Kaiso & Politics By JULIEN NEAVES Sunday, January 18 2015 Political calypsos have been around for as long as there has been Carnival. And as the grand fete for 2015 picks up, and various calypso tents swing their doors open, lovers of the art form will be in for a treat once more as the composers and singers lend biting commentary to their songs. But the commentary on political calypsos is as intense as the compositions themselves, even among those who write and sing the songs. One school of thought among the veterans is that the art is being replaced by offensive compositions. They are also concerned over the relatively new phenomenon of calypsonians appearing on the platform of the politicians they are supposed to critique. One of the best commentators and Calypso Monarch on numerous occasions, Dr Hollis Liverpool, who drew his sobriquet Chalkdust from his day job as a teacher, is firm about what political calypsos are and aren’t. He told Sunday Newsday: “Political calypsos are very, very important. There has always been political calypsos. Some believe political calypsos started with the PNM (People’s National Movement), but the society always had political calypsos going back to the days of enslavement. Because it is the voice of the enslaved (that) was the politics.” Liverpool pointed out that he has never appeared on a platform for a political party. The closest he ever came, he said, was singing on shows for the National Joint Action Committee (NJAC) but he noted quickly that these were not political shows or for “election gimmicks.” NJAC’s cultural arm has been quite successful in promoting political commentary in song via its Young Kings contest. Liverpool recalled that about three years ago he sang a calypso, professing to be an “umpire” and concluding therefore that he “ought not to go on (political) platforms.” He stressed that to be an umpire you have to examine the issues and comment objectively and not support political parties. He feels people will respect more and listen to him if he maintains this unbiased approach. He, however, does not object to other calypsonians going on political platforms. Returning to an historical perspective, Liverpool observed that in the early days there were not many political calypsos but this changed and in the 70s and under the PNM there were “plenty of them.” He said calypso has not changed much in the past decades and ideally should be devoid of bias and have “some art to it”. ‘Artform artless’ Liverpool noted, however, that there are many contemporary calypsonians who sing political calypsos that have no art to them and they “sing direct and support parties directly”. He said they should sing on the issue and not “support a party as such”. Liverpool described it as “artlessness” for an artiste to come out openly to sing for certain people and parties. He also commented on offensive compositions, noting that the essence of singing political calypso is not to damage or “scandalise” an official’s name or family but the number should be “enjoyable”. Liverpool said once you sing a political calypso in a small society there might be “whiplash” from politicians. “When you jump into politics some way or the other you will get hurt. Some expect to be hurt. It goes with the territory,” he said. Fellow calypsonian, Eric “Pink Panther” Taylor, who will be appearing at the Kalypso Revue Tent in Arima which opened this weekend, provided Sunday Newsday with an excerpt of his 2015 political calypso “Wait Dorothy Wait” which is a two edged sword: part tribute to ailing veteran calysponian Leroy “Black Stalin” Calliste and part social commentary. Taylor noted that he will also be incorporating the visit by Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar to Calliste’s bedside following his stroke last year. He explained that one of the characteristics of good political calypsos is double entendre and it is about satire. “Some people practising the art don’t really know about it,” he commented. “They go to university and say they can write calypso.” He recalled songs like Chalkdust’s 1989 composition “The Driver Can’t Drive”. He explained that political calypsos’ cannot be blunt or it would no longer be an art form. He lamented that a number of compositions are lacking in creativity. “Don’t know if is a ‘eat ah food thing,” Taylor said. “(But) very few calypsonians holding on to (the tradition). They have a speech and verse and chorus and they call it a calypso.” Taylor described as stalwarts Chalkdust, Stalin, and Winston “Shadow” Bailey, and he said he was concerned about what will happen to calypso when these three men are gone. He noted that some calypsos are “parading as political calypsos” but they are not so. He said though a song references a party that a calypsonian supports they should not be raw or blunt. “Some songs very offensive and that is not calypso,” Taylor stressed. He noted that alternatively, calypso should “make you laugh”. Taylor said there are calypsonians who belong to particular political parties, revealing that he is a PNM and has sought political office under that party banner. He stressed, however, that one has to be objective and even criticise your own party as he did back in 2002 with his composition “Gold under the rainbow”. “You belong to a political party but if they doing something wrong you take a stand,” he added. Questioned on how to bring back some of the art to political calypsos Taylor said there is a need for mentoring. He noted that just as he learned from the late Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts), calypsonians need to learn from the veterans such as Explainer (Winston Henry), Sugar Aloes (Michael Osouna) and Chalkdust. No respect He said, unfortunately, some have “no respect or manners” for veteran calypsonians and therefore the gap cannot be bridged and the knowledge passed on. “They would not even tell you good morning. How you expect to learn the art form?” he asked rhetorically. He said that we are losing “gems” of calypsonians and there is no real passing of the baton “They going to the grave without (passing on their) talent and knowledge,” he lamented. Liverpool said many calypsonians have respect for him though there are some who show disrespect by not speaking to him or passing him straight. “I don’t feel any how,” he added. Liverpool agreed there should be mentoring and suggested that he should be one of the mentors. He noted that he hears many calypsos and sees the mistakes and thinks of ways of improving them. He said sometimes he thinks of coming out of the competition and acting as a mentor. “It should be my responsibility,” he added. Liverpool, now 73, said that based upon his age, he is happy to be still singing “thank God,” and noted that he will continue to keep up his standards. He has three calypsos planned for this year: “My pally wal Gypsy”, “ah frighten” and a third composition not yet named. Weston “Cro” Rawlins, who had stinging political critique of the People’s Partnership Government in “Pious, Poor but Proud” last year, said that fans can expect the same kind of biting commentary from him this year. He said he started to write his song just a week ago. He said people feel there is “plenty to write about” with all the issues in the country currently, but he noted that “everybody writing song” and he has to find his own particular area. He pointed out that every year for the last five years he has had something to work with. “Every minute they (the Government) doing something wrong and something foolish. You think is the last straw. Next week they do something dotish again,” he commented. The diminutive Rawlins, who has been on the calypso stage for 40 years, explained that his process for writing the song is to get the “pulse of the people, nation and of the time.” Commenting on how political calypso has changed over the years Rawlins said that rival calypsonian Sugar Aloes has “changed it for the worse”. He explained that Osouna has declared that he is “PNM till he dead” in a song which is something that “I hate”. Asked about his composition this year Rawlins said he would be premiering it at the Icons Tent at the Ambassador Hotel, Long Circular Road, St James opening January 22. Calypsonian Kurt Allen also kept his political composition close to his chest, hinting only that “I consider myself a king this year.” He revealed that since March last year he decided on his theme for 2015 and started putting things together. He finished his songs in early October but noted that other issues may develop between then and the present which may alter the songs. Allen said every year he tries to do something different. He gave the analogy of calypsonians with topical issues as chefs with the same ingredients - rice, peas, chicken and some cabbage - but the five different chefs will come up with different recipes. “I try to look for balance, put my own creative spin and make it palatable for people’s feast,” he said. He feels that tent crowds “love the bacchanal” and may call you back six and seven times, but when you have to present the same material in the Calypso Monarch finals you could get a different response. On political calypsos he noted that he is not one to sing against or pro-government and does not really call names. He said this year’s composition is one of his better political commentaries not just in lyrics and melody but also style and delivery. “People tired of same pam pam puh dam ah dam,” he added. Allen, who has placed second in the Calypso Monarch competition three times, said he is hoping to break the “bridesmaid curse” and he believes he is “good enough, capable enough and (will) deliver enough to break the curse this year”. He also took the opportunity to plug the “Barrack Yard Tent Experience” which will be held at the National Academy for the Performing Arts carpark opening on January 28 and closing on February 20 at a cost of $180 all inclusive. It will include many local icons such as Calypso Rose (McCartha Lewis), David Rudder and Rikki Jai (Samraj Jaimungal) and will feature parang, limbo, steelpan, calypso and chutney. newsday.co.tt/carnival_2015/0,205715.html
Posted on: Mon, 19 Jan 2015 05:58:16 +0000