Double Dutch BUT NOT Too Much

Tuesday 1 October 2022

MUSI 322-01

Hopping for Mentorship in the Dutch Caribbean

Oh, blog bestieeee! 👀 If you've gotten this far on our musical journey of the Caribbean, then you'd know that we recently left the beautiful French Caribbean islands, where we became drenched in oceans of knowledge regarding mentorship. I'm sure that must have been exhausting, and for that reason, I hope you've had a chance to rest and bask in the serene beauty of the skies, coupled with the calming nature of the sea. As a matter of fact, you'll need to muster up as much energy as you can for this next stop: the Dutch Caribbean. Try not to get tangled in the different jump ropes of musically gifted artists from this region, as it truly is easy once you hear pieces of their work. You should probably watch out for the various schools available for young aspiring musicians as well, since they're infested with raw talent (which is highly contagious if I do say so myself). However, I won't hold you on this ship any longer because we have so much to explore. So... On your marks, get set.... GO! It's time to DOUBLE DUTCH

SSSip Your Water First 

(Mentorship in the Dutch Windward Islands)

I'm not sure about you, but I become a bit tongue twisted when I try to pronounce the three Dutch Windward Islands: Saba, Sint Eustatius, (and) Sint Maarten (St.Martin). Unfortunately, there isn't a wide collection of musicians who've made a name for themselves at the international level. However, as noted by Gangelhoff & LeGrand in their book "Tour de Force" (2020), a six-man group that began playing together in the 1970s, known as "Tanny & the Boys", is the most famous string band on the island of Sint Maarten. Let's put down our water for a minute and grab our first jump rope of mentorship.

1. Tanny & the Boys

As previously mentioned, this six-man group plays an integral role in the musical and entertainment aspect of St.Martin. In her 1992 article for St. Martin's Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sports (Sekou, 1992), Ms. Lasana Sekou explained that the music played by members of this string band is as sweetly infectious to the mind, body and soul as it was to revelers and partygoers for over half the 20th century. (Don't worry, I'll show you exactly what she means in a few). The instruments featured in this string band are the banjo, guitar, accordion, tambura, marimba, and the guiro. However, how does this group of musically gifted men tie into the theme of mentorship? Well, I'm glad you asked! 

The musicians of this band have played all their lives. For example, Edward "Eddie" Emmanuel Violenus, who adds soul to the group through the use of this accordion, has been playing music since he was 16. Likewise, George Bernard Violenus who is the band's "tambora man" has been beating the drum since he was 17 years young. I say all of this to say that these men began young, and their talent has promoted them from playing solely for the people of St.Martin at house concerts, dances and so on, to entertaining off-island audiences in Anguilla, Saba, St. Eustatius, St.Croix and Aruba, just to name a few. The platform they have created for themselves from such a tender age act as an inspiration for many young, aspiring musicians. I've attached an image below of the popular string band: 

This picture shows group members of the "Tanny & the Boys" string Band (Image retrieved from http://pearlfmradio.sx/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/tanny_and_boys.JPG)

I chose the image above because this was one of the band's pictures that was taken for their 50th anniversary celebration 13 years ago (2009 for those who "math ain't mathing"). The St. Martin government honored the group by putting together a special program for a mini documentary, shedding light on the group's achievements and overall musical gift. I believe that this alone shows that hard work pays off, which once again encourages younger ones to go after their goals whether they are still in their hometown or abroad. Well, that's enough talking for right now, let's pick up a new jump rope which requires us to jump over the charismatic beats of this band's live performance of a traditional folk song called Mr. Jambolee:

"Mr. Jambolee" live performance by La Vaune Henry and Tanny & the Boys (More Bacchanal, 2009)

Jigaliga Jigaliga Jambolee (I think that's how it went)!!! Boy the music sweet sweet. This is why I told y'all to be careful using certain jump ropes because it's easy to get caught up in doing a double Dutch too much. I love this video because it's very upbeat and the singer matches the band's pace as they go back and forth with a story-telling performance. The crowd is also quite engaged which makes the performance more worthwhile. Jigga ligga Jigga ligga💃 .. okay let's move on 😂.

ABC, It's Easy as 123!

(Mentorship in the Dutch Leeward Islands)

The islands that make up the Dutch Leeward Islands are a bit easier to pronounce. As a matter of fact, let's try it together: Aruba, Bonaire, (and) Curacao. The Dutch Leeward Islands make up the second island group of the Dutch Caribbean, with the first being the Windward islands previously mentioned in this blog. Our next mentorship jump rope lies on the island of Curacao. Reason being, it would practically be a crime if I ignored the great influence of Grammy-winning percussionist: Mr. Pernell Saturnino on younger musicians of his hometown. Welp, without further ado, I introduce to youu Pernall Saturnino whose family, according to Gangelhoff & LeGrand is deeply involved in tambuuu. (Goodbye blogging, hello rap industry😅). 

2. Pernell Saturnino

Mr. Saturnino couldn't escape his musical gift, considering that he was born into a musically talented family. Gangelhoff and LeGrand note that his first musical performances were with his family's folklore musical ensemble, where he learned to play all variety of local percussion instruments, including the tambu drum and the chapi. As a matter of fact, Pernell's musical background began at the tender age of 9 (Biblioteka Nashonal Kòrsou, 2021), which goes to show that "age ain't nuttin (nothing) but a number". The main reason Pernell embodies the theme of mentorship is because he returned to Curacao, (despite his international fame and success) and founded the Percussion Creed School to "help identify, teach, and train promising young musicians" (Gangelhoff & LeGrand, 2020). In addition to this, Pernell teaches at the University of Curacao College of Music. Boy blog bestie, if you don't find both of the aforementioned to be honorable and selfless acts then you need to rest your jump rope down and head back to the ship. I believe that all you need is one person to motivate you or believe in you, in order to persevere through life's countless obstacles and reach after your goal. For this reason, I commend Pernell for his determined spirit in relation to investing and giving back to his hometown.

Here is Pernell Saturnino, teaching music at an elementary school in Curacao

 (Image retrieved from 845. Curaçao “Perculturalist” Pernell Saturnino | 1000 Awesome Things About Curaçao (1000awesomethingsaboutcuracao.com) )

Pernell is captured during his 2019 performance at the International Jazz Festival of Punta del Este

I chose the two images above because firstly, Pernell's instruction at the elementary level reveals how adamant he is about setting a strong foundation for young children of Curaçao, irrespective of how young they are. In the second image, I can observe his great passion for music and more specifically, drumming within this one snapshot alone and I just think that I should share this with you.

Unfortunately, looks are deceiving. So... why don't we take a look at Pernell's performance to determine if he can really walk it like he talks it (...or shows it? in the picture above? okay I'll stop talking now..) : 

This video features Pernell Saturnino playing a Cuban Medley on Tera Percussion Congas (Retrieved from Tera Percussions YouTube channel)

Well.. I'm not sure what I expected but it got the job done. I chose this video because Pernell is completely isolated from other instruments which affords listeners to get a scoop of his raw talent. At one point I thought he would've lost his rhythm, but I really shouldn't have doubted the percussion king like that, because he carried the beat straight through. He even switched up the pace here and there.

3. Scouting Antiano

Don't give up just yet, there is one final game of double Dutch left for us, which isn't our traditional musical mentorship jump rope. Instead, we'll be observing mentorship through an organization in Curacao known as Scouting Antiano, which is the National Scout Association of Curacao. The members of this association are not solely limited to those in Curacao but has recruited 1,600 members in 21 groups in Bonaire and St. Martin as well. This association primarily focuses on its youth program, although it offers adult resources, for older people to volunteer and assist in delivering the youth program to younger members. Scouting Antiano is a very diverse organization which affords young scouts to engage in a number of activities once they complete the youth program, such as toastmasters, joining the pastoral committee or the drum band. According to the association's official website, the ultimate goal of the youth program is to meet the needs of young people in local contexts and offer them opportunities to develop and grow as individuals (Scouting Antiano, 2022). 

I inserted two pictures below which show the team building nature of the children who are members of the association (Both images were retrieved from Scountingantiano.org): 

These are a few scouts of the Scouting Antiano Association at their 2019 Jamboree

Here's another snapshot of a few scouts from the Jamboree during a workshop

This video briefly honors Scouting Antiano's 90-year celebration back in 2020 (Retrieved from Scouting Antiano YouTube channel)

Um.. just a head's up, the video above isn't in English, so I highly recommend turning on your subtitles. However, I chose this video because it highlights both past and present members including the collective accomplishments of the association.

Whewwww! I think we Double Dutch(ed) TOO MUCH. So, let's just drag ourselves back to the ship because we have a lot of resting to do.

psstt.. be sure to practice your Spanish while on board, that should be a hint on where we're going next. Until next time blog bestie!

References

Biblioteka Nashonal Kòrsou. (2021, May 13). Pernell Saturnino. https://bnkcuracao.com/audio/pernell-saturnino/

Gangelhoff, C., & LeGrand, C. (2020). Tour de Force: A Musical Journey of the Caribbean (1st ed.). Sound Caribbean. 

More Bacchanal. (2009, July 12). MoreBacchanal.com presents: Mr. Jambolee by La Vaune Henry and Tanny & the Boys [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwawCJ0_VCo 

Scouting Antiano. (2022, October 10). What we do. https://scoutingantiano.org/what-we-do/

Sekou, L. M. S. (1992). Tanny & The Boys - A little history about the men and their music. . ... sintmaartengov.org. http://sintmaartengov.org/government/ECYS/Pages/Tanny-The-Boys.aspx