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Calypso monarch Singing Sandra and
King of Carnival Curtis Eustace celebrate on the Dimanche
Gras stage after being announced 2003 competition
winner |
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Singing Sandra dressed in white
singing 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' in the first round of the competition
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| Dimanche Gras is the Sunday before
Carnival day and the official beginning
to the carnival season which has been in full swing for days.
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Aaron Kalicharan in a
costume entitled 'Native Warrior' designed by the
Eustace Brothers portraying the tribal rituals of Nubia |
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Roland St. George, a former king of
carnival, wearing a costume entitled 'The Agony of Ecstasy' - The split
mind. Appearing onstage with him singing her soca
hit was Faye Ann Lyons. St George was a hit with the crowd
particularly the young ladies many of whom followed him from one end
of the stage to the other. He was one of two kings from the band Bedazzled |
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| The 2003 King
and Queen of Carnival and the Calypso Monarch are to be chosen on this night
in Queen's Park. The event includes a pan competition as well but it is an
opportunity to see the great practitioners of Calypso music in dramatic
confrontation that is the draw that fills the stands.
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Peola Marchand as the 'Goddess of
Peace and Love' was first contestant in the queen of Carnival contest
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'Trini to the Bone' , David Rudder'
and Carl Jacob's Carnival hit played as Jemeel Mendoza bounced across the
stage in a costume that expressed that emotion in
Red, Black, and White, the colors of Trinidad and Tobago's flag.
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| 10 Calypsonians face off in two rounds of competition, singing one song
in each round, accompanied by the Trinidad and Tobago Police Band. Between
each round is the final judging of the Kings and Queens in their Majestic
costumes. |
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Cutis Eustace of the band Bedazzled
in "Sky is the Limit' the costume that made him King of Carnival for the
second consecutive year |
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Leroy Strakhill Tabuchan of the band
Warriors of Yore was the only contestant in a traditional costume entitled
'Mighty Ruler and Warrior' |
| The roots of the music are in the songs the African slaves brought with
them. Reflecting and adapting to conditions on the island, the music evolved
so that there are now classic old time calypsos and newer genres.
Soca,
Ragga, Chutney Soca and Rapso are among the 'offspring'. |
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Juan Maximo of the Great Kings and
Dancers of Africa
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Ansel Price in 'A Zulu Warrior's
Dream' another of the many costumes inspired by the culture of the continent.
The costume features orange dragon like wings and
a black and white Zulu outfit.
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| Radio host and Musicologist Trevor Wilkins contrasts the parallel
development of Calypso Music with Steel Pan Music by saying "Steel Pan comes
out of drumming associated with the Shango Religion, while you can hear the
influence of the Spiritual Baptist Religion in Calypso".
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Carnival Queen Alana
Ward in 'Fire in D' Sky' a costume that depicts a burst of fireworks |
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| Many of the early
Calypsos were recorded a capella and with handclaps, much like the Baptist
tradition. Wilkins continues "Calypso music, prior to the 1960's was a form of music
that give the local people information on what is happening in the
country... It was the mouth piece of the people, and still is to some
degree, for many it was the only source of information in the 1940's + 50's". |
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| The evolution of West African song into this
indigenous art
form is quite a
remarkable history. At the time of emancipation the majority of the island's
population were slaves, followed by free blacks, who outnumbered the whites
almost ten to one. The majority of the population was French speaking, and
of the planter class. The English speaking minority found in the urban
areas. |
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Sugar Aloes, who sang 'Authority Got
Away'. Aloes, a butcher and later a vendor of fruit and nuts came on the
scene as a singer in the seventies and got a break
singing in Kitchener's tent in the 80's. |
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Chalkdust, a teacher at St Mary's,
debuted in 1968 going to the finals. A
fierce calypsonian whose heyday was the years following the Black Power
revolution, he won the crown in 1976 and 77. He sang a calypso entitled
'Just So' |
| The genesis of Calypso came with the Cambulay Riots. The riots were in
response to the banning of drumming and other repressive policies
particularly around carnival time, when people celebrate in the streets, a
tradition formed after emancipation in 1838. The songs of celebration were
now used in social protest, community based music, sung in patois in call
and response fashion, it developed in to a form of music known as Kaiso.
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| Kaiso was a peoples music, music that brought information to the people. The
music changed stylistically over time but these elements have remained
constant. |
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Roy Lewis, The Mystic Prowler,
strode across the huge stage in a flowing African gown, in the second round
dressed more casually he performed 'The Balance'. |
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| Marshall Stearns in "the Story of Jazz" 1956, traces the music back to
it's roots in West Africa. He describes the spiritual Baptist movement of
era in that context: "They are called Shouters with some accuracy, for they
generated enough excitement and noise to be officially banned. |
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Roger George gave a dramatic
presentation of his 'These are the Days' as in the final days a gospel
inflected calypso. |
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| Unlike the
Saints in Cuba, the Trinidad Shouters banned dancing and drumming, according
to the Baptist rules. Handclapping and foot-stamping evolved to take the
place of the drums, and the ceremonies became famous for their revivalist
power and frenzy. Complaints poured in from a radius of several miles
whenever the Shouters held a meeting. Here is a new pattern: protestantism
superimposed upon a mixture of African and Catholic ritual, leading to
revival music such as is found in the United States. |
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Shadow opened singing 'The Threat'
the song that, in 1971 challenged the steelpan men to play his calypsos. He
followed with 'Come and Meet My Family'. Shadow grew up in Tobago and after
settling in Lavantille became a back up singer in Sparrow's tent. he says of
his music ".. My music is characterized by a lot of energy, because of my
emphasis on the foot drums and bass ... What everybody's doing now is
considered to be soca. But that is because the word spread so big after
Shorty did his mixture. But I have
never copied from them. If what they're doing is soca, and what I have done
is soca, the truth lies within there, because I have always remained
original.' (quotes from T 'n' T Mirror, 10 Feb. '89) |
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| A recording of the Shouters, made by Herskovits, furnishes an amazing
parallel. The tune is 'Jesus Lover of My Soul', a standard hymn from the
Moody and Sankey hymn-book. Beginning in a very solid manner, the Shouters
intone the tune as written. Gradually, rhythms are introduced; one singer
starts to imitate a drum, another begins to clap on the offbeat, a third
introduces a falsetto cry. Soon the call-and-response pattern dominates the
performance, which builds into a rhythmic jamboree of such intensity that it
might well produce religious possession. The recording is a capsule
demonstration of the Africanization of a British hymn. In the space of four
minutes, the European elements are transformed into African elements. |
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Clifton Ryan, "The Bomber" a senior
calypsonian looked sharp singing 'Thunder at Seventy Five' has forceful no
nonsense presence on stage and as the song's title suggests the ladies still
find him irresistible. A Grenadian and the first non Trinidadian to take the
title, he won in 1962 with "A Tribute to Spoiler and James Earl Jones. |
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Skatie singing 'One Man
and One Man Alone'
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| Early Calypso hits in the United States, such as Matilda by Harry Belafonte
and especially Rum and Coca Cola by the Andrew Sisters brought the music to
the attention of the American public. A serviceman stationed in Trinidad
during the Second World War brought a recording of the song back to New York
and played it for the Andrew Sisters. It became a major hit and soon Decca
RCA and major labels were in Trinidad recording musicians there and Calypso
grew in to it's own at that time. |
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Devon Seale in a flashy red suit
singing 'My Donkey' |
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| Sugar Aloes, the first to grace the
stage made his entrance. Aloes who once sold nuts and oranges outside the
Calypso tents, got his big break singing in Kitchner's tent in the 80's. He
was followed by Chalkdust singing "Just So". Chalkdust came on the scene in
1968. Known as a fierce Calypsonian, he won the crown in 1976 and 77. |
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| Devon Seale was next singing 'My Donkey, Shadow, Skatie, Roger George, These
are the Days'. Bomber followed as the senior Calypsonian, singing 'Thunder
at 75'; he trained under Spoiler in the 50's breaking out to win the crown
in 1962, Bomber, Clifton Ryan, a Grenadian was the first foreigner to
accomplish the feast. |
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Heather McIntosh giving a chilling
performance in 'Ten feet of Rope' |
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| Mystic Prowler with 'The Balance' followed; Heather McIntosh whose dramatic
presentation 'Ten Feet of Rope' was a solution to crime on the Island that
many in the audience had thought about themselves judging from the response,
and last came singing Sandra with "For Whom The Bell Tolls".
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Singing Sandra, Sandra Des Vignes,
making history by being named Calypso Monarch for the second time in 2003, a
first for a female calypsonian. The stage was dark
as Sandra entered, the sound of a church bell ringing in the first round.'
For Whom the Bell Tolls' also dealt with the issue of crime that is
plaguing present day youth but was addressed to us all. She followed
with an uplifting tribute to the endurance of the African spirit.
Sandra, as a Baptist, reportedly was reluctant to
take up calypso, however once she did she won in 1999 with 'song for
Healing' and the great 'Voices From the Ghetto'. |
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| Between the first and second rounds of competition came the parade of the
Kings and Queens of Carnival. The second round ended with singing Sandra's 'Ancient Rhythms' and minutes
later she was crowned the Monarch for the second time, a first for a female
vocalist. Curtis Eustace 'D Sky is D Limit' was named King, and Alana Ward
took the carnival Queen honors with 'Fire in D Sky' |
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