a "reasonable expectation" that Barbadian gospel artistes would cut million-dollar albums in the near future.