The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music. Volume II: South America, Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean (Mendel Reference) ML100 .G16 1997 Vol. 2. This volume of "The Garland" contains information on the music of the Caribbean in general, and articles that focus on more specific areas and groups.
Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. Volume III: Caribbean and Latin America (Mendel Reference) ML102 .P66 C66 2003.
When using the Garland or any other reference source, be sure to make use of the bibliography that is included with the article.
The Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians. (Mendel Reference) ML100 .N48 2001, also
available online, refers to the Caribbean as the
"West Indies" and contains a few articles on its larger islands and regions:
Greater Antilles:
Cuba;
Dominican Republic;
Haiti;
Jamaica;
Puerto Rico
Lesser Antilles:
Martinique & Guadeloupe;
Netherlands Antilles and Aruba (includes Bonaire, Curaçao, Saba, St. Eustatius, and the Dutch portion of St. Maarten);
Trinidad and Tobago
Latin America:
Afro-American Music: Mexico, Central America and The Caribbean;
Iberian and Mestizo Folk Music: Mexico, Central America and The Caribbean
Articles on several genres, both traditional and popular are also available. See
Calypso,
Dub,
Mento,
Ragga,
Soca
for some examples. There are several more. Be sure to use the "Related Articles" link at the top of each article
to help you find genres and artists associated with a particular country or region.
Smithsonian Global Sound will allow you to listen a variety of Caribbean musical genres.
Amelia Ingram maintains an extensive bibliography at Wesleyan University.
Refer to Princeton's collection of article indexes for additional materials. In addition to the music databases listed below, searching in areas such as anthropology, art, religion, and the humanities will prove useful for an interdisciplinary approach.
RILM Abstracts of Music Literature offers extensive indexing of scholarly music research from around the globe. The International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP) offers indexing of both popular and scholarly publications.
