Weblog for Caribbean music - Soca, Calypso, Pan and Carnival Culture - Est. 2003
The renowned Calypsonian Fitzgerald C. Henry, better known as Mighty Terror, passed away on Tuesday at age 86. He had started his career in the late 40s and was active as an performer until recently. Some of his best known Calypsos are “Brownskin Girl”, “Heading North” or “Calypso War”. In 1966 he won the Calypso Crown with “Play Mas” and “Steelband Jamboree”. He is Survived by his wife and four daughters.
[via Trinidad Express ]
Technorati Tags: Trinidad Calypso Calypsonian As every year in late August, Notting Hill Carnival, the biggest caribbean carnival celebration in Europe, will be taking place in London, UK. Carnival Weekend will be set off by 70 Degrees - The Alternative Concept Pt. 4, the show of Machel Montano & Xtatik on Friday, 25th August, at the Stratford Rex in Stratford, London. Machel will bring along the Xtatik Entourage, namely Patrice Roberts, Zan and Benjai; included as Special Guest this year will be Alison Hinds, bringing together two of soca’s finest performers. The official After Party “75 Degrees” will as usual take place at seOne Club, Weston Street, London SE1. Information and Tickets for both events are available at PoisonUK.
While the weekend will be highlighted by events such as Panorama or Children’s Carnival on Sunday, the main Mas Procession as usual will take place on Monday.
[PoisonUK Schedule of Events]
Shurwayne Winchester has become the first Soca Artiste to repeat as winner of the Roadmarch competition since the legendary Superblue did it from 1991 to 1993. Shurwayne’s Tune “Dead Or Alive” was by far the most played Tune along the judging points, leaving no chance to other contenders like Destra’s “Fly”, Machel Montano’s “Madder Than Dat” or KMC’s “First Experience”.
Hollis Liverpool aka Chalkdust won at the Dimanche Gras Calypso Monarch competition on Sunday, singing “I In Town Too Long” And “Ah Doh Rhyme”. Second finished Cro Cro (Weston Rawlins) with his songs “Oh Grenada” and “Chop Off Yuh Hand”, while Singing Sandra (Sandra Des Vignes) came in third.
Petrotrin Phase II Pan Groove with Arranger Len “Boogsie” Sharpe won at the Panorama Finals last night, playing “Trini Gone Wild” by Colin Lucas. They finished ahead of Sagicor Exodus, who played “From Beyond” by De Fosto, arranged by Pelham Goddard; third were Witco Desperadoes with their Clive Bradley-arranged version of Oba’s “Action”.
Bunji Garlin has defended his title as International Soca Monarch with a spectacular performance. Making his entrance from top of the stage on a plattform that was surrounded by fireworks, he went on to perform “Blaze Di Fire”, including several verses written especially for the event. Coming in second, just as last year, was Shurwayne Winchester (again only one point behind Bunji in the jury’s rating), who sang “Dead Or Alive”. Iwer George with “Ease The Tension” placed third.
Earlier in the evening, Michelle Silvester beat H2O Phlo and Blackie for the title of Groovy Soca Monarch, performing “Sleeping In Your Bed”.
The race for this years Roadmarch title seems to be very close. While “Dead Or Alive” by Shurwayne Winchester (last seasons winner with “De Band Coming”) is the favourite right now, drawing massive reactions whenever it is played, others are also still in contention. Especially “First Experience” by KMC is also reported to receive much love from the carnival crowd. The Guardian currently lists these five Tunes as the hottest contenders:
The Finalists for the Calypso Monarch competition on Carnival Sunday are:
Reserves are Winston Henry (Explainer) and Edwin Ayoung (Crazy).
After Fay-Ann Lyons quitted as singer of the band Invasion a few weeks ago, there has been new trouble between singer and band. At a club performance in San Fernando on Friday night, the band members unplugged their instruments and walked off stage as Fay-Ann was coming on to perform. “When I came onstage to sing, they got vexed, packed up their instruments and walked off the stage, steupsing,” Fay-Ann is quoted. Invasion singer Naya George states that the band didn’t know they were supposed to back Fay-Ann, who went on to perform without the band.
The new albums from Machel Montano and Maximus Dan, titled “The Xtatik Experience” and “Man Of Fire” respectively, are being released these days, featuring their hits from the current carnival season. Included on “The Xtatik Experience” for example are “You” and “Madder Than That” as well as collaborations by Machel with Wyclef Jean, Doug. E. Fresh and Rikki Jai. “Man Of Fire” (released Jan. 20th) sports Tunes such as the already known “Building Shake”, “Royal” or “Zion” as well as unreleased Songs like “Moving On”, “Mean It” (a cover of the 80s Madonna Hit “Holiday”) and the title Tune.
Recent Comments