Entrepreneurship, Style, and Spirituality in Benin's Jazz and Brass Bands The Harvard community has made this article openly available. Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters Citation Politz, Sarah E. 2017. Entrepreneurship, Style, and Spirituality in Benin's Jazz and Brass Bands. Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences. Citable link http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:41142066 Terms of Use This article was downloaded from Harvard University’s DASH repository, and is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to Other Posted Material, as set forth at http:// nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:dash.current.terms-of- use#LAA Entrepreneurship, Style, and Spirituality in Benin's Jazz and Brass Bands A dissertation presented by Sarah E. Politz to The Department of Musi in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the sub#e t of Musi $arvard University Cambridge, Massa husetts May 2017 ,2017 Sarah Politz All rights reserved. iii Dissertation Advisor: Ingrid Monson Sarah Politz Entrepreneurship, Style, and Spirituality in Benin's Jazz and Brass Bands Abstra t The dissertation examines how contemporary Beninois musi ians re onfigure their musi in post1 olonial net0orks of power and e onomi s locally and internationally, parti ularly through the interplay of entrepreneurship, musi al style, and spirituality. Literature in ethnomusi ology has dealt with relationships bet0een musi al style and spirituality in 4est Afri a, and re ent literature in anthropology has explored the marketing of culture. S holarship on these topi s has tended to separate the aestheti from the material, so that while musi al style and spirituality are analyzed together, they are often removed from cultural e onomy and popular musi . This dissertation responds to gaps in the literature by bringing analyses of aestheti and material issues into conversation in an analysis of jazz and brass band repertoires that cross boundaries bet0een religious and commer ial, popular and traditional, and local and international. In the dissertation, I explore ho0 musi ians creatively root their musi al pra ti es in Benin's musi al traditions, and also market their own representations of these traditions abroad. In the first half of the proje t, I outline the histori al ba kground for Benin's musi traditions. I begin in the first chapter with the kingdom of Allada and the founding of the empire of Danxome in the 17th century. I follow the arri%al of vodun deities in the Danxomean court, and the founding of the dynasty in Porto Novo. The se ond chapter examines the effe ts of colonialism on religious and musi al pra ti e in Benin, and the changing values atta hed to these pra ti es. In the third chapter, I dis uss the development of musique moderne and musi al genre in Benin i% after 1960. The se ond half of the dissertation is composed of several case studies. In the fourth hapter, I dra0 on ethnographi intervie0s and parti ipant observation in Benin, France, and 5e0 9ork City to focus on the Gangbe and Eyo'nle Brass Bands' adaptation of spe ifi Beninois popular songs and styles. The fifth chapter focuses on the creative choi es and production strategies in several Gangbe and Eyo'nle compositions, parti ularly through an analysis of whi h omponents of langua"e, spiritual meaning, and musi al style are available to the bands' different audiences, forming “hidden< and “publi < trans ripts. The dissertation contributes to broader issues within Afri an Studies, parti ularly regarding relationships bet0een history and ethnography, and to understanding the production of meaning and social change within an increasingly comple/ and geographi ally diverse Afri an diaspora. More broadly, this proje t seeks to be a part of a more global orientation for jazz studies that re enters Afri a and Afri an musi ians as producers of meaning about ra e and identity. % Table of Contents Acknowledgments vi Glossary of Key Terms vii Introduction * Part I: Faith and Ancestors Ch 1: Cultural Hybridity, Power, and =alue in Danxome- $istory 4oven and Unwoven (1300-1900) Ch 2: The Anthropology of Colonialism- Ethnography, the National Movement, and the Making of Authenti ity in French-Ruled Dahomey (1900-1960) Ch 3: Making la Musique Moderne- Cultural Renaissance and the Development of Musi al Genre in Post-Colonial Benin (1960-2015) Part II: Entrepreneurship and Style Ch 4: Developing Production Strategies for Globalization in Gangbe and Eyo'nle Brass Bands Ch 5: Tomatoes and Onions- Style, Language, and Hidden Trans ripts in Brass Band Compositions Conclusion Bibliography vi A knowledgments 4hen you work on a proje t for a de ade, as I have with this pro#e t since 2007, it be omes the work of many people. I would like to start by thanking the members of my ommittee, Ingrid Monson, Kay Shelemay, Sindhu Revuluri, and Ja ob Olupona, who have been a truly wonderful group of people to work with on this pro#e t, and who have seen me through the various phases of its development with support at really crucial moments. I'd also li2e to a knowledge the support of Professors Ri hard 4olf, Christopher Hasty, and Jean and John Comaroff, as well as my Fon language tea her Saturnin Tomeho, in preparing this dissertation. They have all read parts of this proje t as it developed, and I'm grateful for their valuable feedba k. I should also thank my committee at 4esleyan, where I made my first moves toward this pro#e t in my Master's thesis. So thank you to Eri Charry, Mark Slobin, and Jay Hoggard, as 0ell as to Chams Linkpon who helped with translations for the thesis and many conne tions in Benin. I am grateful to my graduate student colleagues in the department at Harvard and at 4esleyan, many of whom read chapters and helped me to prepare and pra ti e conferen e papers and tea hing demos, and to my family, my parents and my brother, for all of their support. I am thankful to many institutions for their resear h support over the past de ade, including the Ashford Dissertation Completion Fellowship and the Sheldon Traveling Fellowship at Harvard, as well as the Oberlin Alumni Fund and the Thomas J. 4atson Foundation. My debts in Benin are really too many to name, and extend ever out0ard through net0orks of musi and adopted family. To my drum tea her Etienne Me honou and to Constant Legonou in Abomey. To the musi ians of Gangbe and Eyo'nle Brass Bands, who served variously as informants, companions, and assistants throughout my work, for wel oming me into their world. vii :lossary of Key Terms Republi of Benin – the nation established in 1990 by democrati assembly People's Republi of Benin – the communist republi established by General Kerekou in 1975 Dahomey – the French colony established in 1897, as well as the independent state 1960-1975 Danxome – the Fon empire that ruled southern Benin from 1600 until French colonization in *G6+H its capital is Abomey Iogbonu – the rival empire of the Gun ethni ity located in Porto Novo Dyo – the 9oruba empire in present-dy Nigeria, that engaged frequently in confli t with Danxome in the 19th century Cotonou – Benin's e onomi centerH an Afri an metropolisH center of the moderne musi s ene Porto Novo – Benin's seat of government and offi ial capitalH center of Gun ethni identity Abomey – the capital of the old Danxomean empireH the center of Fon ethni identity Duidah – kno0n as the “ radle of vodun”H the port by whi h many ensla%ed people departed and 0here diverse cultural traditions continue to be pra ti ed Allada – the ancestral origin of the Fon and Gun peoples, a town located in south central Benin Egungun – the “revenants,” returned ancestors in colorful, full body masks. Gbon is their musi . =odun – spiritual pra ti e focused around deified ancestral figures and natural forces Jangbeto – the masked “guardians of the night< whi h wat h over Porto Novo. Kaka is their musi . 5ago – the ethni ity of 9oruba residents of Porto Novo and eastern Benin 8on – the ethni ity of the people in Abomey (Danxomean empire@ :un – the ethni ity of the people in Porto Novo (Xogbonu empire@ Toffinou – the ethni ity of the 9oruba-des ended people who have long inhabited the lagoon region around present-day Cotonou Torri – the ethni ity of the original inhabitants of eastern Benin, prior to 9oruba and Gun settlement Jenli – traditional funeral style of Danxomean royaltyH now played for funerals around Abomey D#egbe – traditional style using minimal instrumentation of t0o bells for funerals of dignitaries in the Porto Novian region; originates from court musi H has slow and fast versions Epezin – local drums made of clay or iron used in zenli and other styles, whi h Gangbe use in their percussion se tion Masse gohun – popular traditional style derived from drumming for the vodun Sakpata, made famous by Porto Novian singer 9edenou Adjahoui :bon – traditional style of 9oruba origin featuring the talking drumH typi ally a ompanies the egungun masks Eaka – the musi of the zangbeto night wat hmen, chara terized by the dry cra king of sti ks and many interlo king bell patterns :an – the iron bell, struck with a wooden sti k and used to keep the timeline in many traditional Beninois stylesH a style may call for one or more bell parts of various shapes and sizes * Introduction In the age of dispersion and cir ulation, [Afri an] creativity focuses on the relationship, not to the self or the other, but to an opening [intervalle].