By Raffique Shah
February 13, 2023
Every year, ritually, come Carnival, steel pans and drums rescued from the paws of scrap-metal hustlers hunting for a few dollars, or rust that’s threatening to render them useless, join hundreds of cellos, bass and retired hubcaps from derelict motor vehicles, coming together to treat music lovers with the most scintillating sounds and songs that could allow the “mad blood” in all of us to enjoy “we music”.
Continue reading There is hope yet for pan
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
September 12, 2022
PART II
Staged events such as “Stink & Dutty” are nothing more than a reflection of the carnivalesque, a mode of cultural and social production that attempts to subvert the assumptions of the dominant class.
The patrons or masqueraders always try to accomplish their desired goals through an enactment of chaos and in-your-face daring. In the process, they seek to stretch the limits of received traditions to discover a new sense of authenticity.
Continue reading Look-Me! A Reclamation of Self
By Dr Selwyn R. Cudjoe
February 15, 2022
I am not sure that I feel the same angst Ralph Maraj (a fellow columnist), former archbishop Joseph Harris, Raymond Tim Kee (deceased), Ken Gordon and others feel about the debilitating effects that Carnival has on the moral and ethical standards of our people.
Maraj laments: “Our society is threatened when tens of thousands come near to nudity, one step away from copulating on the streets. This corrosive cultural debasement has been eating at the nation’s innards, weakening the social fabric, nurturing generation after generation of young adults who are adrift, driven mainly by pleasure and materialism, so lacking in intellectual and spiritual depth they could fete every day with no commitment whatsoever to society and community.” (Sunday Express, February 6.)
Continue reading A call for social justice
By Raffique Shah
February 17, 2020
As I savour some of the best offerings from this year’s Carnival from the comfort and safety of my home, I cannot help but think of the thousands of performers and revellers out there who, even as they immerse themselves in the gaiety of the festival, must ponder the possibilities that they might become victims of some criminal act before the day or night is over.
Continue reading Pan Potential
By Raffique Shah
March 09, 2019
Having written last week that I did not see the successors to Sparrow and other icons in the pantheon of great calypsonians of Trinidad and Tobago, hence of the world, I think I must be man enough to apologise to the London family, three of whom won the four most prestigious calypso titles at stake this year.
Uncle Brian, who composed the winning songs for nephews Ronaldo and Rivaldo, beat a formidable field (Gypsy, Myron B, Black Sage) to take the ex-tempo crown convincingly, having failed on several previous occasions. Ever since his entry into the calypso arena sometime during the first decade of the Millennium, Brian has consistently maintained high standards as a composer and singer. He was selected for the monarch finals on five occasions (1st runner-up in 2010), and the ex-tempo finals more than that.
Continue reading Salute the London clan
By Raffique Shah
February 16, 2018
Dear Chalkie,
I rarely respond to critics of views I express in my column, unless, like you, I hold them in high regard. Just as I enjoy the freedom to criticise public figures within the bounds of decency, I respect others’ right to respond to my opinions when we disagree, or even when they distort facts and resort to abuse.
Continue reading Chalkdust, calypso must change or die
By Raffique Shah
January 30, 2018
They looked pathetic, three of the leading calypsonians in the country—Chalkdust, Sugar Aloes and Pink Panther—as they begged the Government for a “mere half-a-million-dollars” to operate the Calypso Revue tent over the three-week Carnival season. Admitting that they had already received $100,000 funding that was woefully inadequate, the top bards invoked the name, memory and legacy of the great Lord Kitchener, who founded the Revue 55 years ago. For Kitchener’s sake, they pleaded, grant us the half-a-mil.
Continue reading Death of calypso tents
By Jensen La Vende
January 11, 2016 – guardian.co.tt
With the Carnival season now in full swing, police are warning people who plan to gyrate on others that they can be arrested for assault if the person they want to “thief a wine on” decides to engage the police.
Speaking at the weekly media briefing yesterday, public information officer of the Police Service ASP Michael Jackman said it is an assault to touch someone without their consent.
Continue reading Cops: Get permission before thiefing a wine
By Raffique Shah
January 11, 2018
The Government missed a good opportunity to impress upon the population the gravity of the country’s economic circumstances, and consequently the dire need for all segments of society to make sacrifices on the expenditure side of the equation, when it capitulated by doling out millions of taxpayers’ dollars to fund private promoters whose sole interest in Carnival is to profit off it.
Continue reading Funding culture vultures
PNM women slam ‘Rowley mother’ song
By Seeta Persad
December 23, 2017 – newsday.co.tt
Chutney Singer Nirmal “Massive” Gosine’s latest song Rowley Mother Count has triggered a heated online debate on what should pass for composition at the national level.
Yesterday, Planning and Development Minister Camille Robinson-Regis joined the chorus of opposition to the play of words, describing it as distasteful and loathsome.
Continue reading PNM women slam ‘Rowley mother’ song