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{{Infobox music genre
| name              = Gwo ka
| stylistic_origins = [[West Africa]]
| cultural_origins  = 17th century, [[Guadeloupe]]
| derivatives       = [[Gwo ka moderne]]
| subgenrelist      =
| fusiongenres      = [[Zouk (musical movement)|Zouk]]
| other_topics      = [[Music of Guadeloupe]]
}}
{{Infobox intangible heritage
| Image       =
| Caption     =
| ICH         = Gwoka: music, song, dance and cultural practice representative of Guadeloupean identity
| State Party = France
| Domains     = Performing arts
| Criteria    =
| ID          = 00991
| Region      =
| Year        = 2014
| Session     = 9th
| List        = Representative
}}
{{Music of Guadeloupe}}
[[File:Musique Gwoka.webm|thumb|Gwo ka played in [[Basse-Terre]].]]
'''Gwo ka''' is an [[Antillean Creole]] term for [[big drum]].  Alongside ''Gwotanbou'', simply ''Ka'' or ''Banboula'' (archaic),<ref name="lafontaine-1985" /> it refers to both a family of hand [[drum]]s and the music played with them, which is a major part of [[music of Guadeloupe|Guadeloupean folk music]].  Moreover, the term is occasionally found in reference to the small, flat-bottomed tambourine (''tanbou d'bas'') played in [[Kwadril#Guadeloupe balakadri|kadri]] music, or even simply to drum (''tanbou'') in general.<ref name="lafontaine-1985" />
The Gwo Ka musical practice emerged in the seventeenth century, during the transatlantic slave trade<ref name="tahon-stichet-2017" />
[[#Gwo_Ka:_the_rhythms|Seven simple drum patterns]] form the basis of gwo ka music, on which the drummers build rhythmic improvisations.  Different sizes of drums provide the foundation and its flourishes.  The largest, the [[Boula (music)|boula]], plays the central rhythm while the smaller ''maké'' (or markeur) embellishes upon it, inter-playing with dancers, audience, or singer.  Gwo ka singing is usually guttural, nasal, and rough, though it can also be bright and smooth, and is accompanied by uplifting and complex harmonies and melodies.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}  There are also dances that tell folk stories that are accompanied by the gwo ka drums.
In modern, urban Guadeloupe, playing drums is not inextricably linked to dance anymore. But historically, the two practices were inseparable parts of the tradition of [[lewoz|léwôz]], events held fortnightly on Saturdays near the bigger plantations (payday), and each Saturday of the carnival season in areas of greater land parcelling.<ref name="lafontaine-1985" /> Gwoka music was–and still is–played throughout the year in various cultural manifestations such as ''léwòz'', ''kout’tanbou'', ''véyé'' and religious events, for example Advent's wake.<ref name="tahon-stichet-2017" />
Today, rural Guadeloupans still gather for léwôz experiences, but a modernized and popularized form of gwo ka exists independently, known as [[#Gwo_ka_moderne|gwo ka moderne]].
== History ==
The Gwo Ka musical practice emerged in the 17th century during the transatlantic slave trade, as a result of a creolization process: adaptation to surrounding context and assimilation of European cultural elements. African slaves of Guadeloupe used to gather to play drums, sing and dance. The use  of any kind of drum was at that time forbidden by the [[Code Noir]].  As a consequence, slaves used a vocal technique called [[Bouladjel|bouladjèl]], which imitates drums.  At that time, Gwoka practice was directly linked to agricultural work, especially sugar cane, coffee and banana cultivation.<ref name="tahon-stichet-2017" />
Post 1946, along with anti-assimilation and anti-colonialism movements, Gwoka spread throughout  the island, which marks the beginning of its rehabilitation process.  As a consequence, in 1988, lawyer and nationalist activist Félix Cotellon created the ''Festival de Gwoka Sentann'' in the city of Sainte-Anne without the support of the municipality.  Studies and symposiums were held on the occasion.<ref name="tahon-stichet-2017" />
In 1981, local musician Gérard Lockel published the ''Traité de Gwoka modên'', the first attempt  to formalize this  musical genre.<ref name="tahon-stichet-2017" />  He claimed that Gwoka was atonal, breaching with western conventions and tastes. By affirming the modality of Gwoka, he situated this music style within the realm of African musical traditions.<ref name="camal-2013" />  Paradoxically, under Lockel's leadership, Gwoka was transformed from a participatory music played outdoors to a presentational music played on stage with European and North American instruments.<ref name="camal-2011" />
Musical research show that the instrument can find its roots in the drums and songs of the West African countries (Guinea gulf, Congo...){{citation needed|date=November 2017}}. From the diverse music and dance of their homelands, the slaves elaborated a communication tool, a new form of art, like the creole language: the Gwo Ka.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}
This musical genre is characterised by an African typology{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}:
- repetitive form
- improvisation
- physical movements linked to music
- a response between a soloist and choir
- a syncopation weak times
== Instruments ==
Traditional gwo ka is ideally played with at least 2 hand drums (''ka'' in créole): 1 ''boula'' and 1 ''makè''.<ref name="lafontaine-1985" /> Historically, ''ka'' were made of:
* a recycled cured meat keg for the body<ref name="lafontaine-1985" /><ref name="sandy-carros-blog" /> (''bari a vyann'' or ''bouko'' in créole);
* a goat skin (''po a kabrit'' in créole) — male for the ''boula'' vs. female for the ''makè'';<ref name="ziloka-blog"/>
* tensioning metal hoops (''sèk'', i.e. circle in créole);<ref name="ziloka-blog"/>
* wooden tensioning pegs (''klé'' in créole);<ref name="ziloka-blog"/>
* rope (''zoban'' in créole).<ref name="ziloka-blog"/>
Often, the Ka section is further accompanied by:<ref name="ziloka-blog"/>
* ''ti-bwa'': 15 to 20&nbsp;cm wooden sticks drummed on the side of a "Ka" or a section of bamboo culm of about 15&nbsp;cm in diameter;
* ''chacha'': emptied & dried calabash — or any other container — filled with a granular material (e.g. grains, salt, sand...).
== Rhythms ==
The influences (lifestyle and musical genre) of the "master" combined with this base to create the seven rhythms or dances:
* The ''léwôz'' is the war rhythm, used to give rhythm the attacks against the plantations, but was also an incantation dance;
* The ''kaladja'' symbolises the struggle in love;
* The ''toumblak'', like the kaladja, deals with the love theme, belly dance, fertility dance;
* The ''padjabèl'' is the cane cutting dance;
* The ''graj'' accompanies the agricultural work;
* The ''woulé'' is the "creole waltz", to charm and mimic the whites;
* The ''mendé'' would have been the last rhythm to arrive in the islands, with the "Congos" under contract after the abolition, and symbolises the collective celebration of carnival.
== Dance ==
"Gwo-ka is a dance of improvisation by excellence, a dance of the instinct, of the moment. (…) Gwo-ka, dance of resistance, of resilience and adaptation: Dance of Life"<ref>Lénablou, Techni' ka, Editions Jasor, 2005</ref>
== Gwo ka moderne ==
A more modernized version of gwo ka is ''gwo ka moderne'', which adds new instruments ranging from [[conga drum|conga]] or [[djembe]] drums and [[Tubular bell|chime]]s to electric [[bass guitar]]. At root, however, these styles all use the same fundamental seven rhythms as folk gwo ka. Zouk legends [[Kassav]]' played an important role in the modernization of gwo ka, giving urban credibility to a style that was seen as backward and unsophisticated; they initially played in a gro ka format, using songs from the gwo ka Carnival tradition of ''mas a St. Jean'' and even placing an homage to traditionalist drumming legend [[Velo (musician)|Velo]] on their earlier albums.<ref name=Rough>Ledesma and Scaramuzzo, pgs. 289-303</ref>
Gwo ka moderne artists include [[Pakala Percussion]], [[Van Lévé]] and [[Poukoutan'n]], alongside more pop-influenced musicians like [[Marcel Magnat]] and [[Ti Celeste]], while [[Gerard Hubert]] and others have fused gwo ka with [[Zouk (musical movement)|zouk]]. The most famous modern gwo ka performer, however, is [[William Flessel]], whose ''[[Message Ka]]'' in 1994 became an international hit.<ref name="Rough"/>
In 2013, the Heritage Committee of the [[Minister of Culture (France)|Ministry of Culture and Communication]] has selected the intent to apply of gwoka for registration to the [[Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]] in order to enhance the gwoka and organize a network of actors.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00581|title=Unesco, Intangible Heritage : Files under process (2014)|access-date=Sep 9, 2019}}</ref>
In 2014, the Heritage Committee recognized gwoka in the [[Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity]].
==References==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071012014341/http://www.cefrim.fr/ Ecole de musique et danse Gwo ka CEFRIM (Gadeloupe)]
Zouk-UK: Gwo Ka In The Heart of The City
*[http://www.zouk-uk.com/Zouk-UK/Zouk-UK%20Blog/FB64F09C-E085-494C-99F5-0CDF08D9297B.html ]{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Example of Gwo Ka in the street of Pointe-a-Pitre in Guadeloupe
*[http://uvu.channel2.org/PublicSite/Video.aspx?id=3025&skin=4 uVu]
{{Reflist|refs=
<ref name="lafontaine-1985">Lafontaine, M-C (1985).  ''Terminologie musicale en Guadeloupe : ce que le Créole nous dit de la musique''.  Langage et société n°32 (pp. 7-24).  doi:10.3406/lsoc.1985.2020 http://www.persee.fr/doc/lsoc_0181-4095_1985_num_32_1_2020</ref>
<ref name="ziloka-blog">{{Cite web|url=https://ziloka.wordpress.com/tag/guadeloupe/|title=guadeloupe &#124; Gwoka, Dance, Drumming, Traditional culture, Creole - Ziloka|access-date=Sep 9, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="sandy-carros-blog">{{Cite web|url=http://sandycarros.canalblog.com/archives/2009/12/08/16080930.html|title=Chanté Noël - Ma vie de Nantillaise ....Entre Nantes et les Antilles|date=Dec 8, 2009|website=sandycarros.canalblog.com|access-date=Sep 9, 2019}}</ref>
<ref name="tahon-stichet-2017">Tahon, M., Sitchet, P.-E. (2017).  The transmission of voicing in traditional Gwoka: Between identity and memory. ''Journal of Interdisciplinary Voice Studies'', 2 (2), pp.157-175.</ref>
<ref name="camal-2011">Camal, J. (2011). ''From Gwoka Modènn to Jazz Ka: Music, nationalism, and creolization in Guadeloupe'', Ph.D. thesis, Washington, University in St. Louis.</ref>
<ref name="camal-2013">Camal, J. (2013). ''Gwoka  et  Atonalité,  une  Question  de  Contexte'', https://tanbouolwen.com/2013/06/19/gwoka-et-atonalite-une-question-de-contexte/. Accessed 7 February 2017.</ref>
}}
Lénablou, Techni' ka, Editions Jasor, 2005
https://web.archive.org/web/20090831081325/http://guardian.co.tt/features/entertainment/2009/08/17/bending-continuum
[http://www.africultures.com/php/index.php?nav=groupe&no=167 Groupes]
{{street dance}}
{{UNESCO Oral and Intangible music}}
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[[Category:Music of Guadeloupe]]
[[Category:Percussion performance techniques]]
[[Category:Hand drums]]
[[Category:French styles of music]]
[[Category:Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity]]
[[Category:Caribbean music genres]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]