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Once a year during Carnival, you can savor all the unique flavors of the island’s melting-pot music in one place. Just stand along the parade route and let your senses rock with every beat that passes. Marching groups turn Willemstad’s narrow streets into a writhing corridor of pulsating sound and frenetic dance.
But don’t think such exuberance is a once-a-year event. The rhythms of the island beat hard and fast in the heart of Curaçao’s all-embracing culture. Tumba, the wildly popular, authentically African-Caribbean dance music, originated with slaves who made it with crude tools. Seú mimics traditional movements of harvest dances. Tambú — Curaçao blues — inspired such sensuous dancing by slaves expressing their hardships that the government once banned it.
 Curaçao’s recording artists reflect every facet of the island’s musical legacy from traditional to modern rhythms. Oswin Chin Behilia, a favorite since the 1960s, blends classic folk lyrics with jazz. Star jazz pianist Randal Corsen recently released Dulsura di Korsou (Sweetness of Curaçao), which covers 100 years of folkloric music.
“I’ve always wanted to record a CD with folklore music from my island of birth,” Corsen says. “I’ve been playing some of the songs since I was a child. I hope the result shows a little bit of the rich diversity of music from Curaçao.”
Award-winning singer Izaline Calister, called “the barefoot diva of the Caribbean,” recently released her new CD Speransa (Hope). At festivals and on tour, she seamlessly blends traditional Papiamentu rhythms with the pulsating beat of Afro-Antillean music to create her distinctive jazz style. Each October, the Curaçao Jazz Festival features hot performers from the United States, Europe and South America. Visiting celebrities and local musicians perform in cafés and other free venues around Willemstad.
On the first weekend of August, Curaçao rocks with the Curaçao Salsa Tour. The best musicians and dance teams from Latin America perform and compete. Slamming music, red-hot dancing, day-long beach parties and evening extravaganzas keep the action going deep into the night. Besides club music and dancing, the tour hosts a salsa party billed as the largest in the world, an international salsa dance competition with thousands of dollars in prizes and a bikini-and-dance competition to crown Miss SalsaKini.
 Curaçao’s talent is not limited to rollicking rhythms. Tania Kross, a mezzo-soprano who performs opera across Europe, won the Dutch Edison “Best Classical CD of 2006” award for her Caribbean-Latin CD, Corazón.
For a good sample of the island’s eclectic music, the CD Riba Dempel features dance hits from the island’s most popular bands.
Curaçao’s recording artists reflect every facet of the island’s musical legacy from traditional to modern rhythms.
Find more information about events and festivals, here.
Curaçao’s Candy-Colored Architecture: UNESCO World Heritage Site
By Jane Ammeson
Inspired by the homeland of the Dutch, who founded Willemstad in 1634 on Curaçao’s naturally deep harbor, the city’s candy-colored downtown is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, one of just a few found in the Caribbean. The Dutch colonial influence of steeply pitched gables melds perfectly with the flavors of the Caribbean — jalousie windows, shady verandas, decorative accents and the waters of St. Anna Bay — creating a uniquely stunning cityscape.
During the long and colorful history of this port city, known for its 765 national monuments, Willemstad has layered itself in the architectural styles of a diverse world of travelers. The sand floor of the 278-year-old Mikvé Israel-Emanuel Synagogue — the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the Western Hemisphere — memorializes a time when Jews, fearful of the Spanish Inquisition, had to pray in secret. An opulent mansion in Scharloo, also known as “the wedding cake” for its elaborate ornamental trim, is thought to be an exact replica of a former Spanish embassy in Caracas.
The eight forts still standing on Curaçao reflect the island’s need for security through the centuries. Waterfort, originally built in 1634 and replaced two hundred years later, and the 182-year-old Riffort, with a long terrace running parallel to the water, now house restaurants and shops.
The historic significance of the island’s architecture does not end at the city limits. Landhuizen once served as homes of the land owners, and 55 of these houses are restored to their former beauty and operate as restaurants, businesses and museums. The island’s signature drink, blue Curacao, is made at Landhuis Chobolobo. Landhuizen Daniel and Dokterstuin are restaurants. Groot Santa Martha and Brievengat offer peeks into the island life lived centuries ago.
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Unlike islands with just a single musical style, Curaçao’s heritage stretches around the world. Through the centuries, waves of immigrants from Africa, South America, the Caribbean and Europe added their distinct tempos to the island’s musical palette. Today, the brilliant montage of Curaçao’s music blends bachata, calypso, merengue, tango, reggae and salsa with local Papiamentu words and African rhythms.
