Yoruba Songs of Trinidad by Maureen Warner-Lewis

In this book the author shows the extent to which African cultural traditions have played a vital role in maintaining the distinct cultural identity of African-Trinidadians. The author looks at the extensive repertoire of Yoruba songs of West Africa which have been the mainstay of village and community life for some people in the diaspora. A great deal of painstaking research has been devoted to producing not only over 150 songs of Yoruba inheritance, but to detailing the extensive comparative notes of rituals, celebrations, and masquerades and their meaning. This book is therefore a correction to the undervaluing of African cultural traditions which have pervaded Trinidadian life and most tellingly in carnival. The contexts of these songs are wide-ranging, but the religious connotation and culture from which they spring can be better understood as the foundation of present popular music, in rhythm, melody and dance.