Exuma (musician)

Exuma
Exuma, circa 1971
Exuma, circa 1971
Background information
Birth nameMacfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey
Born(1942-02-18)February 18, 1942
Tea Bay, Cat Island, The Bahamas
DiedJanuary 25, 1997(1997-01-25) (aged 54)
Nassau, The Bahamas
Genres
Instruments
Years active1962–1997
Labels

Macfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey (18 February 1942 – 25 January 1997), known professionally as Tony McKay and Exuma, was a Bahamian musician, artist, playwright, and author best known for his music that blends folk, rock, carnival, junkanoo, calypso, reggae, and African music stylings.

His Exuma persona, as well as his lyrics, were influenced by the West African and Bahamian tradition of Obeah,[1] a system of spiritual and healing practices developed among enslaved West Africans in the West Indies, practiced by many on the islands of The Bahamas.[2] He was also a practitioner of herbal medicine. Reviewers have often identified McKay's music as containing or invoking voodoo-related imagery,[3][4] and have compared his music to that of New Orleans-born musician Dr. John (and vice versa).[3][5][6] However, McKay clarified against the association between the imagery of his music and the popular concept of voodoo as depicted in Hollywood-produced films, stressing that his music is instead based on the healing practices of Obeah: "It isn't voodoo or witchcraft [...] not in the way that the man goes home at night and makes a secret potion."[5][7]

Exuma's self-titled debut album was released in 1970 through Mercury Records, and was followed by Exuma II later that same year. His next four albums, Do Wah Nanny (1971), Snake, Reincarnation (both 1972), and Life (1973), were issued by Kama Sutra Records. In 1977, he created a musical stage production titled Junkanoo Drums that incorporated a number of his songs; the success of the show led to Exuma becoming a regular performer at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. By the 1980s, McKay had founded his own record label, Inagua Records, and moved to New Orleans. After moving to Colorado in 1994, he spent time living in Miami, Florida, and Nassau, Bahamas, and died in his sleep in the latter city in January 1997.

In a 1970 interview, McKay, as Exuma, said the "'electrical part' of his being 'came from beyond Mars; down to Earth on a lightning bolt'". He described his music as "all music that has ever been written and all music not yet written. It's feeling, emotion, the sound of man, the sound of day creatures, night creatures and electrical forces".[8]

  1. ^ "The Bahamian Artwork Collection: Tony "The Obeah Man" McKay". D'Aguilar Art Foundation. Archived from the original on 26 July 2013. Retrieved 23 July 2013.
  2. ^ Broughton, Simon; Ellingham, Mark (August 2000). World Music: The Rough Guide Volume 2: Latin and North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific. London, England: Rough Guides, Ltd. p. 323. ISBN 978-1-85828-636-5.
  3. ^ a b Unterberger, Richie. "Exuma - Exuma". AllMusic. Retrieved August 12, 2022. Roughly speaking, it's kind of like a combination of the Bahamian folk of Joseph Spence with early Dr. John at his most voodooed-out, though even that nutshell doesn't really do justice to how unusual this record is.
  4. ^ Unterberger, Richie. "Exuma - Exuma II". AllMusic. Retrieved August 12, 2022. It's another combination of folk music from the Bahamas with voodoo-esque ritual not far removed from some of the more extreme New Orleans music influenced by that practice.
  5. ^ a b Harris, Lew (May 31, 1970). "Music to Call Up Zombies By and Dr. John's Healing Sound". Chicago Tribune. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved August 12, 2022.
  6. ^ Shapiro, Peter (2005). Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco. Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-21194-4. No less spiritual, though rather less celestial, was Exuma's 'Exuma, the Obeah Man,' a funked-up junkanoo tune that offered an almost postmodern slant on the Caribbean religion of Obeah in a manner not dissimilar to Dr. John's take on New Orleans voodoo.
  7. ^ Paton, Diana; Forde, Maarit, eds. (2012). Obeah and Other Powers: The Politics of Caribbean Religion and Healing. Duke University Press. pp. 62–63. ISBN 978-0-8223-5133-7.
  8. ^ "Exuma Man For All Seasons" (PDF). Record World. May 16, 1970. Retrieved April 16, 2019.