North Side Kitchen Band offers taste of Cayman music

The North Side Kitchen Band performing at the Nicho
Norte Bar, (l-r) Freddy Douglas, Coburn Miller, Harvey
Whittaker, Captain Ned Miller, Rexford Miller and
Darwin Ebanks

by Christopher Tobutt

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

Started by Captain Ned Miller two years ago in preparation for the Quincentennial celebrations, the North Side Kitchen Band plays Cayman Islands music that takes people back in time.

Captain Miller explained: “In days gone by, dances were held in the kitchen that was a separate building from the house, that’s how the music got its name.”

Captain Miller claims that it is the only band playing this kind of music in the Cayman Islands, apart from the Cayman Brac Kitchen Band, also playing traditional music.

The music is not written down, but has been passed down from generation to generation, and describes the old way of life in the Cayman Islands.

Songs such as ‘Munzie boat in the Sound’ (Munzie boat being an old word for fishing boat), and ‘Under the Coconut Tree’ (the Coconut tree was where a young man would propose to a young woman), evoke a way of life in danger of being forgotten. “I remember most of it, but the others (in the band) remember the music, too,” said Captain Ned.

The Band has been growing in popularity, and recently entertained some of the Chief Ministers from the British Overseas Territories at Pedro St James.

Explaining how the band got started, Captain Millers said, “Fifty years ago, when I was a teenager, I used to fool around with the fiddle. Then at the Quincentennial celebrations, my son (Ezzard Miller), who was chairman of that committee said ‘Daddy, I’m going to put you down to do the fiddle at a function,’ and I said: ‘No, don’t do that, I don’t even know how to hold the fiddle up’ but anyway, I got it out and worked on it.”

Captain Ned got his brothers, Coburn, who plays lead guitar, and Rexford, who plays the drums, to join him and practice the old-time music. They were joined by Harvey Whittaker on the maracas, Darwin Ebanks on bass guitar, and Freddy Douglas on rhythm guitar.

Darwin Ebanks’ bass guitar is really an acoustic guitar with a magnetic pickup attached to it so it can be amplified. “I did have a go at playing the electric bass once, but I didn’t really get into it I find you get a better sound when you put a pickup on a box-guitar, it gives a better echo,” Darwin says.

Darwin agrees that the band’s music is authentic: “We play traditional music from our ancestors, way back,” he said. “Most of the songs we do have been made right here. It’s a mixture of styles, but it’s Cayman music. I’ve been playing this kind of music ever since I knew myself.”

All kinds of musical influences can be heard in this unique and eclectic blend. Calypso, quadrille, country and western, and traditional Scottish folk music all jockey for lead position before fading once again into the background.

The inclusion of maracas adds to the Latin American flavour, and the subliminal suggestion of African drumming reminds the listener of the strong African ingredient to all Caribbean culture.

The rich musical pastiche echoes all the cultural influences that have been brought to bear the Cayman Islands over the years. It is a fascinating musical snapshot of history.

These musical styles have often been transmitted through the medium of Caymanian seafarers who were exposed to new musical styles as they traveled from port to port. It is therefore no surprise to find out that most of the band served on ships at one time or another.

As Rexford Miller explained: “All our years of going to sea we used to have parties in our cabins, with drums and guitars and maracas. This culture didn’t die out, it just went on the shelf we decided that we can’t let it die out.”

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