Calypso tents are venues in which calypsonians perform during the Carnival season. They usually are cinema halls, community centers, or other indoor buildings which have seating and stage arrangements to host the entertainers, guests and patrons; or outdoor shows which are held in parks or, more famously, in the Queen's Park Savannah. Some of these tents are held at many venues, called Roving Caravans or Roving Tents.
Such venues are still called "tents" because calypsonians all used to sing on stages which were literally covered by a tent. The first such tent was organised by a calypsonian whose sobriquet was Railway Douglas. As time went along, buildings and other empty spaces that were properly arranged were also used, but the name stuck.
Although traditional calypso has lost ground to soca and party music, the Tents remain popular venues and still serve as a launch pad for many young artists.
Calypso is a style of Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago during the early to mid-19th century and spread to the rest of the Caribbean Antilles by the mid-20th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves from the French Antilles in the 18th century.
Aldwyn Roberts HBM DA, better known by the stage name Lord Kitchener, was a Trinidadian calypsonian. He has been described as "the grand master of calypso" and "the greatest calypsonian of the post-war age".
The music of Trinidad and Tobago is best known for its calypso music, soca music, chutney music, and steelpan. Calypso's internationally noted performances in the 1950s from native artists such as Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow. The art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte. Along with folk songs and African- and Indian-based classical forms, cross-cultural interactions have produced other indigenous forms of music including soca, rapso, parang, chutney, and other derivative and fusion styles. There are also local communities which practice and experiment with international classical and pop music, often fusing them with local steelpan instruments.
A calypsonian, originally known as a chantwell, is a musician from the anglophone Caribbean who sings songs of the calypso genre.
The music of Saint Kitts and Nevis is known for a number of musical celebrations including Carnival. The last week in June features the St Kitts Music Festival, while the week-long Culturama on Nevis lasts from the end of July into early August.
The music of Antigua and Barbuda is largely African in character, and has only felt a limited influence from European styles due to the population of Antigua and Barbuda descending mostly from West Africans who were made slaves by Europeans.
The culture of Dominica is formed by the inhabitants of the Commonwealth of Dominica. Dominica is home to a wide range of people. Although it was historically occupied by several native tribes, it was the Taíno and Island Caribs (Kalinago) tribes that remained by the time European settlers reached the island. "Massacre" is a name of a river dedicated to the murders of the native villagers by both French and British settlers, because the river "ran red with blood for days." Each claimed the island and imported slaves from Africa. The remaining Caribs now live on a 3,700-acre (15 km2) Carib Territory on the east coast of the island. They elect their own chief.
The Honourable David Michael Rudder OCC is a Trinidadian calypsonian, known to be one of the most successful calypsonians of all time. He performed as lead singer for the brass band Charlie's Roots. Nine years later, Rudder stepped outside the band, entering the calypso tent as a solo calypsonian in 1986, which was followed by an unprecedented rise to fame.
Fitzgerald Henry, better known as the Mighty Terror, was a Trinidadian calypsonian.
Calypso Rose or Linda McCartha Monica Sandy-Lewis is a Trinidadian calypsonian. She started writing songs at the age of 13; over the years, she has composed more than 1000 songs and recorded more than 20 albums. Considered the "mother of calypso", Rose was the first female calypso star and her lyrics frequently address social issues like racism and sexism. Her influence over the calypso music genre forced the renaming of the Calypso King competition to the Calypso Monarch instead. In addition to writing songs about social issues, Rose is also an activist and was given the title of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for former child soldiers along with performing at numerous events for social change. She has received every award available to living artists in the Caribbean.
Crop Over is a traditional harvest festival which began in Barbados, having had its early beginnings on the sugar cane plantations during slavery.
The Antiguan Carnival is a celebration of the emancipation of slavery in the country held annually from the end of July to the first Tuesday in August. The most important day is that of the j'ouvert, in which brass and steel bands perform for much of the island's population. Barbuda's Carnival, held in June, is known as Caribana. The Antiguan and Barbudan Carnivals replaced the Old Time Christmas Festival in 1957, with hopes of inspiring tourism in Antigua and Barbuda. Some elements of the Christmas Festival remain in the modern Carnival celebrations.
Denyse Burnadette Kirline Plummer was a Trinidadian calypsonian and gospel singer. The child of a white father and a black mother, she initially faced significant prejudice in a genre traditionally seen as Afro-Caribbean, but was eventually recognised as a leading calypso performer. In 2001, she won the Calypso Monarch title with her songs "Heroes" and "Nah Leaving".
Winston McGarland Bailey OBE, HBM, DLitt, better known by his stage name The Mighty Shadow or Shadow, was a calypsonian from Tobago.
Lord Pretender was the stage name of Aldric Farrell, M.O.M., H.B.M. a calypsonian vocalist born on the island of Tobago widely acknowledged to be a "master" of extempo, a lyrically improvised form of calypso music. Starting with an impromptu performance at the age of 12, his career spanned nearly seven decades until cancer of the larynx forced him to retire in the mid-1990s.
Sandra DesVignes-Millington, better known as Singing Sandra, was a Trinidadian calypsonian who won the Calypso Monarch title at the 1999 and 2003 carnivals.
Rufus Callender (1910–1976), better known as Lord Caresser, was a Trinidadian calypsonian. He is best known for his 1937 recording of "Edward the VIII", a calypso about the 1936 Abdication of Edward VIII of England. This was one of the best-selling records in the golden age of calypso of the 1930s and early 1940s, and generated further hits for Jamaican singer Lord Flea and American singer Harry Belafonte when they covered it in the 1950s.
Lord Executor was a Trinidadian calypsonian. He belonged to the first generation of calypso pioneers that included Julian Whiterose, Norman le Blanc, Henry Forbes the Inventor and Black Prince. Unlike those other early figures, however, Executor recorded extensively during the golden age of calypso of the 1930s and early 1940s, producing 28 record sides (78-rpm) and directly exerting influence on the second generation of calypsonians he worked alongside. According to the Roaring Lion, Executor "helped raise the general standard of the Calypso genre, gaining it more respect and acceptability in the public eye".
The Trinbago Unified Calypsonians’ Organisation (TUCO) is a professional body representing the interests of calypsonians in Trinidad and Tobago and working to promote calypso music nationally and internationally. TUCO was established in 1993 and incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1998. TUCO serves as the governing body for calypso in Trinidad and Tobago.
Black Prince was a Trinidadian calypsonian. He was one of only three of the first-generation calypso pioneers to record, the others being Iron Duke, who made the first (vocal) calypso record in 1914, and Lord Executor, who recorded extensively from 1937 to 1940.
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