The music of Guyana is a mix of Indian, Spanish, African, European and Amerindian elements. Important American, Caribbean, Brazilian and other Latin musical styles are popular. Popular Guyanese performers include Terry Gajraj, Harry Panday, Eddy Grant, Dave Martins & the Tradewinds,(Johnny Braff, Ivor Lynch & Sammy Baksh) Aubrey Cummings and Nicky Porter Shameer Rahman &Ravi B The Guyana Music Festival has proven an influential part of the scene. ===Popular music=== The first half of the 20th century saw a number of popular Guyanese dance bands, including the BG Musicians Band, Harry Banks Orchestra, Al Seales & His Washboard Swing Orchestra, Bert Rogers & His Aristocrats Dance Orchestra and Mr. Gouveia's Orchestra. By the 1960s, these big bands with prominent horns, woodwinds and other instruments became less popular in favor of a wave of string bands. These included The Oracles, The Rockets, Bumble & the Saints, Sid & the Slickers, Bing Serrao & the Ramblers, Combo 7, Rhythmaires, Dominators, Curtis MG's, Rudy & the Roosters, Yoruba Singers, Little Jones, Mischievous Guys, Cannonballs, and the Telstars. The Rockets led by Michael Bacchus and lead singer Johnny Braff along with Bumble & the Saints, led by Colin Wharton, was perhaps the most influential group in this shift. By the end of the decade, new instruments like box guitars (introduced by Bing Serrao & the Ramblers) had taken over, while heavy guitar work by the Rhythmaires and Combo 7's complex drum solos proved influential. Other bands of the 1960s and 1970s were The Jetstars, Cannonballs, Curtis MG's, Dominators, Little Jones, Mischievous Guys, Rhythmaires, Rudy and the Roosters, Sid and the Slickers, Telstars, and the Yoruba Singers. The 1980s - 1990's saw a new wave of Guyanese artists living in the United States who has established themselves both in Guyana and abroad; Ebanie aka KASEY - his first single "Heavyload" 1985 - "Kool Lover" featuring Kasey & Floydie Ranks, another Guyanese artist 1995. Floydie Ranks "Super Fresh" 1992. Papa Elijah "Must Catch A Thing" & "Wine & Caress" 1984. ____________________________________________________________________Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady. Reggae is based on a rhythmic style characterized by regular beats on the off-beat, known as the skank. Reggae is normally slower than ska, and usually has accents on the first and third beat in each bar. Reggae song lyrics deal with many subjects, including religion, love, sex, peace, relationships, poverty, injustice and other social and political issues. ____________________________________________________________________Guyana (pronounced /ɡaɪˈɑːnə/ or /ɡaɪˈænə/),[6][7] officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana,[8] is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America. Along with being part of the Anglophone Caribbean, Guyana is one of the few Caribbean countries that are not islands.[citation needed] Guyana also holds the titles of Largest Caribbean Country by land area and the Most Southern Caribbean Country. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), of which Guyana is a member, has its secretariat's headquarters in Guyana's capital, Georgetown. Guyana was originally colonised by the Netherlands. Later, it became a British colony, known as British Guiana, and remained so for over 150 years until it achieved independence on 26 May 1966 from the United Kingdom. On 23 February 1970, Guyana officially became a republic. In 2008, the country joined the Union of South American Nations as a founding member. Guyana is a member state of the Commonwealth of Nations and has the distinction of being the only South American nation in which English is the official language. The majority of the population, however, speak Guyanese Creole; an English-based creole language with slight Dutch, Arawakan and Caribbean influences. Historically, the region known as "Guiana" or "Guyana" comprised the large shield landmass north of the Amazon River and east of the Orinoco River known as the "Land of many waters". Historical Guyana consists of three Dutch colonies: Essequibo, Demerara, and Berbice. Modern Guyana is bordered by Suriname to the east, by Brazil to the south and southwest, by Venezuela to the west, and by the Atlantic Ocean to the north. At 215,000 square kilometres (83,000 sq mi), Guyana is the third-smallest independent state on the mainland of South America after Uruguay and Suriname.

• published: 18 Aug 2015
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