Kaiso fire blazing in New York

by Maxwell Haywoodi n New York

New York-based Vincentian calypsonians have sent a clear signal that they should not be taken lightly in the process leading up to the crowning of the national calypso monarch for Vincy Mas 2005.

It all happened in the preliminaries organized by Dynamites Calypso Tent, held at Café Omar in Brooklyn on Friday, June 10. Twelve calypsonians and several guest soca artistes performed before a full audience made up of Vincentians and other Caribbean nationals, especially Grenadians.{{more}}

The calypsonians and soca artistes, backed by the superb Global Explosion band, had the audience begging for more. Had it not been a competition, many of the artistes would have earned encores. The calypsos and soca songs reflected various themes and moods including elections, carnival, Vincy women, patriotism, and political morality and ethics.

Supadex declared that certain people are “No use to us”; Cisco rang the alarm

that “Fire is blazing” so “send for the fire brigade”; Exposer wailed over

what he sees as the trends indicating that we are “Killing we self”; John

Dougan warned against the “Tricksters”; similarly, Groovy D asked if “Yo go

buy that”; and Lord Fish, dressed in a neck tie with the colors of the national flag, lamented the living conditions of Vincentians, but despite this he chanted he was a Born Vincy.

De Man Age expressed doubts about the ULP and NDP and called for a third party because the choices available make you have doubts about “Who to vote

For” and he declared its none of them.

In his song “Missing you”, Jose Juan continued the patriotic theme of Lord Fish and mourned his physical absence from SVG. Bob MC described the things he sees as “Gonsalves Liquor”. Dennis Bowman, in his song titled “Pinocchio” sent a fierce protest response to the journalists who pressured him about his remarks while performing in SVG last year.

Fabulous T, in a spirited performance belted out “Girls gone wild” and Lively declared he did not want any trouble for carnival, but just wanted us to “Do we thing in the road”.

Guest performers included Val Adams and Super P from Grenada, Fafa, Tighty,

Philly Dilly, and Curtis C.

The Carnival Development Corporation (CDC) sent Alban Cummings, Vin Stewart, and Victor Peters as judges from SVG to select artistes from the New York based Dynamites Calypso Tent, who will perform in the calypso semi-finals.

l Continued from Page 31.



There was a noticeable improvement in the work of the Dynamites Calypso

Tent this year. President of the Dynamites Calypso Tent, Franklyn “Supadex”

Richards said that he was “pleased with the quality of the performances” in a show that was much better than previous years’. We are advancing. We are moving from just a tent to becoming an organization. We have many calypso veterans in the tent.”

Cherry Ince, an outstanding Vincentian musician, said “the quality of the songs is excellent. It is a step up from last year.” He also said that the Dynamites Calypso Tent “has been successful so far and other Islands are looking to do the same thing in North America.”

However, artistes expressed concerns regarding the level of support the overseas artistes receive in SVG and stated the need for a quick solution to this problem.

Max E Edwards, founding member and former PRO of the Dynamites Calypso Tent, stated: “This is a real issue. The radio stations could do more and there is no good reason why the overseas artistes can’t get played when there are so many radio stations in SVG. After spending so much money on creating songs for the festival, we still can’t get airplay.”

Ainsley Primus, treasurer of Dynamites said: “CDC should place no restrictions on foreign artistes.” He thinks that “the overseas artistes should organize a tent in SVG so they could have more power in SVG”.

Franklyn “Supadex” Richards, on the other hand, pointed out that “local shows exclude New York based artistes not because of CDC, but local promoters should seek to bring us more into their shows.”

This year with the high standard of calypsos coming out of the Dynamites tent, it should be difficult for the overseas artistes to be ignored. If last Friday’s show is an indication of things to come, then Vincy Kaiso in New York is safe and could only grow to higher heights. Dynamites should now build on its achievements and ensure that Vincy kaiso lives on in New York and contribute more to the development of this important art form in SVG. The organization deserves all the support it could get. Today and in the future Vincy Kaiso and carnival will be stronger because of organizations like the Dynamites Calypso Tent.