A Day for the Hunter, a Day for the Prey : Popular Music and Power in Haiti (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology)

Rating:
Summary: exceptionally rich
Review: An excellent overview of Haitian popular music in the last century. Strong emphasis on lyrics, rather sparse on music. Attempts to weave ethnographic moments into a sweeping history, but tends to give in to an encyclopedia impulse, leaving the reader slogging tree after tree too much without a view of the forest or knowledge of the shape of the leaves. But towers above everything else ever written attempting to give a broad view of Haitian music, an eye(ear)-opener for salsa fans and others who haven't had the chance to learn about the penetrating beauty of Haitian musical culture.