Lionel Belasco's Song of the Jumbies and Back Down to the Tropics (as recorded by Nick DiSebastian)

BTL Music Notes chart for Song of the Jumbies

In 2013 I hired musician Nick DiSebastian of Built To Last Music Notes to transcribe all 18 tracks from the rare, out-of-print Bonne Humeur album by The Etcetera String Band.  I sent him mp3s from the CD (early string band music of the Caribbean: Creole Louisiana, Haiti, Trinidad, Martinique, Venezuela and the Virgin Islands) and Nick transcribed the music, sending back pdfs containing chords, notation and mandolin tab, per my request.

BTL Music Notes chart for Back Down to the Tropics

The tunes from that CD have become some of my favorite music to play.  One discovery made via this Bonne Humeur CD was orchestra leader and composer Lionel Belasco.  Born around 1882, Belasco grew up in Venezuela and Trinidad. He was classically trained, but composed indigenous pieces such as joropos, paseos and danzas.  I learned from the Bonne Humeur liner notes that a couple collections of his music were published over 70 years ago.

Recently I was able to obtain a copy of one of those volumes: the 1944 booklet Calypso Rhythm Songs: Authentic Tropical Novelty Melodies by Lionel Belasco and Leighla Whipper.  The booklet contains fifteen "authenticated West Indian calypsos".

I like to have audio and sheet music when learning a new song.  In this case I had the sheet music but no audio, so I asked Nick if he could make source recordings of a couple of the pieces from this collection and he said yes.  Sort of a transcription in reverse!  I sent Nick copies of the sheet music and not only did he make professional sounding overdubbed recordings for me (adding some embellishments and arpeggios where it fit), but he also created his own charts with some minor revisions to the chords and melody where it seemed to make sense.

Below are the recordings Nick made for me.  I have his permission to share them here.

I think these sound great!  Now I have clean sounding basic recordings featuring lead melody plus rhythm backup to get the sound of the tune into my head.  Without this I would be relying on my own somewhat unreliable reading skills and sense of timing.  If you have a similar need I encourage you to reach out to Nick to see if he can help.

See below for the original images that Nick had to work with.

Song of the Jumbies page 1 of 2

Song of the Jumbies page 2 of 2

Back Down to the Tropics page 1 of 3

Back Down to the Tropics page 2 of 3

Back Down to the Tropics page 3 of 3

Calypso Rhythm Songs front cover

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Mandolin Tab for Ten Early Caribbean Dance Tunes - Paseos, Meringues and more

In honor of an upcoming trip to the Spanish Virgin Island of Culebra in Puerto Rico, I've assembled ten Afro-Caribbean string band tunes from the recordings of the now defunct Etcetera String Band (Bonne Humeur) and Kansas City based The Rhythmia to work on while there.  Both bands have a knack for uncovering obscure tunes from Haiti, Trinidad, Louisiana, the Virgin Islands, Martinique and Venezuela.

Many of these tunes date back to the 1800's and share similarities to common fiddle tunes and rags, while still retaining a distinctly "island" feel that helps tag them as being from the Caribbean.  Guitarist Kevin Sanders - a member of both the Etcetera String Band and The Rhythmia - helped me obtain a copy of the out of print Bonne Humeur CD last year which is definitely worth seeking out if you're interested in this type of music.  All transcriptions shown below were done by Nick DiSebastian.  Here's a YouTube playlist where some of these tunes can be heard.

Aurore Bradaire is a Creole song named after a woman.  You can play it with a polka rhythm.  It comes from Slave Songs of the United States, the first authentic collection of slave songs ever published, where its transcription comes from a woman who heard it being sung in a time before the Civil War on the Good Hope Plantation, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.

Aurore Bradaire – Coonjaille (Louisiana)

Bad Woman was written by Lionel Belasco, the pianist, composer and bandleader from Trinidad known as the Scott Joplin of calypso.  Belasco composed West Indian music from folk sources, which he found on his many travels throughout the islands, and was the first person to popularize calypso outside of Trinidad.

Bad Woman – Paseo

Blanche Toucatou/Can-Can (Creole Song) is medley of two Creole pieces from Louisiana originally recorded by the jazz trombonist Kid Ory. 

Blanche Toucatou/Can-Can (Creole Song)

Calinda is also known as Michie Preval.  A Calinda is a dance.  This tune is from Slave Songs of the United States.

Calinda – Louisiana

Carnaval En Margarita is a paseo by Lionel Belasco.  Margarita is an island off the Venezuelan coast which Belasco visited.  Belasco was classically trained, but preferred playing indigenous music.

Carnaval En Margarita – Paseo

Chai Bai comes from Cape Verde, an island group off the northwestern coast of Africa, with an African-Portuguese culture.  This tune was included in John Philip Sousa’s book National Patriotic and Typical Airs of All Lands (1890), published by H. Coleman in Philadelphia.

Chai Bai – Cape Verde

Dodo Li Pitite is a fun little Haitian folk tune, good for playing at a country ball.  It was found in Jean Price-Mars' book So Spoke the Uncle, a work on Haitian culture published in 1928.

Dodo Li Petite – Haiti

La Douceur is a hypnotic Meringue Hatienne written by Arthur L. Duroseau.  The music is featured in Tell My Horse by Zora Neale Hurston.  More recently, it was recorded by BeauSoleil on the album From Bamako to Carencro.

La Douceur – Meringue (Haiti)

Lisette was composed by Ludovic Lamothe, the "Black Chopin" of Haiti.  He composed several meringues and other dance and concert tunes based on local folklore.  He recorded 10 of his pieces on an album called Fleurs d'Haiti.

Lisette – Meringue (Haiti)

Souvenir d'Haiti was written by Othello Bayard and is considered to be his masterpiece.  It is one of the best known and loved meringues in Haiti.  Selden Rodman wrote about this tune in his book Haiti: The Black Republic.

Souvenir d’Haiti – Meringue Popular (Haiti)

Carnaval En Margarita by Lionel Belasco

Lionel Belasco

I thought I'd share this recording Laura and I made earlier this evening of Carnaval En Margarita by Lionel Belasco.  That's me on tenor banjo and Laura on baritone uke.  We got the tune from the Etcetera String Band, who did a whole album of early Creole/Caribbean dance music called Bonne Humeur.

According to the liner notes in Bonne Humeur, Lionel "Lanky" Belasco was probably born in Caracas, Venezuela in about 1882 and grew up in Venezuela and Trinidad.  He was classically trained, but preferred playing indigenous music.

He formed a string band which played Venezuelan waltzes, joropos, paseos and danzas, many of which he composed himself.  Carnaval En Margarita is a paseo that Belasco wrote.  Margarita is an island off the Venezuelan coast which Belasco visited.



More to come soon!  Maybe even a rag or two.

Belle Layotte by the Etcetera String Band - mandolin tab and transcription

Here’s another transcription and audio posting of a tune off of the Etcetera String Band’s out-of-print Bonne Humeur album, which contained arrangements of early Caribbean dance/string band tunes.  The tune is called Belle Layotte and it’s a coonjaille from the book Slave Songs of the United States by William Allen, Charles Pickard Ware and Lucy McKim Garrison.  Belle Layotte was among seven Creole songs collected by a lady who heard them being sung before the Civil War on the Good Hope Plantation, St. Charles Parish, Louisiana.  The coonjaille dance is described as a sort of minuet. 

transcription by Nick DiSebastian

Belle Layotte a cool little tune in the key of F.  Very addictive.  You have to listen to it to really get the feel.  Note the call and response nature of the melody.  The blind mandolinist Kenny Hall said different keys make him think of different climates and F makes him think of ocean climates with the sun shining.  After playing Belle Layotte I kind of see what he means.  At first I thought I might want to transcribe it from F to G, but it’s actually a lot of fun to play in F.  I don’t have many tunes in this key but this is one that I’ve enjoyed learning.  Take a listen to it below and try to play along with it.  I’ve included a mandolin tab and sheet music transcription by Nick DiSebastian.

I hope you enjoy this tune as much as I do!

Sheet Music, Chords, Audio and Mandolin Tab for Caribbean Tune "Bonne Humeur" by The Etcetera String Band

I've received permission from Kevin Sanders (formerly of The Etcetera String Band) and music transcriber Nick DiSebastian to upload some audio and sheet music notation/mandolin tab for the out of print Etcetera String Band album Bonne Humeur.  This tune is the first one on the album and is also called "Bonne Humeur" -- a Haitian Meringue written by Arthur Duroseau.  Below are images containing the sheet music and a YouTube video with the audio.

Music transcription by Nick DiSebastian

Music transcription by Nick DiSebastian

I hope you enjoy learning to play this tune.  Check back soon for more uploads of audio and mandolin tab for tracks off the Bonne Humeur album.