Calypso music

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Calypso
Stylistic
origins
Cultural
origins

West African Kaiso and canboulay

music
Trinidad and Tobago

Trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet,

saxophone, Spanish guitar, bass guitar,
Typical congas, bongos, steelpan, violin,
instruments bamboo sticks, glass bottle/spoon,
claves, maracas, cuatro, concertina,
jawbone
Derivative
Soca and Palm-wine music
forms
Subgenres
Oratorical calypso Extempo Shouter calypso
Benna Mento
(complete list)
Fusion genres
Chutney Chut-kai-pang Rapso Soca
Gospelypso Cadence-lypso Ska spouge
Reggaeton Reggae
Regional scenes
Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Colombia Puerto
Rico Aruba Panama Barbados Costa Rica
Grenada Dominica Jamaica Saint Kitts and
Nevis Virgin Islands Venezuela
Other topics
Carnival Calypsonian Calypso-like genres
Calypso tent Picong Shango Obeah Calypso de
El Callao

Music of Trinidad and Tobago

General topics
Related articles
Genres

Calypso

Cariso

Chut-kai-pang

Chutney

Chutney Soca

Extempo

Groovy soca

Kaiso

Parang

Parang soca

Pichakaree

Rapso

Soca

Steelpan

Steelband-soca

Media and performance

Music television
Music media

Synergy TV

Tempo TV

Nationalistic and patriotic songs

National anthem Forged from the Love of Liberty
Regional music

Anguilla

Antigua and Barbuda

Aruba and the Dutch Antilles

Bahamas

Barbados

Belize

Bermuda

Bonaire

Cayman Islands

Curaao

Cuba

Dominica

Dominican Republic

Grenada
Guadeloupe

Guyana

Haiti
Jamaica

Louisiana

Martinique

Montserrat

Panama

Puerto Rico

St Kitts and Nevis

St Lucia

St Vincent and Grenadines

Suriname

Turks and Caicos

Virgin Islands

Calypso rhythm.[1]
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the
early to mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of
French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century.
Calypso drew upon African and French influences, and became the voice of the people[citation needed].
It was characterized by highly rhythmic and harmonic vocals, which was most often sung in a
French creole and led by a griot. As calypso developed, the role of the griot (originally a similar
traveling musician in West Africa) became known as a chantuelle and eventually, calypsonian.
As English replaced "patois" (Antillean creole) as the dominant language, calypso migrated into
English, and in so doing it attracted more attention from the government. It allowed the masses
to challenge the doings of the unelected Governor and Legislative Council, and the elected town
councils of Port of Spain and San Fernando. Calypso continued to play an important role in
political expression, and also served to document the history of Venezuela and Trinidad and
Tobago.
Calypso in the Caribbean includes a range of genres, including: the Benna genre of Antiguan and
Barbudan music; Mento, a style of Jamaican folk music that greatly influenced ska and reggae;
Ska, the precursor to rocksteady and reggae; Spouge, a style of Barbadian popular music;

Dominica Cadence-lypso, which mixed calypso with the cadence of Haiti; and soca music, a
style of Kaiso/calypso, with influences from cadence-lypso, soul, and funk.

Contents

1 Etymology

2 Origins
o 2.1 Calypso recordings

3 Popularity

4 See also

5 Footnotes

6 References

7 External links

Etymology
It is thought that the name "calypso" was originally "kaiso" which is now believed to come from
Efik "ka isu" ("go on!") and Ibibio "kaa iso" ("continue, go on"), used in urging someone on or in
backing a contestant.[2] There is also a Trinidadian term "cariso" that is used to refer to "old-time"
calypsos.[3] The term "calypso" is recorded from the 1930s onwards. Alternatively, the insert for
The Rough Guide to Calypso and Soca (published by World Music Network) favours John
Cowley's arguments in Carnival, Canboulay and Calypso: Traditions in the Making: that the
word might be a corruption of the French carrouseaux and through the process of patois and
Anglicization became caliso and then finally "calypso"; however, Cowley also notes that the first
mention of the world "calypso" is given in a description of a dance in 1882 by Abb Masse.[4]

Origins
Calypso music was developed in Trinidad in the 17th century from the West African Kaiso and
canboulay music brought by African slaves imported to that Caribbean island to work on sugar
plantations. The slaves, brought to toil on sugar plantations, were stripped of all connections to
their homeland and family and not allowed to talk to each other. They used calypso to mock the
slave masters and to communicate with each other. Many early calypsos were sung in French
Creole by an individual called a griot. As calypso developed, the role of the griot (originally a
similar traveling musician in West Africa) became known as a chantuelle and eventually,
calypsonian.

Modern calypso, however, began in the 19th century, a fusion of disparate elements ranging from
the masquerade song lavway, French Creole belair and the calinda stick-fighting chantwell.
Calypso's early rise was closely connected with the adoption of Carnival by Trinidadian slaves,
including canboulay drumming and the music masquerade processions. The French brought
Carnival to Trinidad, and calypso competitions at Carnival grew in popularity, especially after
the abolition of slavery in 1834.

Calypso recordings
The first identifiably calypso genre song was recorded in 1912, by Lovey's String Band while
visiting New York City. In 1914, the second calypso song was recorded, this time in Trinidad, by
chantwell Julian Whiterose, better known as the Iron Duke and famous calinda stick-fighter.
Jules Sims would also record vocal calypsos. The majority of these calypsos of the World War I
era were instrumentals by Lovey and Lionel Belasco. Perhaps due to the constraints of the
wartime economy, no recordings of note were produced until the late 1920s and early 1930s,
when the "golden era" of calypso would cement the style, form, and phrasing of the music.
Calypso evolved into a way of spreading news around Trinidad. Politicians, journalists and
public figures often debated the content of each song, and many islanders considered these songs
the most reliable news source. Calypsonians pushed the boundaries of free speech as their lyrics
spread news of any topic relevant to island life, including speaking out against political
corruption. Eventually British rule enforced censorship and police began to scan these songs for
damaging content.
Even with this censorship, calypsos continued to push boundaries, with a variety of ways to slip
songs past the scrutinizing eyes of the editor. Double entendre, or double-speak, was one way, as
was the practice of denouncing countries such as Hitler's Germany and its annexation of Poland,
while making pointed references toward the UK's policies on Trinidad. Sex, scandal, gossip,
innuendo, politics, local news, bravado and insulting other calypsonians were the order of the
day in classic calypso, just as it is today with classic hip-hop. And just as the hip-hop of today,
the music sparked shock and outrage in the moral sections of society.
Countless recordings were dumped at sea in the name of censorship, although in truth, rival US
companies did this in the spirit of underhanded competition, claiming that the rivals' material
was unfit for US consumption. Decca Records lost untold pressings in this manner, as did its
rival, RCA's Bluebird label.
An entrepreneur named Eduardo Sa Gomes played a significant role in spreading calypso in its
early days. Sa Gomes, a Portuguese immigrant who owned a local music and phonograph
equipment shop in Port of Spain, promoted the genre and gave financial support to the local
artists. In March 1934 he sent Roaring Lion and Attila the Hun to New York City to record; they
became the first calypsonians to record abroad, bringing the genre out of the West Indies and into
pop culture.[5] Lord Invader was quick to follow, and staying in New York City after a protracted
legal case involving the theft of his song "Rum and Coca-Cola", a hit by the Andrews Sisters,
made his home there along with Wilmoth Houdini, and became one of the great calypsonians of
the USA.

Early forms of calypso were also influenced by jazz such as Sans Humanitae. In this extempo
(extemporaneous) melody calypsonians lyricise impromptu, commenting socially or insulting
each other, "sans humanit" or "no mercy" (which is again a reference to French influence).

Popularity
The first major stars of calypso started crossing over to new audiences worldwide in the late
1930s. Attila the Hun, Roaring Lion and Lord Invader were first, followed by Lord Kitchener,
one of the longest-lasting calypso stars in historyhe continued to release hit records until his
death in 2000. 1944's "Rum and Coca-Cola" by the Andrews Sisters, a cover version of a Lord
Invader song, became an American hit despite the song being a very critical commentary on the
explosion of prostitution, inflation and other negative influences accompanying the American
military bases in Trinidad at the time.[6] Perhaps the most straight forward way to describe the
focus of calypso is that it articulated itself as a form of protest against the authoritarian colonial
culture which existed at the time.
Calypso, especially a toned-down, commercial variant, became a worldwide craze with the
release of the "Banana Boat Song", or "Day-O", a traditional Jamaican folk song, whose bestknown rendition was done by Harry Belafonte on his album Calypso (1956); Calypso was the
first full-length record to sell more than a million copies. The success of that album inspired
hundreds of "Folkies", or the American folk music revival to imitate the "Belafonte style", but
with a more folk-oriented flavor. The Kingston Trio would be a good example. 1956 also saw the
massive international hit "Jean and Dinah" by Mighty Sparrow. This song too was a sly
commentary as a "plan of action" for the calypsonian on the widespread prostitution and the
prostitutes' desperation after the closing of the U.S. naval base on Trinidad at Chaguaramas.
In the Broadway-theatre musical Jamaica (1957), Harold Arlen and Yip Harburg cleverly
parodied "commercial", Belafonte-style calypso. Several films jumped on the calypso craze in
1957 such as Island in the Sun (20th Century Fox) that featured Belafonte and the low-budget
films Calypso Joe (Allied Artists), Calypso Heat Wave (Columbia Pictures), and Bop Girl Goes
Calypso (United Artists). Robert Mitchum released an album, Calypso...Is Like So (1957), on
Capitol records, capturing the sound, spirit, and subtleties of the genre. Dizzy Gillespie recorded
a calypso album Jambo Caribe (1964) with James Moody and Kenny Barron.
Soul shouter Gary "US" Bonds released a calypso album Twist up Calypso (1962) on Legrand
records, shortly after returning home from his military post in Port of Spain. Nithi Kanagaratnam
from Sri Lanka sang calypso-styled songs in Tamil in 1968, which was a success and earned him
the title "Father of Tamil Popular Music". Since Baila rhythm was popular in Sri Lanka, most of
his songs were classified as Tamil Baila. In the mid-1970s, women entered the calypso men' s
oriented arena, [2] Calypso Rose was the first female to win the Trinidad Road March
competition in 1977 with her song "Gimme More Tempo". The following year with "Come Leh
We Jam" she won the "Calypso King " competition, the first time a woman had received the
award. The competition's title was changed to Calypso Monarch in her honour. The French and
pioneer electronic musician Jean Michel Jarre released an album in 1990 called Waiting for
Cousteau. The album has four tracks: "Calypso", "Calypso part 2", "Calypso part 3 Fin de
Sicle" and "Waiting for Cousteau". It was a dedicated to Jacques-Yves Cousteau in his 80th

birthday. This album had a special participation of the Amocco Renegades (a traditional steeldrum band from Trinidad and Tobago). In the first track is possible to notice a strong style
influence. Calypso had another short burst of commercial interest when Tim Burton's
horror/comedy film Beetlejuice (1988) was released, and used Belafonte's "Jump In The Line" as
the soundtracks headliner and also "The Banana Boat Song" in the dinner-party scene. Disney's
song "Under the Sea", a calypso theme from The Little Mermaid won an Academy Award for
Best Original Song in 1989 as well as the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual
Media in 1991.

See also

Canboulay

Cadence-lypso, a cultural music of Dominica.

Caribbean Carnival

Carnival Road March

Chutney music

Extempo

Soukous

Marrabenta

List of calypso musicians

List of calypso-like genres

List of Caribbean music genres

Lord Kitchener

Mento, a Jamaican folk music related to Calypso

Lord Pretender

Mighty Sparrow

JFC (reggae band)

Soca music

The Duke of Iron

West Indies cricket team: cricketers are often nicknamed the Calypso Kings

Footnotes
1.
Blatter, Alfred (2007). Revisiting Music Theory: a guide to the practice, p. 28. ISBN 0-41597440-2.
Richard Allsopp, Dictionary of Caribbean English Usage (Oxford University Press,
1996), p. 131.
Mendes (1986), p. 30.
John Cowley, Carnival, Canboulay and Calypso: Traditions in the Making, Cambridge
University Press, p. 98.
Funk, Ray. "Roaring Lion (Raphael Arius Kairiyama De Leon AKA Hubert Raphael
Charles, 15.6.08 11.7.99)".
1.

Consuming the Caribbean.

References

Hill, Donald R. Calypso Calaloo: Early Carnival Music in Trinidad (1993). ISBN 08130-1221-X. (cloth); ISBN 0-8130-1222-8 (pbk). University Press of Florida. 2nd
edition: Temple University Press (2006); ISBN 1-59213-463-7.

Mendes, John (1986). Cote ce Cote la Trinidad and Tobago Dictionary. John Mendes,
Arima, Trinidad.

Quevedo, Raymond (Atilla the Hun). 1983. Atilla's Kaiso: a short history of Trinidad
calypso (1983). University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad. (Includes the
words to many old calypsos as well as musical scores for some of Atilla's calypsos.)

Gittens, Sinclair (August 12, 2010). "The origin of calypso". Nation Newspaper.
Retrieved January 2, 2011.

External links

Calypso music at DMOZ

Calypsonians.com

[show]

Street dance
[show]

Calypso music
Categories:

Calypso

Kaiso

Caribbean culture

Trinidad and Tobago styles of music

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