The Ebe Gilkes Quartet was a Guyanese band that became very popular on Barbados in the 1950s, led by Trinidadian jazz pianist [1] Edwin "Ebe" Gilkes. [2]
Other members:
In the 1950s, low wages for jazz musicians led to many Barbadians immigrating abroad to Canada, US, or the UK. Additionally, travel between British Commonwealth countries encouraged movement between countries of the Caribbean, so clubs and hotels in Barbados were bringing in acts from neighboring countries such as Guyana. Gilkes was a part of the Billy Green Quartet that played in the Coconut Creek Nightclub in Barbados, and by the end of the decade he was the only one to remain in Barbados.
By the 1960s, he played at the Bel Air Nightclub in Bridgetown, a venue that was a part of the middle-class nightlife, playing contemporary jazz and bossa nova. Through the 1960s and 1970s, support for jazz was mainly by foreign tourists, and he played in venues such as the Blue Water Beach Hotel and freelanced in other hotels, playing music for dance and floorshows.
Arturo Tappin, a Barbadian saxophonist who was a sideman in the Ebe Gilkes' Band in the early 1980s, went to the US to study jazz formally, and contributed to the jazz scene in Barbados taking a major role in the formation of the International Barbados/Caribbean Jazz Festival. Gilkes played with Bim in the late 1980s as well as other festivals.
In 1989, the After Dark Club was opened and featured nightly performances by the Ebe Gilkes Trio. Their style was considered "modern instrumental". [2]
Ebe Gilkes was honored in 2012 at the Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari by two Barbadian chief justices; David Simmons and Marston Gibson. [3]
The Government of Barbados (GoB) is a unitary parliamentary republic, where the President of Barbados is the head of state and the Prime Minister of Barbados is the head of government.
Since the island country's independence in 1966, the economy of Barbados has been transformed from a low-income economy dependent upon sugar production into a high-income economy based on tourism and the offshore sector. Barbados went into a deep recession in the 1990s after 3 years of steady decline brought on by fundamental macroeconomic imbalances. After a painful re-adjustment process, the economy began to grow again in 1993. Growth rates have averaged between 3%–5% since then. The country's three main economic drivers are: tourism, the international business sector, and foreign direct-investment. These are supported in part by Barbados operating as a service-driven economy and an international business centre.
Washington, D.C., has been home to many prominent musicians and is particularly known for the musical genres of Jazz, Rhythm & Blues, bluegrass, punk rock and its locally-developed descendants hardcore and emo, and a local funk genre called go-go. The first major musical figure from District of Columbia was John Philip Sousa, a military brass band composer. Later figures include jazz musicians, such as Duke Ellington, Charlie Rouse, Buck Hill, Ron Holloway, Davey Yarborough, Michael A. Thomas, Butch Warren, and DeAndrey Howard; soul musicians, including Billy Stewart, The Unifics, The Moments, Ray, Goodman & Brown, Van McCoy, The Presidents, The Choice Four, Vernon Burch, guitarist Charles Pitts, and Sir Joe Quarterman & Free Soul.
The music of Barbados includes distinctive national styles of folk and popular music, including elements of Western classical and religious music. The culture of Barbados is a syncretic mix of African and British elements, and the island's music reflects this mix through song types and styles, instrumentation, dances, and aesthetic principles.
Jazz music has a long history in Australia. Over the years jazz has held a high-profile at local clubs, festivals and other music venues and a vast number of recordings have been produced by Australian jazz musicians, many of whom have gone on to gain a high profile in the international jazz arena.
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. Typically, different types of venues host different genres of music. Opera houses, bandshells, and concert halls host classical music performances, whereas public houses ("pubs"), nightclubs, and discothèques offer music in contemporary genres, such as rock, dance, country, and pop.
British jazz is a form of music derived from American jazz. It reached Britain through recordings and performers who visited the country while it was a relatively new genre, soon after the end of World War I. Jazz began to be played by British musicians from the 1930s and on a widespread basis in the 1940s, often within dance bands. From the late 1940s, British "modern jazz", highly influenced by American bebop, began to emerge and was led by figures such as Sir John Dankworth, Tony Crombie and Ronnie Scott, while Ken Colyer, George Webb and Humphrey Lyttelton played Dixieland-style Trad jazz. From the 1960s British jazz began to develop more individual characteristics and absorb a variety of influences, including British blues, as well as European and World music influences. A number of British jazz musicians have gained international reputations, although the music has remained a minority interest there.
Peter Appleyard, was a British–Canadian jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer.
Straight-ahead jazz is a genre of jazz that developed in the 1960s, with roots in the prior two decades. It omits the rock music and free jazz influences that began to appear in jazz during this period, instead preferring acoustic instruments, conventional piano comping, walking bass patterns, and swing- and bop-based drum rhythms.
Thomas Daniel Hicks Eytle was a Guyanese calypso musician and actor. Although born in Guyana, Eytle's career was based in the United Kingdom, where he lived after emigrating in 1951.
The following is an alphabetical list of topics related to the nation of Barbados.
CBC Radio is the flagship radio station of the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, Barbados' public broadcaster. It broadcasts on 900 kHz (AM) and also on 94.7 MHz (FM). The Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation also owns and operates The One 98.1 FM (Barbados) and on Quality 100.7 FM MHz.
Arturo Tappin is a jazz/reggae saxophonist from Barbados. He performs predominantly the genre of smooth jazz, and has performed alongside personalities such as Roberta Flack, Monty Alexander, and on an album by Luther Vandross.
Combermere School is a school in Barbados, notable as one of the oldest schools in the Caribbean, established in 1695. Its alumni include several leading cricketers, David Thompson, sixth prime minister of Barbados and other politicians, several authors and the singer Rihanna. In its first 75 years, the school "provided the Barbadian community with the vast bulk of its business leaders and civil servants" and it is "perhaps the first school anywhere to offer secondary education to black children".
A jazz club is a venue where the primary entertainment is the performance of live jazz music, although some jazz clubs primarily focus on the study and/or promotion of jazz-music. Jazz clubs are usually a type of nightclub or bar, which is licensed to sell alcoholic beverages. Jazz clubs were in large rooms in the eras of Orchestral jazz and big band jazz, when bands were large and often augmented by a string section. Large rooms were also more common in the Swing era, because at that time, jazz was popular as a dance music, so the dancers needed space to move. With the transition to 1940s-era styles like Bebop and later styles such as soul jazz, small combos of musicians such as quartets and trios were mostly used, and the music became more of a music to listen to, rather than a form of dance music. As a result, smaller clubs with small stages became practical.
Krosfyah is a Soca band from the Caribbean island of Barbados. The group is best known for the hits "Road Jam", "Pump Me Up", and "Sak Passe".
Barbadian British people, Bajan Brits or British Barbadians, are citizens or residents of the United Kingdom whose ethnic origins lie fully or partially in the Caribbean island of Barbados. The UK is home to the second largest Barbadian-born migrant population out of all the OECD countries, with the 2001 Census recording 21,601 UK residents born on the Caribbean island, compared to the 53,785 Barbadian-born residents of the United States.
(Yusufu) Quanti Bomani, is an American jazz musician and multi-instrumentalist, composer, lyricist, and the leader of the band Urban Insight Group. His primary instrument is the saxophone. He is also a member of Prodigal Posse, an Eastern Caribbean diaspora band in Dominica that performs worldwide. He is the son of son of Luqman Abdul-Malik and Nana Bomani.
Charles Davis was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Davis played alto, tenor and baritone saxophone, and performed extensively with Archie Shepp and Sun Ra.