Riba Dempel - Popular Dance Music of Curaçao 1950-1954
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Riba Dempel - Popular Dance Music of Curaçao 1950-1954 (Otrabanda, Netherlands)

Curaçao classics from the golden age of the indigenous Papiamento recording industry in the 1950s that were originally released on 78 rpms on the Hoyco and Musika labels.

"Lovingly restored and extensively annotated not only is [Riba Dempel] a delicious compilation of songs but also a fascinating insight into a bygone era… there is music here of a high level." (De Volkskrant)

"Another piece of the puzzle shows up: the music of Curaçao runs the Caribbean, using its own local rhythms along with copious quantities of son from Cuba and music from Venezuela…it's a model of how historical recordings should be treated." (Descarga.com)

From the record label:
Riba Dempel is the name of the central marketplace in Willemstad, the capital city of the island of Curaçao. It includes the ‘floating market’of barques that moor there from neighboring Venezuela selling their fresh produce and fish as well as local stalls where cheap, fresh creole food is served to all comers. Like the creole kitchen, the music on this disc is a gumbo of African, European and regional Caribbean influences. Riba Dempel collects classics from the golden age of the indigenous Papiamento recording industry on Curaçao in the 1950s that were originally released on 78 rpm. This flowering of the production of ‘Papimento Song’ was a result of the philosophical roots put down during the Second World War by three men – Pierre Lauffer, Jules de Palm and Rene de Rooy. They published a cancionero under the pseudonym Julio Perennal and a manifesto that called for popular songs and poetry to be written in the local language of Papiamento. By the time the 1950s had rolled around quite a few musicians had taken up the call and many of the key figures written about in the liner notes below began their explorations of the local idiom, couched in the native rhythms of Curaçao as well as the beloved styles from Cuba and the Dominican Republic. On this disc you will hear Curaçao style guaracha, son montuno, bolero, pambiche and merengue as well as the Dutch Antillean creolized waltz and danza from the dances popular from colonial times – and last but not least the tumba – the signature rhythm of the ABC islands. The tumba in turn had evolved from the tambú the name of a dance, rhythm and drum with direct roots to Africa. The other “roots” musics of the Netherlands Antilles with direct links to Africa are the muzik di zumbi and the harvest songs of seú or simadan, but the music presented here is the product of urbanization and creolization..

The Curaçaoan love of Cuban music dates back to the origins of the son. Half of the male working population of Curaçao emigrated to Cuba in the nineteen tens and twenties to cut sugar cane. Those who returned came back with the tres guitar, the marimbula and the bongos and a love of the son that continues to this day. We owe a debt of gratitude to Horacio Hoyer and Thomas Henriquez for having recorded these cultural gems from one of the Caribbean’s liveliest musical communities. Scott Rollins

Featuring: Conjunto Casino Curaçao, Conjunto Cristal, Conjunto Happy Boys, Conjunto Musika, Estrellas del Caribe, Quarteto Candelaria, Quinteto Micho, Sexteto Boelijn , Sexteto Gressmann, Sexteto Martinez, Tipico Moderno

Compiled by Tim de Wolf & Scott Rollins
Sound restoration & digital remastering – Tim de Wolf
Mastered at Studio 5 by Danny O’Really
Graphic design & typography – Jody van der Kwaak
Executive Producers – Scott Rollins & Martin van Etten

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