Frankie McIntosh honoured at Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari

Legendary Vincentian musician and arranger Franklyn “Frankie” McIntosh believes that less emphasis is being placed on the words of some soca songs, as compared to previous times.{{more}}

McIntosh was here in St Vincent last weekend, on a visit from the United States, to receive an award for his contribution to Caribbean Jazz, during the Naniki Caribbean Jazz Safari, that took place at the National Tennis Centre last Friday night.

He said that compared to what was done during his prime, more attention is beig paid to the “beat” and the “hook” as opposed to the entire song.

“The lyrical soca seems to be on a decline,” McIntosh told SEARCHLIGHT.

“The idea now in terms of words, is to latch on to a hook and to repeat that over and over.

“When I first started doing the arranging, it was more like a storyline, so we had several verses and the last verse was sort of a conclusion or summary. It had some sort of rhyme scheme; we had some sort of melody, there were different chord progressions.

“Today in terms of the harmony, one chord could suffice and a drum beat; there is more emphasis on technology today, than the actual creativity, so you programme a drum machine and have it play one beat for ten minutes, as opposed to when we used to record, we had a drummer who would change the mood.”

The “Maestro,” as his contemporaries call him, shared with SEARCHLIGHT his humble beginnings in the music production business, which has spanned close to four decades.

He credited his entrance onto the soca scene to another Vincentian legend, Alston “Becket” Cyrus, with whom he worked on Becket’s first album in 1977. And the rest, as they say, is history.

“…Because prior to that, I was earning my living as a pianist playing for jazz, gospel, calypso groups and that sort of thing, and then I arranged this album for Becket — “Coming High” and owing to the success of that, I started getting calls from other calypsonians.

“The one after Becket was Crazy (Trinidadian Edwin Ayoung); he actually came up and he did that album with the cricket match and Parang Soca… and it just sort of blossomed from there.”

The song “Calypso Disco” from the “Coming High” album made its way to international acclaim, when it appeared on the sountrack of the movie “The Deep”.

McIntosh went on to work with up and coming and established musicians around the Caribbean, from Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago.

The famed musician said that his first memories of being introduced to music were as a young child of about three years old, when his father used to play on a xylophone, and he was fascinated by it.

He said, however, that it was a good licking from his mother some years later, which put him on the path to becoming the person who many music lovers in the Caribbean have got to know and respect over the years.

“I remember when I was about three years old, me and my brother were born down in Paul’s Lot and my father used to… rehearse at a building next door called the Association Hall; my grandfather (George McIntosh) had built that after he formed the Working Men’s Association, and my father’s (Arthur) band used to rehearse there.

“In my father’s band was (Ellsworth) “Shake” Keane, a few of my uncles and so on, so that was my first exposure into music.

“I also had formal music lessons with Miss Eunice Horne, and I started that about age nine.

“But I used to “bun” music a lot and go play tennis at the Anglican School Annex, or go at my grandfather’s pharmacy in Middle Street… and my mother found out and give me one cut tail and she sent a strong neighbour to drag me and see me inside Miss Horne place and I always thank her for that cut tail,” the entertainer reminisced.

Later on, McIntosh migrated to the United States, where he attended the Brooklyn College and the New York University.

He has a Bachelor’s, as well as a Master of Arts Degree in music, and was well on his way to a PhD, when he had a change of heart.

“I said ‘look, I have a Bachelor’s and a Master’s, but I realized it’s not doing anything to my income…. In a sense I don’t regret making that decision, because in doing live music, I get to be in the community, and get to feel what’s happening, but with a PhD I could have gotten locked away in some college teaching the same course for years.”

Apart from making music and arranging, and collecting the occasional award, McIntosh still finds himself in the classroom.

He has been a teacher for the past 10 years, and also finds himself playing the piano in a small Vincy church in his Brooklyn neighbourhood, while looking after his seven grandchildren, whom he inherited from his four children.

Although he would like to visit St Vincent and the Grenadines, his homeland, more often, McIntosh laments that he does not get to come home as often as he would like, because of his other commitments, and was happy to be here to accept a plaque, which recognizes his contribution to jazz music in the region.

“Of course, I appreciate any award, especially if it is in St Vincent, but I think we need to find a term instead of Caribbean Jazz, find a different term for the music, because the music has its own identity, there is a certain style that is jazz influenced, but is still distinctly Caribbean.

On the stage at the National Tennis Centre on Friday night, McIntosh thanked a host of persons who had supported and inspired him over the decades.

He played a number of hits to the small, but appreciative crowd, as he took them on a trip down memory lane.

He shared the stage with a number of local, regional and international musicians, including Guy Marc Vadeleux of Martinique, Nikita and her Group the Original Unit from Barbados, the Van Taylor Trio from the United States, and a Vincentian who is already being touted as a maestro in the making, pannist Rodney Small.