History of Music in Turks and Caicos Islands

The best recognized musical genre of the Turks and Caicos island is ripsaw music, this is followed by an display instruments which include the following such as conga drums, triangles, maracas, box guitar, goat and cow skin drums, accordion, concertina and very popular and distinctively, known carpenter saw.

source of picture: www.tcimall.tc

The saw is craped with a metal object, such as the screwdriver, to produce a distinctive sound, and it is known as the ripping the saw. The use of this saw (which is the root of the word ripsaw) is of uncertain root, by may be in fake of the Dominica and Haitian guiro or folk African instruments such as the djembe and shekere.

A closely associated pattern known as rake and scrape is recognized in the Bahamas, closely related with Cat Island, the place of many Turks and Caicos islanders who moved there looking for job in the 20s, 30s and 40s. Many of the Bahamian artists are from the islands, which include the following such as the Bradley Dean, Marvin Handfield, The Cooling Waters, Sly Roker, Leo Jones, Count Bernardino and Perry Delancy. Many of these professionals have since coming back to Turks and Caicos, coming with them is the Bahamian junkanoo music.

The current ripsaw innovators include the following such as the Lovely Forbes and Tells and the Rakooneers, who formed a current pattern known as Combina in the early 80s, utilizing genres from across the Caribbean and the United States as encouragement; these include the following such as calypso, reggae, jazz and soca.

The cooperation known as TUCA assists to popularize the Turks and Caicos traditional music and dance. The Turks and Caicos Music and Poetry Festival is a major yearly occasion, bringing such musicians such as the 2004 Chaka Khan, Maxi Priest, Shocking Vibes band, Blakout Crew, TCI All Star band, Boyz II Men, and Joe. The initial First Annual Turks & Caicos Ripsaw Festival was held in the year 2003.