Music of Garambura

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Karam Hy, one of Garambura's most internationally renowned musicians, at the Fête de la lumière, Ainde, Mabifia, in 2015.

The music of Garambura has, over its years of development and history, come to encompass a wide range of genres, styles, motifs and art forms while utilising a myriad of cultural influences, both domestically and from abroad. Garambura has Bahia's largest music industry and sound recording industry by market capital, and is home to some of Bahia's most illustrious music festivals and studios. Major Bahian labels such as Sebaka and Courtet–Yucunou Company are headquartered in Mambiza, a city renowned for its musical diversity.

Garamburan music can be categorised in a number of genres, including electronic, folk, hip hop, jazz, pop, R&B, rock and soul, as well as hundreds of subgenres that encaptulate the country's cultural diversity. Many native genres, such as coupé-décalé, gondaphonics, gqom, kizomba, kwaito, makossa, mbaqanga, ndombolo, Nyikaitsva blues and semba take significant influence from native musical traditions, often incorporating northern musical influences into traditional Bahian ritualistic music.

Culturally, music from Garambura has had a significant impact on music in Bahia as well as other global music genres. Baiabeat was partially pioneered in Mambiza, and is now popular across Euclea and the Asterias. Diasporic music is popular across the Euclean Community, particularly in Gaullica. Large cultural exchanges have taken place between the countries, influenced by both native and Chennois populations. Garambura has participated in the Euclovision Song Contest since 1999.

Traditional music

Colonial era

Littoral jazz

Sotirian music

Modern music

Electronic, house, dance

Coupé-décalé and ndombolo

Gondaphonics

Gqom

Kizomba and semba

Folk

Hip hop

Kwaito

Jazz

Littoral jazz

Top: Alessane Assise, a famous littoral-era pianist; Bottom: Anishilabi by Thlolego (1974), showing the blend of northern and native instrumentation in littoral jazz.

Littoral jazz is the name given to the variant of jazz music that emerged from the sœurs littorales (Mambiza and Makumba) in the 1910s and 1920s, spurred on by colonial authorities' promotion of Euclean music, styles and instrumentation. Unlike other jazz forms of the era, littoral jazz drew heavy inspiration from traditional percussion, including the balafon and karyenda, mixed in with traditional Euclean instruments such as the saxophone, trumpet and piano, all of which blended together a cohesive fusion genre.

Early forms of the genre were popular amongst Chennois demographics, whom jazz was usually targeted towards, but littoral jazz began to take form as a true cultural movement amongst the predominantly black audience of shebeens, where native instruments were much more commonplace. Many shebeens formed the basis of small cultural and tribal communities, and as such ritualistic themes were often incorporated into littoral jazz. In its early days, littoral jazz was a community-driven art form. Emerging before the commercialisation of music, performers were often based within local towns, and rarely travelled. The genre was extremely diverse, and styles varied from village to village, with styles often co-existing in the same areas.

When music began to be sold as a commodity in Baséland around the mid-1920s, littoral jazz was the first genre to gain a sizable commercial fanbase. Under functionalist administration, native music was forbidden from having a decent commercial framework, so littoral jazz took much of its influence under its broad umbrella to be marketed to commercial consumers.

After the decolonisation of Bahia, littoral jazz retained its stature of being Garambura's most popular musical export. In Rwizikuru it found a new audience in Freemen, but grassroots jazz movements still remained and formed the backbone of many communities. Once the ban on native music was lifted by the Rwizikuran government, littoral jazz took on a much more experimental approach. At the forefront of this change was Alessane Assise, who utilised his natural proficiency on the piano as well as an expansive backing band comprised of drummers, vocalists and other percussionists to create the first modern works of littoral jazz.

Makossa

Mbaqanga

Pop

Djeli pop

R&B and soul

Rock music

Nyikaitsva blues

Kaswatu Kabili's Tarhatazed, released in 2008, is a seminal piece of Nyikaitsva blues.

Nyikaitsva blues takes its name from the mountain range close to where its stylistic background originates. Nyikaitsva blues refers to a select style of blues music originating from rural communities that live near the mountains or in the north of the country. It is often characterised by smooth, slick guitar and droning, repetitive and often psychedelic vocals. Nyikaitsva blues share incredible similar origins and sounds to Boual blues, native to the peoples of the Boual ka Bifie in Mabifia and Yemet.

The genre's birth was in the 1980s, and initially it was popular amongst Shuku and Njinji peoples, who adopted it into their own musical traditions. Due to linguistic and cultural isolation, Shuku Nyikaitsva is often critically considered to be the purest form of Nyikaitsva blues, having remained relatively untouched by northern and domestic musical trends. Chewa Nyikaitsva is by far the most commercially successful variant, having experienced a cultural boom in the mid-2000s as Euclean and Asterian producers oversaw the creation and promotion of some of Nyikaitsva's most well-known artists, including Kaswatu Kabili and Komaniso. Kabili's use of autotune on the electric guitar is often viewed as revolutionary for the genre.

File:Turnstile Band.jpg
Tourniquet, Garambura's most commercially successful punk band.

Punk rock

When punk rock began to become popular in Estmere and Gaullica, the first punk rock bands began to emerge amongst Chennois bands who regularly travelled between Gaullica and Garambura. Punkesque vocals had been pioneered independently by Chloe Kolisi and her spat of popularity as one of the faces of djeli pop in the 1970s, but punk as a genre was influenced almost entirely by its Euclean counterparts. As such, punk in Garambura has often been criticised for its disproportionately white makeup, a trend that has continued into the modern day.

Popular punk bands in Garambura include Izono, LMDTY and Tourniquet.

Euclovision Song Contest

Garambura has participated in the Euclovision Song Contest since its addition in 1999, winning once in 2006. Financial difficulties caused the ensuing contest to be held as a joint production between Garambura and Gaullica in Verlois.

Year Song Artist Points Place
1999 Temps génial Lifa Khuyameni 39 26th
2000 Dans un monde réel Fallou Mogotsi 63 20th
2001 Cocorico Karame Hy 88 9th
2002 Bonde Musafare Isheanasu Kumbula
Roméo Mazet
30 28th
2003 Bonjour, mon ami Zvinomwe 150 2nd
2004 Atudée Clotaire Jobé 77 13th
2005 Ntawha Ukuvuselelwa kweNtlalo 35 23rd
2006 Amidinine Komaniso 168 1st
2007 État de salut Mustafa Khosi 72 19th
2008 Coulibaly Gédéon and Ivoire 59 22nd
2009 Margarita À cheval 46 24th
2010 Frère Rossi Isheanasu Kumbula 77 17th
2011 Flamme froide Thandiwe Siwele 51 21st
2012 Guns of Bouley / Armes de Boulée Bruno Souro 102 8th
2013 Suffisant Célèbre blasée 74 16th
2014 Les cerises Ilonna Bourcier 90 12th
2015 Suzanna Les étoiles et la lune 151 2nd
2016 Saïada BCUC 104 7th
2017 Kadodi Rituel quotidien 53 20th
2018 Pilulesdeculture Louis Cissokho 91 12th
2019 Amant Tama Gucci 79 15th
2020 Quand vas tu rentrer? Olivia Le Sueur 80 14th
2021 Kérosène Tamai XXX
Anna Ndir
57 22nd