Calypso genes
Trinidad Carnival, the Caribbean’s biggest annual party, falls in February this year, so it’s an appropriate time for a somewhat...
Hot Shots: Barbados’ Cover Drive
Take four Bajan teenagers, stir in pop music, instruments, and a dose of island energy, and you’d be lucky to come up with the compelling...
Playlist (November/December 2012)
Our pick The Return, by Morgan Heritage (VP Records) After a four-year hiatus, the other royal family of Jamaican reggae has reunited with...
Christopher Castagne: “Young parranderos like us, we sing everything”
It’s really hard to explain, the feeling you get when you hear the boom boom boom of a box bass, or the sh-k-t sh-k-t of a marac wafting...
Back in times
I’ve had the good fortune to see a lot of live reggae over the decades — and getting there has often been half the fun. Particularly...
Ol’ time calypso: long time music
It’s all too easy — in fact, it’s something of a tradition — for one generation to criticise the musical preferences of another. It...
Justin Hinds: “You have to be true in the spirit”
I was born in the little village of Steer Town, St Ann, on the 7th of May, 1942. I was raised by my parents, with the rest of my family...
Toots Hibbert: never grow old
He’s been thrilling audiences for over forty years with dynamic stage performances and rousing studio works. Still in high regard in his...
