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T&T Carnival History

Two most interesting accounts of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival History,that I have seen thus far was done in 2004 by the National Library and Information System Authority in T&T. “Mama Dis is Mas”: A Historical Overview of the Trinidad Carnival, 1783 – 1900. The other article of interest was done by TriniSoca.com The Carnival Story - 162 Years Of Mas By Terry Joseph.


To understand the process of were we are today, these articles examine the complex historical, social, cultural and political contexts which gave birth to our Carnival Culture.

From Christopher Columbus's landing in Trinidad in 1498 to the emancipation of the slaves in 1838.The article gives a vivid picture of the Cannes Bruleés (French for Burnt Canes), comprising songs, dances and stick fights.

"Cannes Bruleés had its genesis during slavery. Whenever a fire broke out in the cane fields, the slaves on the surrounding properties were rounded up and marched to the spot, to the accompaniment of horns and shells. The gangs were followed by the drivers cracking their whips and urging them, with cries and blows, to harvest the cane before it was burnt.

THE JAMETTE CARNIVAL a term which was used by the French and English to describe the Carnival celebrations of the African population during the period 1860 to 1896. The term comes from the French “diametre” meaning beneath the diameter of respectability, or the underworld . The view of the whites was that the Carnival activities were immoral, obscene and violent. For free slaves in Trinidad, Carnival was more than just music , masquerade and dance. It was about their very existence a release from the struggle that was their daily lives."

Masqueraders used current topics in their creativity of costumes, the plight of the ordinary people, the aristocrats and to poke fun at ruling governments. Newly arrived Africans also depicted ancestral spirits such as Moko Jumbie.

"Moko Jumbie - This is an authentic African masquerade mounted on sticks. It was believed that the height of the stilts was associated with the ability to foresee evil faster than ordinary men. A jumbie among Africans is a spirit. Moko is a “diviner” in the Congo language. The Moko Jumbie was felt to be a protector of the village. This masquerade is still in existence today and is seen at occasions other than carnival."

The liberated slaves created traditional carnival characters such as MINSTRELS,DAME LORRAINE, JAB JAB, FANCY INDIANS, JAB MOLASSIE, PIERROT GRENADE, BATS, MIDNIGHT ROBBER, BURROKEET, BOOKMAN, SAILOR MAS, BABY DOLL, NEGUE JADIN, and COW BAND.

The ruling classes restricted their participation to house parties and club dances and fancy balls. It is from these balls that the Carnival Queen Show and the Dimanche Gras productions emerged.

"Fancy dress balls were held at the Prince’s building adjacent to the Queen’s Park Savannah. In 1922, the first major Carnival stage spectacle was presented by the Les Amantes de Jesus Society – a voluntary organization under the leadership of M. Joseph Scheult. The Society gave an annual charity ball on Carnival Monday night. This started in the 1920s and continued until 1948. After a fire destroyed the City Council building, the Council offices were moved to the Princes' Building. The offices were then moved to the Queen's Park Oval."

With a few omissions here is the Carnival Story article.

"Although a major part of the Trinidad Carnival mystique lies in its unique ability to bring people of diverse backgrounds together in harmonious circumstances, the festival was not born to such noble pursuits.

During the first 50 years of the 20th century, the Carnival was affected by global and domestic conflict. There were World Wars and local gang riots, but creativity flourished in peacetime.

Pan was invented. Early development of the instrument far exceeded the speed of its acceptance across the board. Calypso went international and people actually made their own mas costumes or at least participated in the exercise.

In the second half of that same century, Carnival first rose to a level of extraordinary splendour, then hit a sharp curve. The burst of creativity that came in its glory days radiated from both social groups and was identifiable in every component of the festival. Historical and tribal mas presented educational and aesthetically pleasing images. Pan development enjoyed both diversification and a sense of urgency and calypso chalked up a reprise of its golden age.

However, by the turn of the 1990s, much of the applause earned earlier in the period had subsided, as the festival had undergone a categorical shift of focus, one that clearly pleases the majority, but continues to be a source of bother to more than a few.

Like the rest of the society, Trinidad Carnival had in fact been touched by a number of social and economic realities. The Black Power movement that began at the turn of the 1970s and the boom economy, that followed far too soon to keep reason intact, changed spending habits at all levels.

This national windfall, which helped to fund the rise of disc jockeys and music bands of extraordinary amplification, dramatically changed every aspect of the festival too. Its benefits did not however trickle down to the level of pan research and development, stalling the progress that had been made with the instrument up to that time.

In addition, there was women's liberation, the creation of soca, a runaway cost of living, computer-aided design ad marketing of mas bands, production-line manufacture of costumes, the popularity of synthetic fabrics, emergence of the entrepreneurial producers and performers, the effect of radio and television and the fitness craze.

Applied concurrently, these deceptively unrelated components had the capacity to irretrievably alter the form and content of the Carnival. Slowly at first, but completely by the end of the 20th century, the festival changed from a cutting-edge creative crucible, to a market-driven, manufactured commodity.

Mas dumped traditional themes and elaborate portrayals, opting for minimal clothing and fantasy presentations. Once an integral part of pre-Carnival fetes and the main parade, pan music was sequentially marginalized. Traditional calypso first gave way to soca, and then lost further ground when the Road March became the most lucrative form of a new genre called "festival music".

The most dramatic shift however took place in the very gender of the masquerade, with women moving from a laughably small minority of the costumed revelers back in the 1950s, to what the National Carnival Bands Association (NCBA) now estimates at fully 85 percent of the annual parade population.

From the lower-class jamettes of the mid-20th century, the streets largely surrendered in the latter-day to the aerobics-oriented lovelies of the middle-class. Consider now that more than 55,000 masqueraders crossed the Queen's Park Savannah stage during the 1999 Carnival."

If you look at these two articles and read what I have already presented on the blog, you begin to see where we've come from, where we have been, where we are going and what a creative and promising future we have ahead. I believe that things move in a circle and we are half way through the circle of our carnival cultural development. I love my culture good or bad because it gives me a clear picture of who I am, where I have been, where I have come from and what a promising future I have.

Mas on D Road Again for 2008

This article taken from yesterdays express says it all. According to the Minister of Culture,Joan Yuille-Williams, construction of the National Carnival and Entertainment Centre would not be completed in time for Carnival 2008.

She said it would be built by 2009, which means masqueraders could find themselves parading on the road in front of the Queen's Park Savannah next year, as they did for Carnival this year.

$450m Carnival Centre comes to a halt

-Juhel Browne


Wednesday, April 11th 2007


Construction of the proposed $450 million National Carnival and Entertainment Centre has come to a halt because the design is being reviewed.

Prime Minister Patrick Manning made the announcement yesterday almost a month and a half after the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (Udecott) said the Request for Proposals for the project were to have been issued "in the coming weeks". Read more...

Peter Minshall on T&T Carnival, Music, Mas Bands, and the Savannah

In these two articles we explore carnival through the eyes of one of our most celebrated carnival mas designers, Peter Minshall. In these articles we find the history of our music, carnival culture, and our love for two things that were given to us freely, the Savannah and Carnival. The first interview with Peter Minshall was featured in the Sunday express in December 2006, the interview is conducted by B.C. Pires. The second was done by Nalini Maharaj D'Abadie "T&T Carnival right on track" Thursday, February 22nd 2007.
The following is the two articles taken from the Express:
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Artist and masman, Peter Minshall, on Savannah, the heart of the Carnival.
Q: How should we approach Carnival and the Savannah?
A: What can we do that all mankind will say, "How gracious, how generous, how thoughtful of Trinidad and Tobago to give the rest of us their incredible riches!" First, we have to understand in our own heads what our incredible riches are. Start with as simple and, on the face of it, as ordinary a thing as a savannah. Which other city in the world has, at its heart, not a park all pretty with roses, but flat land with, at the other end, the Northern Range rising magically?
To have a savannah in the middle of your city is a richness to be treasured, to keep in touch with the divine. Forty years after Independence, in the Savannah, we have benches that look as though they were constructed for a penitentiary, so that criminals could not mash them up!How should they be designed?
The Savannah is so totally taken for granted. There used to be a low railing all the way 'round it with two bars, you could rest one foot on. What can we do with our Savannah in the New World? Look at the lovely shape (shows hand-drawn outline stressed to reveal the shape of a heart)! Dare we make a brilliant stainless steel railing with some sort of brass or alloy couplings?
So it's different, exciting and tells any passerby immediately, "This place is special to us. We decided to give it a frame." Beautifully designed, strong but light. Re-check the entire paved perimeter of the Savannah. Come on! We can do better than pitch or concrete! What sort of yellow brick road or silvery slate grey thing goes there?
That's just so you look at the Savannah and understand it is a treasured place, that there is no park as beautiful in the Americas. I don't think that is beyond us, to reach within ourselves, for ourselves and the world. We could replant some of the trees taken by storms to recreate a grassland, people with trees, surrounded by a fine, burnished (heart-shaped) railing. We need to respect that beautiful word: "Savannah"!Peter MinshallCarnival is connected to the Savannah?
I believe my father, as head of the tourist board, was one of the first people who took the Carnival to the Savannah. We inherited a colonial grandstand for viewing horse racing - which it's kind of reasonable to have if you're going to have anything in a savannah. The parade of the bands (went there) when bands were 300-to 400-strong. The Carnival went gaily through the city without blockage at the Savannah. However, even when I was an adolescent, late Fifties, early Sixties, I remember the so-called "bourgeois" bandleaders quarreling like mad that these steelbands with their 1,000-strong throngs of sailors were "getting in the way" and not adding anything to the Carnival. The "lower-class" steelbands were edged out. Flag Wavers of Sienna. (Edmond) Hart! One of the most brilliant bands, ever, about 300 people, a bunch of flags going clockwise, a bunch going anti-clockwise, another bunch going clockwise inside, rustle and bustle and kinetic splendour. The audience went wild. The bands were small enough to move quickly, the stage (small enough) so a little imp, a little robber could come along in-between-but already the stage was being built to accommodate bands, and not the little people of the Carnival. The stage built for it encourages the growth of the band, a money-making enterprise (which) gets bigger and bigger. This vast, arid environment is not the place for the small, the delicate, the beautiful-the individual. The bands (become) commercial juggernauts. The bar truck, the toilet truck, the this truck, the that truck, the wet-me-down truck. The costume, if you want to call it that, has been reduced to a minimal formula. The calypsonian, who is supposed to see the whites of the eyes of his audience, on this vast desert, is forced to bring on ridiculous side shows, so much so that some calypsonians get more marks for the side show than the song. Sometimes when I hear, "Great is the PNM and it will prevail!" I think, "My God, it has!" Yet I have to retract that thought because, if it wasn't the PNM, it would be somebody else. A little island people, coming into its own but not thinking its own thoughts-Las Vegas has upgraded its image to the quality of Cirque du Soleil. We, who once had the quality of Cirque du Soleil in the palms of our hands, are downgrading ours to the lowest level of Las Vegas. Let nobody fool themselves to think we're going the way of Brazil. Rio Carnival is fine. Yes, there are a few naked women but they're doing the samba. They are not dancing wine-the-place-down soca.Should there be a Carnival Centre in the Savannah?
The grandstand is being broken down but they're going to do a spectacular, contemporary, GRANDER grandstand in its place. They're going to build a mausoleum for the thing now that it's pretty well dead! A glass coffin, so we could look in at its last breath. There is a bottleneck at the Savannah. Doesn't that say something to you?
Get the hell out of it! It is no longer serving your culture. The Carnival is sick and dying, you haven't even looked at why, you just say, "We want a jewel in the crown!" To say what? What a fine government we are? And you're fooling the people because you're killing the very thing the people brought into being, their Carnival? And the tragic thing is, the people believe you!What about Panorama?
The theatre that is Panorama is muscular and visceral and tribal and community-based. Its naiveté is a large part of its beauty: all those silver fringes, that shivering tinsel, all those people pushing those carts on wheels-this happens nowhere else in the world! And you are going to take this vibrant, muscular, visceral thing-and (in pained voice) put it in a glass box? Is Panorama going to be a museum piece in Stuttgart or London? Is it that black people so want to be white they have forgotten who they are? That their potency and vitality is going to be so condomised it is left lifeless! I understand you think it may be a bow to the Carnival to give it a spectacular glass building but it's the worst thing you can do. It's like taking the thing that is dead and letting it lie in State now. Expand Panorama and impress the world with your knowledge of yourself: around the Savannah! Create a ring of steel so powerful it will reverberate throughout the Caribbean-I need a concert hall for pan! I cannot believe the universe has blessed us with this instrument and it is still in a yard. If we can throw $30m to the returning team from Berlin, we can throw $30m for an architectural prize for the best steelband concert hall in the world. I do not think it is beyond the imagination of a great architect to build a house of steel to house instruments of steel, a fine concert hall that looks as though it's clad in steel and relates to a Savannah that's ringed by a small railing of burnished steel, that, at Carnival time, rises up with steel pylons and a crop of canopies and pavilions. The slapdash evolution of the Grand Stand and the North Stand at least worked as an ad hoc common-sense extension of the street, a "pavement" on either side with people watching the mas moving down the road in the middle as it were-what I'll call avenue theatre-but to box it in architecturally as a deliberate, conscious act, is pure madness. It is the determined entrapment of the very spirit of freedom that the thing is supposed to celebrate.So how do we save Carnival?
In 1986, 20 years ago, a crack team, Roy Boyke, Hollis Liverpool, Efebo Wilkinson, myself and I forget who else spent hundreds of hours discussing this and concluded the Carnival should be taken out of the Savannah. Minister of Culture Joan Yuille-Williams asked me, "Peter Minshall, what should we do with Dimanche Gras?" And I said to her, "Let it die!" It has no theatrical future. The world has changed. Champs in Concert is a hint as to where that Sunday night should go. It's not stealing from the steelbands,, we're thanking them: as usual, you pointed the direction we should go in but no one followed your lead. It should be the Night of Nights in the Caribbean, not ten people looking for a song-crown, ten people looking for a costume-crown. It's just not good contemporary entertainment.So what in the Savannah, if not a glass building?What else comes to town once a year to entertain and then leaves? Ah! The circus! How does it do it? With a tent! The design mind explodes! Something that will last for the next 20 years that is removed after the Carnival is over but is so beautiful, imaginative, so blowing and free, both to the eye and the spirit, just like the Carnival itself! The Carnival audience is not supposed to be captive! That Savannah has now trained people to go home to look at the mas on the television! That's anti-mas! What a pity you didn't have the joy of holding the hand of a complete stranger in excitement and saying, "Oh, my God! That is mas!" Enough of these horrible little porta-loos! Carnival is a building site now? Aren't we disgusted by the stench and stink? Let's design the facilities that go with our stylish new Savannah: a small city of pavilions, billowing canopies in the breeze, run the electricity underground, so that when the day comes, you just say, "Mr Prime Minister, come and turn on the switch." And between those two avenues of trees, on silver and brass pylons, recesses embedded deep in the ground all year long, waiting, those are your food areas-a pavilion for Midnight Robbers-the Robber Tent-long before Carnival, it is made known that first prize is a $150,000-I'll bet you'll see some magnificent robbers reappear in the Carnival three years hence; I bet you'll see a young Nikolai Noel or a young Mario Lewis.(BC interrupting) At those rates, you'll see a middle-aged BC Pires?(Continuing unfazed)-a pavilion for bands larger than 15 and less than 30 in number. Mas judged as art! We Caribbean people can't be top-class innovators, too? Your big bands that have been blocking that tiny little entrance, you clear a space, the entire Savannah is a parkland, where the audience can wander. The perimeter is the stage for all the big stuff. Somewhere along the line, you make a few rules: please, the gallery is only so big, the pictures can only be of such a size. Bands here need to be bands, not armies. You've made enough money. A stage is for enactment, for playing of the mas, from George Bailey to Minshall even through to Legends. Please, the mas is dying. Find a way to encourage young artists to do wonderful things. As the Carnival visits and revives our spirit, let it be a beautiful, fluttering, temporary, imaginative field of dancing cloths to give shade. Free the audience, free the Carnival! Do not destroy the best part of yourselves! Do not strive to be other than who you are. Acknowledge your own strength and beauty.

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T&T Carnival right on track
Thursday, February 22nd 2007
It is so refreshing to see that all is not lost. There is still hope for Carnival to be celebrated in a form that is culturally tasteful, artistically superior and aesthetically enchanting.
Congratulations to Brian MacFarlane. Thank you, Brian, for making me feel like I belong to this beautiful country. Thank you for making me feel that I can participate in all aspects of our culture, especially Carnival, without being degraded or ridiculed. For the first time I sat in awe as your band went through its display of pure drama, articulate co-ordination of movement and style and the artistic and intricate craftsmanship of costumes and props.
Producers and presenters of Carnival must understand that during this time the eyes of the world are on us. We must therefore present ourselves as a people of artistic ingenuity. We must show our appreciation and understanding of the cultural and historical aspects of our society. We must ensure that these are accurately and tastefully represented and presented.
This type of professionalism should not be limited to bands but should also extend to calypso, chutney and comedy, which form a major part of Carnival activities. Our calypsonians and comedians must ensure that historical, political, social and cultural issues are addressed accurately and respectfully.
This must be done with full sensitivity for the delicate emotional and psychological effects of their respective presentations on their audience.
We must ensure that there is no deliberate attempt to portray any sector of our community or culture in a manner that will cause embarrassment or concern. That does not mean that research and analysis, wittiness and humour used to highlight issues of national, international, social and cultural interest should be compromised.
Another contentious issue over the years has been costumes or lack of them and the vulgar behaviour of masqueraders. Brian MacFarlane and Peter Minshall have shown us that there is no need for nakedness and vulgarity.
We must forever be cognisant of the effect of our behaviour on the minds of our children and the rest of the world.
As a people with great talent, rhythm and energy let us keep our Carnival on the streets where it belongs. Let us portray it with all the fanfare and theatre to which it has ascended and let us keep the passion and spirit from which it has originated.
Nalini Maharaj
D'Abadie

T&T MAS BAND OF THE YEAR AND PAST WINNERS

Brian Macfarlane's presentation 'INDIA - The Story of Boyie' took both 'Large Band of the Year' and 'Downtown Band of the Year' crowns. Macfarlane placed 2nd for 'Large Band of the Year' and 1st for 'Downtown Band of the Year' in 2006 and was happy to receive honours for both categories as this marks the first major victory for the designer.
Macfarlane has also announced he has already started plans for next year. The presentation will be a 'story' based on 'EARTH'.
Check out past winners at:
http://www.tntisland.com/botyhof.html

T&T Panorrama Large Band Category winners 1963-2007

Trinidad & Tobago Conventional Panorama Hall of Fame (Large Category)
http://www.tntisland.com/panhof.html

T&T Road March 1932-2007

Wed Feb 21st '07 ~ Machel Montano's 'JUMBIE' copped the 2007 ROAD MARCH title by the widest margin in Carnival history. The Kernal Roberts penned Carnival favorite recorded 388 plays, while 2nd place Sherwayne Winchester's 'OPEN D'GATE' was played a total of 34 times.
Machel's 'JUMBIE DANCE' could be seen all through the streets of Port-of-Spain over the 2-day Carnival.
Songwriter Kernal Roberts was also responsible for Carnival 2007 party favorites 'Down D Road','Higher Than High' and 'Light It Up' (ft Patrice Roberts). The win marks back to back Road March titles for Kernal & Machel as 'Band of D Year' also took top honours in 2006.

Check out the following list and see if you remember these cultural hits.
1932 King Radio Tiger Tom Play Tiger Cat
1933 King Radio Wash Pan Wash
1934 Dougla After Johnny Drink Me Rum
1935 Lion Dingolay Oy
1936 Lion Advantage Could Never Done
1937 Lion Netty Netty
1938 Lion No Norah Darling
1939 King Radio Mathilda
1940 Beginner Run Yuh Run
1941 Lion Whoopsin Whoopsin
1942 - 45 No Carnival – War
1946 No Competition
1947 Pharoah King Pharoah
1948 Melody Canaan Barrow
1949 Wonder Ramgoat Baptism
1950 Killer In a Calabash
1951 Terror Tiny Davis
1952 Spit Fire Post Post
1953 Spit Fire Bow Wow Wow
1954 Blakie Steel Band Clash
1955 Happy Wonderer North American Ballad
1956 Sparrow Jean and Dinah
1957 Valerie North American Ballad
1958 Sparrow Pay As You Earn
1959 Sparrow Mae Mae
1960 Sparrow Royal Gaol
1961 Sparrow Royal
1962 Blakie Maria
1963 Kitchener The Road
1964 Kitchener This Is Mas
1965 Kitchener My Pussin
1966 Sparrow Obeah Wedding
1967 Kitchener Sixty Seven
1968 Kitchener Miss Tourist
1969 Sparrow Sa Sa Ya
1970 Kitchener Margie
1971 Kitchener Madison Square
1972 Sparrow Drunk and Disorderly
1973 Kitchener Rainorama
1974 Shadow Bass Man
1975 Kitchener Tribute to Winston Spree
1976 Kitchener Flag Woman
1977 Calypso Rose Tempo
1978 Calypso Rose Soca Jam
1979 Poser Smoke Ah Watty
1980 Blue Boy Soca Baptist
1981 Blue Boy Ethel
1982 Penguin Deputy Essential
1983 Blue Boy Rebecca
1984 Sparrow Doh Back Back
1985 Crazy Soucoyant
1986 David Rudder Bahia Girl
1987 Duke Thunder
1988 Tambu This Party Is It
1989 Tambu Free Up
1990 Tambu We Ain’t Going Home
1991 Super Blue Get Something and Wave
1992 Super Blue Jab Jab
1993 Super Blue Bacchanal Time
1994 Preacher Jump and Wave
1995 Super Blue Signal To Lara
1996 Nigel Lewis Movin
1997 Machel Montano Big Truck
1998 Wayne Rodriguez Footsteps
1999 Sanell Dempster River
2000 Tied
Pump Up by Super Blue Carnival Come Back Again by Iwer George
2001 Shadow Strangers
2002 Naya George Trinidad
2003 1st - Faye-Ann Lyons - Display (171)2nd - Destra & Machel - It's Carnival (134)3rd - KMC - Carnival Rag
2004 1st : - Look De Band Coming by Shurwayne Winchester 2nd: - Bonnie and Clyde by Destra
2005 Dead or Alive by Shurwayne Winchester
2006 Band of the Year by Patrice Roberts & Machel Montano

MY FAVORITE SOCA ARTIST

HERE ARE SOME OF TODAY'S MOST POPULAR SOCA ARTIST. CAN YOU NAME THEM AND THE SOUNDS THEY SING? BELOW ARE THREE OF MY FAVORITES. LET ME KNOW YOURS.

MACHEL MONTANO "Jumbie""Down D Road","Higher Than High"' and "Light It Up" (ft Patrice Roberts)

MAXIMUS DAN"Flag Invasion""Love Generation" "Fighter""Soca Train""Building Shake" "Order (unplugged)"

NADIA BATSON
"One Island ""Start D Race" "Caribbean Girl ""My Land"

IWER GEORGE
"Fete After Fete""WE Reach""Water"

LORD KITCHENER TO MACHEL MONTANO

Artist Name: Lord KitchenerGenre: Calypso Country: Trinidad & Tobago
Artist Bio:
The grandmaster Lord Kitchener (Aldwin Roberts) is one of Trinidad's best-loved calypsonians. With a career spanning more than 60 years, he left an enormous legacy of recordings and original compositions: Before Kitchener died in 2000 he recorded more than 40 albums and hundreds of songs. He won Trinidad's annual Carnival Road March 10 times, and his songs were immensely popular with steel bands due to the catchy melodies and harmonic complexity of his compositions.
Born in 1923 in the town of Arima, Kitchener grew up the son of a blacksmith. He started composing and singing calypsos as a teenager when he joined a roving tent that performed at cinemas. In 1944, he moved to Port of Spain to become a professional calypsonian, playing in the tents during the season and supporting himself the rest of the year by various gigs including performing for American soldiers on the military base. His sobriquet Lord Kitchener was chosen for him by another calypsonian, Growling Tiger, and was the name of a 19th century British military hero. In the next few years he quickly became one of the best calypsonians in the country.After the 1947 Carnival season, Kitchener traveled to Aruba, Curacao and Jamaica. He and Lord Beginner stayed in Jamaica for several months before Kitchener board the Empire Windrush, a ship that marked the beginning of large-scale Caribbean migration to Britain. As Kitchener was getting off the boat in England he was recorded by a newsreel company while singing the new song he had written in anticipation of his arrival: "London Is the Place for Me."
Kitchener remained in England for almost 15 years where he had an active career that included extensive recording for the Parlophone, Melodisc and Lyragon labels. His records were exported in large quantities to the Caribbean, where he remained popular. But Kitchener's rosy view of England and its place for Caribbean immigrants soon changed and he recorded many tunes that address the difficult life they faced. In "Sweet Jamaica" he sang that new immigrants are "Crying with regret / No sort of employment can they get," while other songs talked about the cold, the food, the nosy landladies. His records became popular in West Africa, and Kitchener sang a number of calypsos about the continent.
In 1953, Kitchener married and moved to Manchester where he managed a nightclub, but he continued to record calypsos in London, working with a regular circle of Caribbean musicians based there. When Harry Belafonte's million-selling album caused a calypso craze, Kitchener came to the United States with reports of a movie deal and more. While he played in and around New York City and was part of Geoffrey Holder's calypso Revue in Brooklyn, the show flopped and no movie work appeared and after a few months he returned to England. Ironically, Jamaican singer Lord Flea sang "Kitch's Be Bop Calypso" in the film Bop Girl Goes Calypso (1957) and a number of his other songs were recorded on albums and issued as singles during the craze by other artists, though almost none of them were attributed to Kitchener.
Trinidad finally gained its independence from England in the summer of 1962 and Kitchener returned to Trinidad for the 1963 Carnival and soon formed the Calypso Revue, which continued as a major tent. He took the Road March prize for the most popular Carnival song for the first three years after his return. In 1973 his "Rainorama," a song about the rains during Carnival the year before, became a huge hit and he named his new home after it. When soca music came in Kitchener criticized it—but then had perhaps his biggest hit with the 1978 soca number "Sugar Bum Bum."
In the '80s and '90s, his calypso tent was at the top of its form each year featuring many of the top calypsonians in the country. Meanwhile his own compositions for steel pans continued to be immensely popular, especially "Pan in a Minor," "Iron Man," "Bee's Melody," "Mystery Band" and "Guitar Pan." His songs continue to have their allure and are regularly heard at Carnival time. Meanwhile, his son Kernal is gaining a name as a soca composer and performer and Kitchener's daughter Quewina was the lead star in Tony Hall and David Rudder's wonderful musical The Brand New Lucky Diamond Horseshoe Club. —Ray Funk

MIGHTY SPARROW
Slinger Francisco, better known as The Mighty Sparrow, affectionately dubbed, The Birdie is the unrivaled Calypso King of the World, with a career that spans over 40 years and counting.

Sparrow's roots are in Gran Roi, a rural fishing village in Grenada. He was born to a poor working class family. They migrated to his adopted homeland, Trinidad, when he was just one year old. He attended the New Town Boys School where he was selected to sing in the boys. choir of St. Patrick's Catholic Church. This was his initial involvement in music. The harmonics of the Gregorian Chants and the Plainsongs of the church that were embedded in him would later affect the depth and intensity of his compositions. His vocal abilities also reflect his childhood role as the head choirboy who sang baritone and tenor in Latin in the church.
Other influences included listening to American street quartets, pop tunes by Nat King Cole and Frankie Laine, Sarah Vaughn, Billy Eckstein, Frank Sinatra and Ella Fitzgerald with their jazz contributions, and the early calypsoes of Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener, Lord Christo, Lord Invader (of Rum and Coca Cola fame) and the Mighty Spoiler, to name a few.
At the tender age of 20, Sparrow emerged, as the leading Calypsonian with his record-breaking hit, Jean and Dinah. (Yankees Gone, 1956 covered by Harry Belafonte). Throughout the years he managed to showcase his diversity each year with the release of at least one album dating from the catchy Jean and Dinah. in 1956 to Carnival Boycott (1957, a song responsible for the many changes and improvement for mass men, calypsonians and steelband men). This song was eventually responsible for the formation of the Carnival Development Committee. An organization to assist calypsonians, steelband men and mas men. This committee was fully endorsed by the Founding Father of Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Eric Eustace Williams.
In 1958 he became the only calypsonian to have had a triple win, in the same year, in the Road March Competition.

In 1959 he released Federation, (a song that reflected his disappointment over the breaking up of the proposed Caribbean Federation). In 1960 his career continued to soar with the melodious May May and Leave the damn Doctor, Royal Jail and Ten to one is Murder followed in 1961. In 1962 he presented us with Sparrow Come Back Home and Model Nation. Dan is the Man in the Van came in 1963 and the Village Ram in 1964.
In 1965 we experienced Congo Man. In that same year Sparrow proved himself a balladeer with his remake of Arthur Prysock's original, Only A Fool Breaks His Own Heart accompanied by Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.
In 1966, He won the Road March Competition again with Melda and 1967 he advised the youth on the importance of Education. Mr. Walker was his hit in 1968, he won the Road March Competition again in 1969 with Sa Sa Yea and in 1970 he appealed to the people of this world to Love one Another and Lend A Hand. These songs appealed to the country for unity "Unity somehow if Trinidad ever needed you is now".
In 1971 Good Citizen followed and in 1972 he won the Calypso Monarch and Road March Competitions with Drunk and Disorderly. No Kind of Man at all was released in 1973 and We Pass That Stage (a strong social commentary in 1974. In 1975 he gave us a psychological analysis, showing where the rich is envious of the poor with Neurosis of the Rich.

In 1976 we got the humorous Salt Fish, and in 1977 he lead the Caribbean with a tribute to Hasley Crawford, the Olympic Gold Medallist. In the same year, during FESTAC, in Nigeria, Sparrow received the honorary title of Chief of the Yorubas, (which is Chief Omo Wale of Ikoyi).
In 1978 he paid tribute to Penny Commissiong (the first black Miss Universe) with The First Black Miss Universe, and chided Idi Amin Dada, tyrant in Africa. Kerry Packer (a song about the cricket revolution) followed in 1979 and in 1980 the Shah of Iran (Wanted Dead or Alive ). This number was covered by the popular American group, Manhattan Transfer.
Sparrow continued to climb the ladder of success while becoming the most popular caypsonian of all time. He demonstrated year after year, with his social commentaries that the calypsonian is really the eyes and ears of the people. In 1981 he registered his social/political Commentaries. We Like It So and his first chutney contribution Sexy Marajhin another liguistic inclusion. In 1982 he gave us Human Rights and in 1983 another powerful, State of the Union address Capitalism Gone Mad. He added another Road March title to his record in 1984 with Doh Back Back and in 1985 he demonstrated to the youth in the business that he can step up to another level when necessary with Soca Pressure.
Around this same time, Mayor Ed Koch of New York proclaimed March 18th, The Mighty Sparrow Day. He dealt with another evil of society in 1986 advising the vulnerable that Coke Is Not It. In 1987 he thrilled the world with another classic, the humorous Lying Excuses. He made another appearance in Nigeria, this time as Chief Omo Wale of Ikoyi, during his National Tour of Afirca and upon his return he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate Degree, Doctor of Letters, from the University of the West Indies. Hence, the reason for Dr. Bird his chronicling of the event at the University of the West Indies, (using humor again as he always does She had a headache and this Dr. Bird performed a myomectamy on her) in 1988.
Manjhay, and Dutch Romance (which gave us a touch of French and Dutch languages) in 1989. In 1990 he gave us Let the Music Play and was inducted into the SUNSHINE Awards Calypso and Steelband Music Hall of Fame on June 24th. That same day the Brooklyn Borough President, Howard Golder proclaimed the day The Mighty Sparrow Day. Another strong social commentary, We Could Make It Easy If We Try and Precious a dedication to his daughter followed in 1991.
Sparrow continued to define the true meaning of "The Calypso King of the World. In 1992 with Both of Them, Crown Heights Justice and Man will Survive. All making a big impact in the Caribbean and the United States.
This illustrious lyricist/composer/singer/comedian/entertainer is an 11 time Calypso Monarch. He also won the Trinidad and Tobago's Carnival Road March Competition eight (8) times, second only to the Lord Kitchener, (his songs were selected and played most often by the bands in this category). Sparrow received many other University citations and awards from Governments and organizations too numerous to mention.
His great contribution to the artform and our lives has unraveled the mysteries of Caribbean life, leaving the professionally trained sociologist and economist befuddled.
BIOGRAPHY of The Mighty Sparrow Calypsonian Extraordinaire Hon. Dr. Slinger Francisco, D.Litt H.B.M., C.M.G., O.C.C., Chief Omo Wale Of Ikoyi(Nigeria) (P) & © 1998 Mighty Sparrow Inc. 88-15 168th Street, Suite 6U, Jamaica, New York 11432 Phone: 1-718-657-2489 or 1-800-772-6707

Calypso Rose - Queen of Caribbean music
Calypso Rose is a living legend and icon in the calypso world, having taken the art form to every continent, while opening the door for other women to follow. Born MacCatha Lewis (after General Douglas MacArthur), Calypso Rose began performing in her native Tobago when she was 15. Rose won the Calypso Queen competition five years in a row, while also trying to compete in the male-only Calypso King contest. In 1978, Rose captured calypso’s premiere title with “I Thank Thee” and “Her Majesty”, breaking down the gender barrier, causing the title to be renamed the Calypso Monarch.
Rose also became the first woman to capture the coveted Road March title, an honour she held for 21 years, until Sanell Dempster captured the championship on the road with “River”. In 1978, by order of the Queen of England, Rose received the Medal of Merit from the Trinidad and Tobago Government. Calypso Rose has been making up for lost time after being slowed by her fight against breast cancer in the 1990s, again touring the world, from New York festivals to London’s Royal Albert Hall with new political songs and her women’s rights anthems including “No Madam” and “Me No Want”, as in “Me no want no married man”. http://www.search.co.tt/trinidad/rose/index.html

One of the few calypso singers to write his own songs, David Rudder (born: David Michael Rudder) helped to usher in a new era for calypso music. His many hits include "Bahia Girl," "Bacchanal Lady," "Panama," "Engine Room," "Rally 'Round the West Indies," "Knock Them Down," and "The Ballad of Hulsie X." The title track of his 1988 album Calypso Music remains one of the best selling songs in calypso history. The title track of his 1986 album The Hammer was covered by steel drummer Andy Narrell as the title track of his own album. Rudder's 1990 album, 1990, was named "best calypso album of the year" at the first Caribbean Music Awards at the Apollo Theater in New York while the title track was named "song of the year" at the Nefeita Awards. The following year, his album Rough and Ready received three Sunshine Awards. According to the -Village Voice, Rudder is "the first of a new generation of calypsonians and he's opening up a whole new way to write, sing, feel and see the thing. His music transcends culture, race, and class. You don't have to be from Trinidad to feel the power and integrity of it. Things will never be the same again." One of nine children, Rudder hails from Belmont, Trinidad. Much of his early life was spent with his grandmother, a devout Baptist. The chanting of Shango Baptists remains the foundation of his music. Rudder's talents as a vocalist were evident from a young age. By the time that he reached his 12th birthday, he had already begun singing with a calypso band, the Solutions. Throughout his teens, he sang backup vocals in a calypso tent run by Lord Kitchener. He supplemented his income as a singer by working as an accountant for the Trinidad Bus Company. Recruited as a substitute for Christopher "Tambu" Herbert, lead singer of the popular Charlie's Roots, in 1977, Rudder impressed the group so much that he was invited to remain as a co-lead singer following Herberts recuperation. Together with the group, he continues to perform for the Carnival productions of Peter Minshall. ~ Craig Harris, All Music Guide

Another dramatic and colorful artist who brought us into todays Soca Music is SUPER BLUE AKA AUSTIN LYONS. read more http://www.afiwi.com/people2.asp?id=70

Machel Montano (born November 1974) in Trinidad and Tobago) is a soca singer, record producer and songwriter based in the Caribbean.He is the frontman of the immensely popular soca band Xtatik, and is noted for his high energy, fast-paced, and often unpredictable on-stage performances. During his his career, which spans over 25 years, he has recorded several songs alongside many of Caribbean music's most popular acts, such as Alison Hinds, Beenie Man, Calypso Rose, Burning Flames, Drupatee, Red Rat, Shaggy, Sparrow, Denise Belfon, Destra, Wyclef Jean, Vybz Kartel, G-Unit, Black Stalin, Mr. Vegas, Doug E Fresh and many others. He now stands as the most sought after soca act in the World.Born in South Trinidad, Machel attended Presentation College a prestigious secondary school in Trinidad where he was in the choir. Machel first shot to fame as a young boy with the song "Too Young To Soca". In 1984 along with brothers and neighbours the group Parnasonic Express was started and in 1989, the band became Xtatik. The band developed and was re-invented by leader Machel several times as Xtatik 5.0, The Xtatik Circus, Xtatik The Road Marching Band, The Band of the Year and many others. Every year Machel has a new concert to keep his band and his performances fresh.This year, 2007 they are known as Machel Montano HD (High Definition) and he promotes the concept by saying that he is the first human being to go HD. He is part of the huge campaign in Trinidad and Tobago promoting safe driving - Arrive Alive. Part of the hype surrounding the ever-evolving Machel this year is his HD tour bus. A 20 year old bus from the Public Transport Service Corporation was re-done and includes a bedroom, bathroom facilities, flat screen TVs, inernet access and expansive audio systems. The HD concept seems fitting as the band Xtatik has in the last few years the band has risen to a new level of musicality as each performance is very tight musically and has foreign influences such as Ernesto Luis Gutirrez, its Venezualan percussionist. Kernal Roberts, the son of the late, great Lord Kitchener, internationally famous calypsonian has picked up the role as Xtatik's drummer and musical director and has brought new life to the band.Montano was also instrumental in the promotion of soca music during the BBC's radio show called 1Xtra. He has released many successful singles, with and without Xtatik, during his career, such as "Big Truck" (Xtatik's most successful single, which won the Road March title in 1997), "Outa Space" (with Beenie Man), "Music Farm" (Xtatik), "It's Carnival" (with Destra), "Band Of The Year" (with Patrice Roberts)(Road March Song for 2006), and "Jumbie" (Road March Song for 2007). Most recently, Montano has taken on a new stage title, refering to himself and his band as "Machel Montano HD" (High Definition), which he claims is a representation of the the evolution of his music over the last 25 years and highly improved style in which his music shall be presented to his fans over radio formats, television, and during live performances. http://www.last.fm/music/Machel+Montano/+wiki

Carnivals Around the World

Look how many Carnivals we celebrate around the world. Just think this number is increasing every year. Here are the links to our Carnivals around the world. This info was provided by Trinidad Carnival Diary(Thanks to Saucy Trini). So I ask you again do we or do we not have a Carnival Culture?

Arizonahttp://www.caaaz.org/Atlantahttp://www.peachcarnival.com/mas bands:http://www.camoteesband.com/http://www.optimistique.net/http://www.thunderbirdsusa.net/http://www.paradisecarnivaltroupe.net/http://www.atlcarnival.com/Antiguahttp://www.antiguacarnival.com/mas bands:http://www.xplosioninternational.com/http://www.passionmas.com/http://www.xtremeintl.com/useful websites:http://www.antiguanice.com/http://www.antigua-barbuda.org/http://www.geographia.com/antigua-barbuda/Baltimorehttp://www.baltimorecarnival.com/Bostonhttp://www.bostoncarnivalzone.com/Brooklynhttp://www.carnaval.com/cityguides/newyork/ny_carn.htmBronx, NYhttp://www.caribbeanfestival.org/Broward County http://caribbeancarnival.org/Calgaryhttp://www.carifest.ca/Cambridge, MAhttp://www.cambridgecarnival.com/Chicagohttp://www.chicagocarifete.com/Connecticuthttp://www.connecticutcarnival.org/Edmontonhttp://www.discoveredmonton.com/cariwest/Grenadahttp://www.spicemas.com/Useful Websites:http://www.partygrenada.com/http://www.grenadaexplorer.com/http://www.grenadagrenadines.com/Hamiltonhttp://www.hamiltoncarnival.com/Houstonhttp://www.houstoncaribfest.com/Jacksonvillehttp://www.jacksonvillecarnival.com/Long Islandhttp://www.licarnival.com/Miamihttp://www.miamicarnival.org/http://miamicarnival.net/miami_carnival.htmlmas bands:http://www.skandlusinternational.com/http://www.generationxmiami.net/http://www.scruplesinc.com/Montrealhttp://www.carifiesta.ca/New Yorkhttp://www.newyorkcarnival.com/mas bands:http://www.hawksintl.com/http://www.sesameflyers.org/Ottawa, Canadahttp://caribe-expo.com/Philadelphiahttp://phillycarnival.com/St. Kittshttp://www.stkittscarnival.com/St. Louishttp://www.mardigrasinc.com/St. Martinhttp://www.sxmcarnival.com/St. Thomashttp://www.vicarnival.com/St. Vincenthttp://www.svgtourism.com/carnival.htmmas bands:http://www.carnivalpower.com/http://www.svgbc.com/blondybird2002/blondybirdmain.htmuseful websites:http://carnivalsvg.com/Somerset, Englandhttp://www.somersetcarnivals.co.uk/Sydney, Australiahttp://www.sydneybacchanal.com/Vancouverhttp://caribbeandays.ca/Virginia (Chesapeake)http://www.vacaribbeancarnival.com/Virginia (Norfolk) Carifesthttp://www.virginiacaribfest.comWashington, DC.http://www.dccaribbeancarnival.com/mas bands:http://www.icecarnival.net/

Cricket World Cup

Hosts West Indies beat Zimbabwe comfortably by 6 wickets and with it booked a spot in the Super 8s. Read more on page link at side.

CRICKET WORLD CUP

Just on a side note our boys won a great match today in Jamaica, defeated Pakistan by 54 runs to win the opening match of ICC Cricket. The West indies scored 242 to win. To view highlights please see links on side page. Now back to Carnival Culture.

We've only just begun

Stay tuned for more pics, music, videos, etc...

Utopia International Presents Royalty Blue Sapphire

Utopia International Presents Royalty Blue Sapphire

Blue Sapphire in Trini Revellers

Slide Show Trini Revellers

Slide Show Trini Revellers

carnival 2k7

slide shows blue sapphire

Welcome to Carnival Culture

Over the next months and years this blog will bring you a bit of our Trinidad and Tobago Carnival Culture. From the history, the mas, the people and the music. How has this great cultural event affected change in our every day lives as Trinidadians and want to be Trinidadians. Can we truly say carnival has shaped the way we speak, think, dress, and what kind of music we listen too. Do we have a Carnival Culture?

In 2007 I played mas in Trini Revellers with the section D'krewe with Utopia International. We played Blue Sapphire and all though my wife is part of the group that brought this section I must say I had one of the best Mondays and Tuesdays I have ever had in Carnival. Here are some pics I took on Tuesday.

















I will be sharing photos, videos, movies,and more related to our carnival culture. You can also join me here at this blog to discuss what we share with the world our culture.