“These CDs are available in their own right or as part of the twenty CD ‘The Dance Master Classics – Anthologie des musiques de danse du monde’ series (split into two volumes – these are volume 9 and 10 respectively of the second anthology) that aims to look at and emphasise the relationship between dance and various forms of world music.
The internationalisation of calypso is examined on the first CD under consideration here in fashion that has really been overlooked previously – so included are The Andrews Sisters’ huge selling cover of ‘Rum and Coca Cola’ from 1944, Jamaican-American Harry Belafonte’s hits from just over a decade later, when calypso was seen as a rival to rock ‘n’ roll – though The Deep River Boys hedge their bets with 1958’s ‘Calypso Rock ‘n’ Roll’ – and, most unexpectedly, a quite listenable brace from film star Robert Mitchum. Actual Trinidadians are thin on the ground, though The Duke Of Iron is present (when he recorded ‘Big Bamboo’ in 1952 he had been a New York resident for almost three decades). Included too are Jamaicans Count Lasher, Lord Flea and Lord Tickler, and Bahaman banjo player Blind Blake Higgs, who all tackle items that qualify as calypso. The versatile French artist Henri Salvador was born in Guyana to Caribbean parents, and he sings in French (it works, too), whilst Josephine Premice was the New York-born daughter of Haitian emigrants, following in Belafonte’s footsteps and sounding very authentic.
Whilst the ‘dance’ aspect is undoubtedly relevant, and means that most of these tracks are at least mid-tempo and easily accessible, this does stand as a fine collection in itself. Hard-core calypso collectors might turn up their noses at this slightly different collection, but it is an enjoyable way to pick up some of those tracks that for many up until relatively recently were probably as much as many people outside the Caribbean knew of the music – and it make an admirable companion to the same label’s ‘Trinidad – Calypso 1939-1959’ reviewed in B&R 264.”
By Norman DARWEN – BLUES & RHYTHM
The internationalisation of calypso is examined on the first CD under consideration here in fashion that has really been overlooked previously – so included are The Andrews Sisters’ huge selling cover of ‘Rum and Coca Cola’ from 1944, Jamaican-American Harry Belafonte’s hits from just over a decade later, when calypso was seen as a rival to rock ‘n’ roll – though The Deep River Boys hedge their bets with 1958’s ‘Calypso Rock ‘n’ Roll’ – and, most unexpectedly, a quite listenable brace from film star Robert Mitchum. Actual Trinidadians are thin on the ground, though The Duke Of Iron is present (when he recorded ‘Big Bamboo’ in 1952 he had been a New York resident for almost three decades). Included too are Jamaicans Count Lasher, Lord Flea and Lord Tickler, and Bahaman banjo player Blind Blake Higgs, who all tackle items that qualify as calypso. The versatile French artist Henri Salvador was born in Guyana to Caribbean parents, and he sings in French (it works, too), whilst Josephine Premice was the New York-born daughter of Haitian emigrants, following in Belafonte’s footsteps and sounding very authentic.
Whilst the ‘dance’ aspect is undoubtedly relevant, and means that most of these tracks are at least mid-tempo and easily accessible, this does stand as a fine collection in itself. Hard-core calypso collectors might turn up their noses at this slightly different collection, but it is an enjoyable way to pick up some of those tracks that for many up until relatively recently were probably as much as many people outside the Caribbean knew of the music – and it make an admirable companion to the same label’s ‘Trinidad – Calypso 1939-1959’ reviewed in B&R 264.”
By Norman DARWEN – BLUES & RHYTHM
