By G Derry Etkins
It is my view, that it is the groove that defines a style of music. I define groove as the sum-total of the rhythmic elements in the music. It is the distinct groove that allows us to tell the difference between Reggae, Hip-Hop, Soca and Swing (what we loosely call Jazz).
Guyana’s musicians can boast of having a variety of rhythmic elements available to them. My limited knowledge of the music of our first Guyanese brothers and sisters prevents me from commenting with any authority on that aspect of our rhythmical library, neither can I speak about the potential rhythmic contributions of our brothers and sisters from Madeira. I can, however, say with great certainty, that between our Indian and African musics, we have a great deal of material with which to work.
Having established the groove, what