By Terry Joseph

Sunday Guardian

November 26, 1989

Page 24

Daisy Voisin... a mere mention of the name brings to mind a vibrant and colourful picture of this ageless parandera, her right hand holding aloft a bouquet of seasonal flowers, while the fingers of her left hand clutch and raise just the hem of her skirt, to accentuate a dainty dance, the overall choreography punctuated by shouts of Aiyee! Aiyee!"

Daisy Voisin is parang yesterday, today and tomorrow. She is the classical definition of the parandera, the required combination of religiono, linguistic ability and an undeniably sweet voice, which transports the listener back to the origins of this music.

SPANISH IN ORIGIN

This music, Spanish in origin, has been with us each Christmas season for as long as one of its more popular afficionados - Holly Betaudier - can remember.

The infectious beat is often accused of merely providing a soundtrack for excessive drinking of spirituous liquors. But this may be more myth than magic.

"Parang cannot by itself bear the burden of encouraging drinking," says Holly, who is himself a teetotaller. "All festivities in our society have a certain amount of drinking attached to them. In this case, since the festivity is a celebration of the birth of Christ, perhaps the level of merriment is greater."

Holly has mixed feelings about the popularity that has come to parang msic in the 80's. "It has become so popular, he says, "that some people were begining to frown upon the idea of hearing any more than a few token tunes in any one season. It is a case," he says, "of familiarity breeding contempt."

Originally, this was not the case. Parang was a private interfacing of groups or families in a village, with the odd inter-village contest being more of an impromptu occasion than the rule.

Paranderos were given to visiting only those houses where they confidently expected the warmest of welcomes. The warmth was largely induced by swigs of (sometimes illegal) rum, which, in the best tradition of country life was served entirely without chaser; ostensibly to keep clear the throats of the group's singers.

During the 80's, parang became a highly commercial activity, with the parandero often finding himself strumming up a storm at the local pub. The parandera's mode of dress and dance was re-designed to accommodate the new environment, with the sometimes undesirable side-effect of mild molestation from inebriated customers.

ACOUSTIC FLAVOUR LOST

"A lot of the acoustic flavour was also lost, according to Holly, "because it became necessary to play in larger arenas, requiring full-blown amplification and general electronic help."

Holly admits some degree of culpability in the commercialising of this music.

"After all," he says, "I had organized the very first sponsored group - the Old Oak Serenaders - with the help of Robert D'Ornellas." That was way back in the Fifties.

During the last decade, however, there was a proliferation of festivals and show-type performances, causing the groups to concentrate on the competitive aspect, sometimes to the detriment of their original committment to quality and celebration of life.

Another aspect of the original art-form which disapeared was the "picong", which would inivariably end any countryside parang-jam. Because the groups were no longer performing one against the other, the whole idea of picong was lost.

COLOURFUL BROKEN SPANISH

Parang has irretrievably lost that colourful broken-Spanish in which the original themes were sung.

"At present," says Holly, "some of the performers sing a kind of thing that anyone with an idea of Spanish would find difficult to translate. But since it is the same set of songs sung afresh each year, then the tune becomes the bearer of the greeting, rather than the lyrics."

Still, as we approach the end of this decade, all is not lost. There have been, during this same period, a wash of new groups, many of which have produced some good and danceable music.

Even the long-standing San Jose Serenaders has spawned another group - Flores de San Jose - and groups like Otro de Sabor and Por Gusto have come well into their own.

These additions tot he standard playbill will serve to ensure that there is a future for Parang, well into the 90's and beyond.

In the words of Holly himself, "It looks like Parang forever."

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