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Calypsonians at Ryan's Pub
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Chatting with Calypsonians at Ryan's Pub
Stanley Adams, 'Jomo' and 'Ishaba'
TriniSoca.com Reporters
Interview Recorded: January 13, 2006
Posted: February 10, 2006
We are interviewing calypsonians at Ryan's Pub on Prince Street Port of Spain where John Absalom aka 'D Sideways' is launching his new CD.
Stanley Adams
Stanley Adams
TRINISOCA: I am here with Mr. Stanley Adams, another one of the calypsonians who performed today at Ryan's Pub.
TRINISOCA: Mr. Adams are you with any of the Tents?
STANLEY ADAMS: Yes, this year will be five years I am singing with the Classic Russo Tent.
TRINISOCA: What made you venture into Calypso?
STANLEY ADAMS: As a child growing up, I used to hear other music and hymns my mother used to sing, but I was never fascinated by it. Calypso was the first set of music I remember going to sleep thinking about. I was a little child when I heard the first Calypso with Kitchener singing 'Laura'. I couldn't get it out of me and even to this day, it is still there with me. I didn't like Lent because it was my saddest time during the year as a child growing up. I even had a little dislike for the religion who said you couldn't play Calypso during the Lenten Season.
TRINISOCA: Where do you think Calypso is going?
STANLEY ADAMS: Well, this is a big one. Calypso has a lot of spinoffs. People say there is improvement because they got Soca and Reggae from it. I wouldn't doubt that, because Calypso has a lot of rhythm in it. Calypso is like the raw material and when you start to refine it you could get any kind of product from it. It's like wheat, you get different brands of flour from the wheat. People take Calypso and they are going somewhere with the spin off product, but the basic Calypso tends to loose its flavour. The thing that worries me a lot is the young people who are coming into it are not composing much. Long ago we had a lot of story telling, but this is really a foundation for composing. Reading was a must at school. We had poetry which was a very important tool. You had to stand up in front of the class and say your poetry whether you liked it or not, or else you had the whip behind you. If we lay a foundation, whether it is story telling, poetry or composition it will help the youths.
The young composers have lost those things because I do not think we have those tools in schools anymore. When a child comes to me and asks me to write a song for him/her, I would ask them what they would like to sing about. I want to know what they are thinking so I can write along those lines. Sometimes I force them to tell me what they want to sing about or what they are thinking. Some do not want to tell me anything, they just want me to write something and they would sing it. Some of them might continue singing and reach to the top of their singing career but there is a flip side to that. For instance, a child might reach first standard and when Holidays come around they go out and work for big money. When the child goes back to school they will be thinking about the money. They wouldn't be thinking about the lessons again. That is what happens to the calypsonians when they make it. They do not want to have to think about composing again.
Composing comes kind of natural to me now. When I was very young I used to compose a few lines even though I couldn't read and write, I was too young. I remember I used to do my little lines and keep singing it. I use to ask anybody who was bigger than me what they thought about what I wrote and how I sang. I figured if they were bigger than me they should know something about Calypso and calypsonians. I grew to realize they didn't know as much as I did. Later on, my favourite calypsonian 'Spoiler' came along. I knew him from since I was very small and I always looked up to him. My mother and 'Spoiler' came from the same area and he and my cousin grew up as brothers. With the imagination 'Spoiler' had, I still cannot imagine how he used to think about these things. He influenced me the most in thinking how I think and how I sing Calypso. Long ago when I see a calypsonian I used to look at them like they were a doctor or a scientist. Sadly enough when I look in the mirror I don't see that, but I am a calypsonian. I still look at a calypsonian as a genius with something he was gifted with and wonder how he got those gifts. I look at him as a real important person, a role model, someone you could follow.
TRINISOCA: Can you share a verse and chorus of any of 'Spoiler's' tunes with us?
STANLEY ADAMS: Sure...
Ah say Meh great grandfather playing hop scotch and
pitching... marbles
And meh great grandmother with ah hoo la hoop
making...trouble
The ole people ah day in town
Hear them talking about when they was young
But with the fountain it will be bold
The whole talk change to when they was cold
That song was called 'The Fountain of Youth'. 'Spoiler' died on Christmas Day in 1960. I was a very young boy back then. I had his picture from the newspaper and I was walking all over the place with it. People would say, like 'Spoiler' is yuh father or what? I remember a day when he sang the song that went like this...
I'm going to bite the young ladies partner
Like ah hotdog or ah hambuger
If yuh know yuh thin doh be doh be in ah fight
Is only big fat woman ah going to bite
His imagination was something else. To this day I still play his music because I cannot get over 'Spoiler' as yet. I do not think I will ever get over him at this age.
TRINISOCA: Thank you very much Mr. Adams.
Andrew Mc Millan aka 'Jomo'
Andrew Mc Millan aka 'Jomo'
TRINISOCA: This artiste calls himself 'Jomo'.
TRINISOCA: Could you give us your full name sir?
JOMO: My name is Andrew McMillan, and my sobriquet is 'Jomo'.
TRINISOCA: How were you introduced into Calypso and how long have you been singing Calypso?
JOMO: I would say I was introduced into Calypso by listening to veteran calypsonians like The Mighty Sparrow, Bomber, Kitchener and even in these modern times artistes like Baron, David Rudder and others. I decided to really get into Calypso about three years now. It's about fifteen years now since I actually joined TUCO but I never really got involved too much in the Calypso business.
TRINISOCA: If I was to say I want to sing a Calypso, what advice would you have for me?
JOMO: My advice is to work on good rhymes and good lyrics because Calypso is rhyme.
TRINISOCA: Who would you say had the greatest influence on your music?
JOMO: I would say Spoiler, Kitchener and The Mighty Sparrow. Fellas like 'Decipher' and 'Cristo', they sang good songs too. The youths in this time wouldn't follow those songs. Whenever I am at home and their songs are playing, I raise the volume because I love that kind of music. Their songs were really good.
TRINISOCA: What do you have for 2006?
JOMO: Tonight I sang 'Big Money Man' and 'Jumping Up In a Band'
TRINISOCA: Are you with any Tents?
JOMO: There is a Tent called Unique. They are an offshoot from TUCO North Zone. Right now Unique is based in Belmont.
TRINISOCA: Thank you sir.
Linus Borneo aka 'Ishaba'
Linus Borneo aka 'Ishaba'
TRINISOCA: Chatting with me here is calypsonian 'Ishaba' who also performed at Ryan's Pub.
TRINISOCA: Good night sir, could you give us your full name?
ISHABA: My name is Linus Borneo, and I am 'Ishaba' the musical healer.
TRINISOCA: How long have you been singing Calypso?
ISHABA: I have been singing Calypso since school days. One of my songs I made was called 'Tamboo'. I made that song for steelband and every time they played it the people would get happy and then they would start to fight (laughter). That was in the 80's.
TRINISOCA: Who would you say has influenced you the most in your music and why?
ISHABA: I would say Kitchener because he was prolific in terms of the structure and so on.
TRINISOCA: Do you have any advice for the young and upcoming calypsonian out there?
ISHABA: My advice to them is to stay true to the art form and continue pursuing it. No door is going to open easy out there for them. If they have the talent and the ambition to go forward with it, they should pursue it and do not stop until the goal is achieved.
TRINISOCA: Would you like to share anything with the people out there?
ISHABA: Well, I think it is time we start appreciating what we have in Trinidad. For instance I have a song that goes like this...
Jah, what they want from me
I gave them lyrics and melody
Jah, what they want from me
Cyar wear meh pants under meh bamsy
Jah, what they want from me
They want to make me an alien
Jah, what they want from me
I cannot talk like ah Jamaican
I's ah Trini
The radio stations have gone forward with the Jamaican Music and leaving our music to suffer. They play more Kaiso on the radio in New York than they do here in Trinidad. Even in islands like St. Vincent and Grenada you hear more Calypso than in Trinidad. I have to wonder at these things. They say no prophet is acceptable in his own country. Perhaps that is what is playing off here.
TRINISOCA: What are you looking for in the future?
ISHABA: I am looking to have my music played in Panorama. I have a lot of songs, conventional and otherwise. I am working on a different beat with the Soca. I am also working on a nice song right now.
TRINISOCA: Thank you very much sir.
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