Kaiso – A music of western African derivation and Spanish colonial influence. The precursor to the modern Calypso, narrative in form and often has a cleverly concealed political subtext. Kaiso probably has its origins in the Hausa language, where it’s used to exclaim approval such as "Bravo!"
Many of my childhood summers were spent at my grandmother's house in Belmont, Port of Spain - the capital of the tiny sister republic of Trinidad & Tobago - the southernmost Caribbean Islands. This yearly cycle of me leaving the Greater New York area for the summer and heading to Port of Spain started after kindergarten and continued until my early teens. Trinidad, the island where my Mom was born and raised, and my Dad grew up as well, was my cultural home. Going there immersed me in another world I felt drawn to and a part of: the food, the patois, the humor, the melodic cadence in the speech, the sun, the fruits, the sea; the music, like school-girl songs such as “London Bridge is Falling Down” and “Brown Girl in the Ring” that my sister and I used to sing and play patty-cake to. Calypso music was a steady soundtrack in the background of island life. I saw my Aunt Mary and her friends 'wine down' at parties and we kids were encouraged to do the same, we were meant to dance this way... more
1. Maryanne Revisited 13:32
2. Three Friends Advised 15:24
3. Kitch Goes Home 07:35
4. Saltfish Refried 10:46
5. John Gilman Wants Tobacco 01:56
6. An Open Letter 10:01
7. De Night A De Wake 06:44
8. We Is We Trini 08:23
Roy Campbell trumpet, pocket trumpet, flugelhorn, flute, pipes, bells
Daniel Carter alto, tenor and soprano saxophones, flute, trumpet, clarinet
William Parker double bass, gembri, bass duduk, trombonium
Charles Downs drums, percussion
Fay Victor voice
