Page 33 - CARIBE TOURIST GUIDE

Intangible Heritage of Limón
Limonense music from the Caribbean has two influences: Spanish and Afro-Antillean. It is known as the most rhythmic in the
country. There are multiple types, though the most popular is the calypso which is part of the country’s cultural heritage. Other rhythms of the Costa Rican Caribbean include sinkit, quadrille dances, son and comparsas, as well as gospel, jazz, soul, hip-hop, reggae and soca.
1. El calipso
The most important rhythm of Caribbean music is calypso limonense. Emerging in the colonial era in the English-influenced West Indies (Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Bahamas), it reached the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica with
the immigration of Afrodescendants from 1870 onwards, where it gained a flavor all its own in the province of Limón. Its roots are in the Trinidadian kaiso, which the musicians of Limón adapted to the tempo of Jamaican mento music. Small groups of three or four musicians were formed around a singer, who often improvised the lyrics of the songs, organizing small concerts on beaches, bars or in the street. Over time, calypso incorporated and mixedotherrhythmstocreatean original and distinctive sound. Calypso uses instruments such as the cajon bass, ukulele, sheky-sheky, maracas, guitar, drums, bongoes,
m
tumbas and cowbell. Among its best-known performers, known as “calypsonians”, are Walter Ferguson (“Gavit”), considered to be the king of Costa Rican calypso, author of calypsos such as Cabin in the wata, Callaloo and Carnaval Day; as well as Roberto Kirlew (“Buda”), Cyril Silvan, Herberth Glinton (Nowhere like Limón), Reginald Kenton (“Shanty”), Manuel Monestel and the group Cantoamérica.
Known for “its social criticism sprinkled with humor”, the main theme of the calypsos limonenses is everyday life, focusing on relevant elements of black culture. These include foods, drinks and their uses, or notable facts and events from a certain
moment in time. The narration is from the personal point of view of the calypsonian, often opposed to dominant points of view but generally coinciding with the point of view of the black minority. Songs frequently tell the stories of characters from the African oral tradition such
as Anansi. Blackness is highlighted
and its achievements are celebrated, while social injustice, racism, human and ecological exploitationaredenouncedandthestructure of the State is criticized. Its “contribution to
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