TRINIDAD'S first Queen of the Bands, Esther Theodore, had ascended the throne in 1959 in the midst of controversy over the disparity in prize money paid at the Dimanche Gras show.
Ironically, the calypso finalists in this year's competition threatened to boycott the event over the failure to increase the top prize to $1 million.
The Carnival Queen was then a beauty pageant and received several thousand dollars in prize money.
The Calypso King prize was a mere $50. Out of the disparity came the restructuring of the show by removing the Carnival Queen segment and replacing it with the judging of a Queen of the Bands. continue
Now a lot is being said about the CALO festival held over the past weekend and I don't know all the facts, but what I will say is that besides the short comings of which there is a growing list, I thought the entertainment rocked. Between Friday night with Roy Cape featuring Blacks and Benjai, then Krosfyah and Kes the band. To 3canal and Machel on Saturday I had a ball some of the best partying I've done in a while in London.
I will touch on the other stuff later.
For now here's some action from the King of Soca Mr H.D. Machel Montano.
I just came across this little classic on you tube, mas man extraordinaire Peter Minshall putting down a verse of a Calypso classic for a friend.
I also backed it up with the original, enjoy!!
I came across this X-Tempo clash between Lord Invader and Dictator and fell in love with it.
The true skill of the Calypsoian is highlighted in this at form and this clash between Invader and Dictator sees dictator backing down from a real battle, I just love it!
From the Oral traditions of the plantations to the stickfights of the Kalenda , and the xtempo, Calypso and Soca Monarch competitions of today the art form of Calypso has directed, documented, and reflected the opinions of the society....
If you think 2010 road march, Palance, is some new kind of soca, you’re wrong. It’s very traditional, says former UWI professor of literature and calypso researcher, Dr Gordon Rohlehr. Palance writer, Kernal Roberts simply took the trumpet line from a brass section and put a word to it, Rohlehr said. “The word palance doesn’t mean anything. It’s really a rhythm.” Colin Lucas did the same thing in Dollar Wine, as well as several other artistes, Rohlehr said. “Traditions have become almost subliminal. You are constantly listening to it without really realising that it’s in a new package.” Road march traditions go as far back as the 18th and 19th centuries, Rohlehr said. “Slaves brought from West Africa the call and response Kalinda stickfighting songs. Road marches have this basic call and response chorus.” If some feel that Machel Montano is trying something new by incorporating rap, dance hall and disco into his music, they are wrong, too. That has been going on for decades, Rohlehr said. “Ever hear about calypso twist, calypso mamba and soul train? Calypso has always absorbed whatver music was available. “Artistes are trying to cater to our cosmopolitan society and different markets. “So what looks like a new breakthrough is really a struggle for survival,” Rohlehr said.
Traditional calypso dying
Traditional calypso may be dying in the tents but it is growing nationally, historian, The Mighty Chalkdust (Hollis Liverpool) said. “When I began to sing calypso in the 1960s, they used to have six finalists in the Calypso Monarch competition. Now they have 15. “When I started, they had 18 semifinalists. Now they have 35. “When I began in calypso, you could only count 50 calypsonians. Now, there are about 4,000,” Chalkie said, proving his point that calypso is not dying but, in fact, growing. Continuing, he added: “When I started there was no calypso in schools. Now there is a primary schools’ competition. Many institutions and corporations have calypso competitions every year. “It can’t be that it’s dying.”
Where calypso is dying is in the tents, Chalkie said. “There are a number of reasons, the chief of which is crime. You need a car to go to the tents and if you come with your car, they are breaking into it.” Another reason, is that fete promoters have pulled a large section of tent goers away, Chalkie said. “At one time, people came to the tents to hear the jump-up calypsoes. But you get those in fetes now.” A third reason for dying calypso tents is the type of calypsoes being composed. “A lot of what you hear in the tents are not calypsoes, they are the writings of journalism,” Chalkie said. The art of writing a calypso involves the use of satire, metaphors and figures of speech, he noted. “A lot of calypsoes now are like normal conversation. When I talk, they get angry with me.”
Emphasis on rhythm
A road march calypso in the 1940s was called a “leggo” calypso. Ras Shorty I introduced soca in the 1970s and, till then, the music was still slow, Chalkdust said. “But by the eighties, the pace changed. Soca artistes began sampling the music of other countries like rap and reggae. “They began to carry the music faster and faster,” Chalkie noted, tracing the evolution of the road march. “While experimenting with other types of music has been going on a long time, the difference between past and present road marches is the lyrical content, Chalkie said. “You could have understood the lyrics of past road marches, even while dancing. “Artistes today go for the hookline, like ‘palance.’ If you ask the average man to sing a Kitchener or Sparrow road march, they could sing a whole verse. “If you ask them to sing a verse from Palance, they can’t. Worse yet, last year’s road march. “The emphasis now is on rhythm and few lyrics.” Chalkie said even steelbands are having a hard time with today’s road marches. “They can’t sit down and arrange one because the melody is all over the place.”
Judges need training
Chalkdust on results of Calypso Monarch:
Placing sixth in last Sunday’s Calypso Monarch competition did not cause eight-time winner, The Mighty Chalkdust (Hollis Liverpool) any worry, but he had a problem with the judging. Chalkie made the comment while responding to questions about how he felt about the results. “Placing sixth was no worry for me, but calypso is very difficult to judge. There are judges who have no training and would put you all over the place.” Noting that he didn’t know who the judges were in the competition, he added: “…but I know that judges today need training.” Chalkie said he had offered himself as a calypso judge but was not accepted. The judges made no mistake about winner, Kurt Allen, who took home $1/2 million, for he has talent and skill, Chalkie said. “If I lose one competition, it doesn’t matter.”
Newcomer to the National Calypso Monarch Selvon Noel, aka Mistah Shak, is one of 14 calypsonians heading to Port-of-Spain on Dimanche Gras night on Sunday for the finale of the competition. The 15 contenders draw for positions today. Noel, attached to Kaiso House tent in Port-of-Spain, received the most applause as he sang his hit tune Rogue, dressed in police fatigue at Skinner Park, San Fernando, at the annual Calypso Fiesta on Saturday. The song depicts how Noel protected and served with pride. Also winning a place at the the Dimanche Gras is Anne Marie Cudjoe-Parks (Twiggy), who sang Give Thanks.
While most of the calypsonians poked fun at the PNM Government, Twiggy differed as she gave a spirited performance encouraging the population to give thanks for being blessed. Anthony “All-Rounder” Hendrickson also made it to the finals with his tune Female Life Guard, along with the popular Brian London, who sang A Calypsonian. Carlos James, (Skatie), another crowd favourite with his tune A Cry for Life, also found a place. Devon Seales, Kizzy Ruiz, Kurt Allen, Michael (Protector) Leggerton and Nicole Greaves are also among the finalists.
Veteran distaff calypsonian Singing Sandra proved that she still commands attention with her deep-souled messages when she rendered No Child Shall be Left Behind. The tune also secured a spot for Singing Sandra at the Dimanche Gras. The tune portrayed a heart-rending account of the lives of sexually abused children. Also making it to the finals are Roderick (Chucky) Gordon, Sean Daniel and Winston Scarborough, the Original De Fosto Himself, whose contender is “In a Palace State of Mind.” All fourteen will be doing battle against reigning monarch Hollis Liverpool, aka The Mighty Chalkdust RADHICA SOOKRAJ
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