New Book Available: The Music of the Netherlands Antilles

The Music of the Netherlands Antille: Why Eleven Antilleans Knelt before Chopin’s Heart is a description of music and life in Curaçao, the Netherlands Antilles and is available for the first time in English.

Author Jan Brokken explores the African component of Dutch Antillean music—examining the history of the rhythm and music known as tambù as well as American jazz pianist Chick Corea’s fascination with the tumba rhythm from Curaçao. The book ends with a discussion of how recent Dutch Caribbean adaptations of European dance forms have shifted from a classical approach to contemporary forms of Latin jazz.

On Curaçao, the history and legacy of slavery shaped culture and music, affecting all the New World. Brokken’s portrayals of prominent Dutch Antillean composers are interspersed with cultural and music history. He puts the Dutch Caribbean’s contributions into a broader context by also examining the 19th-century works by pianist Louis Moreau Gottschalk from New Orleans and Manuel Saumell from Cuba.

Jan Brokken was a journalist for several major Dutch papers. He is the author of the critically acclaimed and bestselling novels The Blind Passengers, The Sad Champion, Jungle Rudy, In The Poets House, and Baltic Souls. His works have been translated into several languages.