The Very Beginning
Calypso is a music that's virtually synonymous with the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean. Where the name calypso came from is a matter of conjecture. To some, it's a derivation of an West African word, kaiso, a shout of encouragement. But there's plenty of debate about the matter. How did it all start, who created the term Calypso and what distinguishes Calypso from other musical genres are questions that continues to be asked by interested parties time and time again.
Because Trinidad was, over time, ruled by the British, the French and the Spanish, the African rhythms that form the roots of Calypso music blended with the European folk music of all of these places to give us the heavily rhythmic and pleasantly melodic sound that we now recognize as Calypso.
Calypso is generally played on folk instruments, including the guitar, banjo and various types of percussion. Combined, all these various elements shaped and created the “sound” of Calypso music.
Calypso Global researched and got some answers from the people closest to the music itself. The following represents excerpts found on websites from various sources on the question.
Artiste Eddie Grant "Calypso's our classical music. It's the bedrock of all the other Caribbean forms that have come forward. It's part of the information that has come through our society since that time, telling us of our history and culture."
Historian Ray Funk "It definitely came out of Trinidad, and there are articles about where the name came from," noted, "but there's little enough evidence as to where the name originated that it's all academic debate. It's not entirely clear." "I tend to believe, with Chalkdust, that there's a lot of African retention, that's present in the way Carnival evolved in Trinidad.
Beginning in 1914, calypso became a recorded form, too, and after that, noted Funk, "there was a transition from the chantwells, with carnival bands parading through the streets with one person leading the singing. In the late ‘20s into the ‘30s, something changed, and the first calypso tents began. Then came the backup bands, and Guyanese bands came in. There were Guyanese vaudeville troupes, with their songs. Bill Rogers was probably the best known of them. Some people suggest that tradition might have had some impact.
Music Publisher/ Producer Jean Michel Gibert, head of the Trinidadian label Rituals, "Calypso came from the griots. When Africans came as slaves they brought their traditional songs, and the only way for them to survive culturally was to come together and listen to the griot, who told stories of the community and mocked the slave master. A lot of slave masters back then were French, which is why you can find some patois in the original calypso."
According to Scholar John Cowley, the word calypso was first used in 1883, to describe a dance. By then the British had already banned candoublay, a native forerunner of Carnival, with stick-fight, bands of drummers, and the chantwells, or singers, whose voice would urge on the participants. The chantwells were the first real calypsonians, entertaining at Carnival time. They had grand names like Hannibal and Boadecia (a tradition that still continues). The relative freedom of Carnival time allowed them their brief outbursts - in 1898 Norman Le Blanc sang out against the repression of the colonial rules with reprisal.
Because Trinidad was, over time, ruled by the British, the French and the Spanish, the African rhythms that form the roots of Calypso music blended with the European folk music of all of these places to give us the heavily rhythmic and pleasantly melodic sound that we now recognize as Calypso.
Calypso is generally played on folk instruments, including the guitar, banjo and various types of percussion. Combined, all these various elements shaped and created the “sound” of Calypso music.
Calypso Global researched and got some answers from the people closest to the music itself. The following represents excerpts found on websites from various sources on the question.
Artiste Eddie Grant "Calypso's our classical music. It's the bedrock of all the other Caribbean forms that have come forward. It's part of the information that has come through our society since that time, telling us of our history and culture."
Historian Ray Funk "It definitely came out of Trinidad, and there are articles about where the name came from," noted, "but there's little enough evidence as to where the name originated that it's all academic debate. It's not entirely clear." "I tend to believe, with Chalkdust, that there's a lot of African retention, that's present in the way Carnival evolved in Trinidad.
Beginning in 1914, calypso became a recorded form, too, and after that, noted Funk, "there was a transition from the chantwells, with carnival bands parading through the streets with one person leading the singing. In the late ‘20s into the ‘30s, something changed, and the first calypso tents began. Then came the backup bands, and Guyanese bands came in. There were Guyanese vaudeville troupes, with their songs. Bill Rogers was probably the best known of them. Some people suggest that tradition might have had some impact.
Music Publisher/ Producer Jean Michel Gibert, head of the Trinidadian label Rituals, "Calypso came from the griots. When Africans came as slaves they brought their traditional songs, and the only way for them to survive culturally was to come together and listen to the griot, who told stories of the community and mocked the slave master. A lot of slave masters back then were French, which is why you can find some patois in the original calypso."
According to Scholar John Cowley, the word calypso was first used in 1883, to describe a dance. By then the British had already banned candoublay, a native forerunner of Carnival, with stick-fight, bands of drummers, and the chantwells, or singers, whose voice would urge on the participants. The chantwells were the first real calypsonians, entertaining at Carnival time. They had grand names like Hannibal and Boadecia (a tradition that still continues). The relative freedom of Carnival time allowed them their brief outbursts - in 1898 Norman Le Blanc sang out against the repression of the colonial rules with reprisal.
