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Jamesie: King of Scratch
Scratch band is a type of folk music that is indigenous to the Virgin Islands. It developed when the Island was still a Danish colony. When Africans brought as slaves to work in sugar plantations were banned from playing their music or using European instruments and rhythm to suit their lifestyle. It changed when the United States took over St Croix, St John, and St Thomas, where they play the scratch band music.
The 79-year-old James Brewster is undoubtedly an amusing and arousing musician known for his antic composition and lively performance. He is indeed a legend of the King of Scratch because he does not disappoints when it comes to traditional music-making. The king of scratch uses the legal music instrument, including a flute, the banjo, a drum, a pipe, steel, squash, and a little barrel, tins, cans, and gourds. His signature instrument, though, is the banjo. Later he introduced a saxophone; although James views it as non-traditional, he doesn’t mind using it as he says,” it adds to it.”
The music of Jameseie has some form of crudeness, which makes it intoxicating and rhythmic. It directly speaks to both the beauty and hardships of the St Croix style. As seen, his songs talk about the day to day events of life that happens on the Virgin Islands. We hear him speak of “Mari Bull Loose Me,” “Queen Mary,” and “Your Jackass In Me Yard,” Jamesie and the All-Stars group also performs a song which powerfully narrates the origin of Quelbe.
While listening to Jamesie’s songs, scenes from the beach, the countryside, the traditional local food like chicken roasting, fish, pastries, and they bring up local animals like jackasses. The band performs in a live audience like in St Croix Agricultural Fair, The Chicago 2004 World Music Festivals, and St Croix night club, to mention a few. The audience seems to enjoy a live performance from The King of Scratch group; some dance to the tunes and cheer after the performance. In some implementations, we see individuals getting face painted to praise the appreciate the culture.
When Martha Masters, a talented guitarist, is brought to the group and can make each song more exciting, we see some texture in The King of Scratch Music. We see her fantastic technique analyzed in Jamesie’s performance. Although Jamesie is against adding more instruments in the group, he claims that people will only look and listen when adding these instruments to the group instead of getting the message from within the song itself.
We also see that “Quelbe rhythm comes from a combination of bamboula rhythms and carioso songs and chants, melodies which is mixed with old millitary drum music and various quadrilles, minuets and jigs.” Tom Eader (Island music) Some of the audience who constitute the tourist often relate the term”Scratch Music” to the scratchy sound produced by the guard, a musical instrument used by the group. Others associate the name with the rough items, e.g., tin, which makes the instruments.
Quelbe was formally a means for slaves to communicate when they could not speak to each other. Rhythms and instruments were a way of expressing their thoughts and ideas without the slave masters recognizing it. It eventually became official music of the Virgin Islands in 2004. The King of Scratch’s father, who was also a well-known musician, encouraged him to keep the music tradition alive, although at first, he forbid Jamesie from even playing on his guitar. Jamesie kept to his father’s words and got an award at the Summit of Tradition Bearers for his lifelong contributions to musical heritage.
“Fungi,” which is another name of Qualbe, is mostly used when referring to Jamesie’s music because of its unique blend of homemade musical instruments and the Caribbean traditions. One of The King of Scratch songs,” Fire in the water,” talks about a big woman taking a bath naked in the sea. The song “Jackass in the Yard,” narrates a man’s frustrations with a stubborn donkey. However, the local history’s backbone is vital in the song,” Queen Mary Girl,” which reminded them of the town’s burning that attracted the queen’s attention. We see that all these songs rotate around the activities of the locals.
King of Scratch also sings about the acquisition of the Virgin Islands by the United States from Denmark, which they termed as a fruitful trip because of the monetary gift they got. Yvette Finch (2007) states that” Local quadrilles bands typically accompany european dances like jigs, walters, polka mazurkas and contra dance ” this blend saw a change in the direction of music bands on the Island as they got exposed to the outside world. We see that different regions in the state warmed to the Caribbean songs.
The mode of dressing of the King of Scratch audience varies with the venue of the performance. For instance, in the beach’s versions, we have men putting on beach shirts and shorts, whereas women are in tank tops and shorts. Most of them are middle-aged and seem to enjoy Jamesie’s music as it reminded them of their roots.
Jamesie shows his passion for music at an early age when he makes a sardine-pan banjo ukelele from scratch. The sound produces by the banjo later attracts his viewers. Jamesie also admitted to no man being able to afford to buy instruments. He also states that” if you are a musician and you want to go play music, you had to find a way to get the instruments.” After his banjo is all made, he goes to the beach and gently starts singing. It shows the originality of his songs.
We also see that the king of scratch music career grows as he starts performing outside the Virgin Islands to places like Indiana. It makes his music transnational as other cultures, for instance, Danish, are infused to the African rhythm. King uses his music to spread rude gossip about the neighbors and expound on some of the challenges the Virgin Island locals are facing. King of scrap brilliantly shows the cultural context of Quelbe. The songs prove to be a living art form and not something that is already in the past. The Quelbe also brings out the character of the Island and their live music.
Just like David Milroy said,” indigenous music is a voice that crosses boundaries. It is the authentic voice of this country because it’s linked to the land. It enriches this nation and shows a nation’s true identity.’ Jamesie, in his songs, has led the Caribbean traditions to the world.
Works Cited
KM Bilby- Transforming Anthropology, 2008- search. Proquest. Com