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TUCO North Zone Speaks
LEFT: Reporter, Leslie; Vice Chairman, Mr. Dorril 'Versatile' Hector;
Chairman, Mr. Mark 'Contender' John; and Trustee, Ms. Bernice Carr.
TriniSoca.com Reporters
Interview: January 13, 2007
Posted: January 17, 2007
The Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organization (T.U.C.O.) was initiated by its founder and first president, Mr. Michael Legerton, after the unification of the Trinbago Calypsonians Organization (TCO) and the Calypsonians Association of Trinidad & Tobago (CATT) in 1992. T.U.C.O. now has one branch in the east, one in the north, one in the south of Trinidad and two in Tobago. Over the years each zone managed, with the support and approval of the T.U.C.O. central executive, to form and run Calypso tents such as Klassic Ruso of the North Zone, Kaiso Karavan of the East Zone, Kaiso Showkase of the South Zone, and two tents in the east and west of Tobago.
The Klassic Ruso Calypso Tent, originally called Calypso Kabarae, was founded in 1997 by the T.U.C.O. North Zone. The North Zone was the fourth arm of the organization to be instituted. In August 1997, Mr. Dorril 'Versatile' Hector became the first chairman of the zone. In spite of the rigorous ordeal of changing venues, the tent remained in existence for ten years. Klassic Ruso has been located at the Kavemar Pub on Henry Street, Port of Spain, since 2004 to present.
On Saturday 13th January, 2007, TriniSoca.com interviewed three executive members from the T.U.C.O. North Zone at the Kavemar Pub on Henry Street, Port of Spain. The members were Mr. Mark 'Contender' John, Chairman, Ms. Bernice Carr, Trustee, and Mr. Dorril 'Versatile' Hector, Vice Chairman.
TRINISOCA: What is the organization T.U.C.O. about?
CONTENDER: T.U.C.O. is the national body that represents Calypso in Trinidad and Tobago and by extension the world. The initials T.U.C.O. means Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organization. Our motto is, "Taking Utmost Care of Our Own". In other words, it is the union for Calypsonians to deal with the welfare of Calypso.
TRINISOCA: Versatile, do you have anything to add to that?
VERSATILE: Well, I think that is exactly what Contender said it is except to say that we have a membership, and while we represent Calypso, we have to take care of the members of the organization. We oversee Calypso generally but we are specially designated to take care of the members of the organization.
TRINISOCA: Where is T.U.C.O. located?
CONTENDER: We have zones: the umbrella body which is T.U.C.O. Central Executive, South-Central Zone, East Zone Tobago, and we are North Zone. I am the Chairman of the T.U.C.O. North Zone, Mr. Dorril 'Versatile' Hector who is here with us is the Vice Chairman of the T.U.C.O. North Zone and Ms. Bernice Carr who is also here with us is the Trustee of the T.U.C.O. North Zone. North Zone is responsible for running the Klassic Ruso Calypso Tent.
TRINISOCA: Is there any specific reason for zoning the organization?
VERSATILE: We try to decentralize the organization for expediency purposes. It will be tough on the Central Executive to take care of everything. By zoning, we will be able to have different groups of people taking care of specific areas. Each area has an executive of seven. The Central Executive comes like the mother who oversees the operation.
CONTENDER: Well, by extension, we have the general council. The Central Executives' plus the representatives of the zones form the general council which is the supreme body.
TRINISOCA: Could you tell us about the Calypso tents that are attached to each zone?
CONTENDER: Each zone has a major tent. For example, East has the Kaiso Karavan, South has Showkase, we (in the North Zone) have Klassic Ruso, and Tobago is responsible for two tents. There is a different arrangement with the Central Executive. They control Kaiso House which is with Calypsonians like Shadow. They call that tent the Flagship Tent. We are close to the flagship. I do not want to beat my own drums, but when you come here and you go by the Flagship Tent you will tell me if we are a flagboat or a flagship (laughter).
TRINISOCA: Contender, how did the name Klassic Ruso come about?
CONTENDER: When we started, the tent was called the Kabarae. In 1999, the tent name was changed to Klassic Ruso. "Klassic" is a manifestation of the class act that we hope to achieve through the vibrancy of the youth with all the fanfare and trimmings. "Ruso" is the most originally known title for the Calypso art form. It is a true reflection of the era when the emphasis was on quality lyrics, melody and the ability to render without props. We wanted to be original. There was a point in time when I was privileged to be in a lecture done by the late great Lord Pretender. It was organized by the Network Rhythm Band on Quarry Street with Shortman and Brother Resistance and they. Pretender said there was a gentleman in Belmont by the name of Afie who would shout out, "Ruso boy!," whenever you sang a good Calypso. I remember that Chalkdust was in that session too. Back then you hardly had props. When a fella came to sing, it used to be the Kaiso he was singing. He didn't have anybody on the stage with him or anybody to wine and so on. It was a straight case of Kaiso. The lyrics did it all for you. Klassic Ruso is a combination of those factors. That is how we came about with the name Klassic Ruso.
TRINISOCA: Bernice, who are the artistes in the Klassic Ruso cast?
BERNICE: We have Calypsonians like 'The Mighty Duke', 'All Rounder', 'Contender', 'Versatile', 'Almanac', 'Manchild', the Hendrickson sisters (Shirlane and 'Lady Wonder') 'Hamidullah', 'Black Prince' who joined us this year, 'Dr. Will B', 'Robbie G', 'Typher', 'Revealer', 'Dr. Rhythm', 'Spicey', 'Sexy Susie' who also joined us this year, Gary Hercules, 'Kaiso Mac', 'Q.P.' from New Jersey, 'King Soul', Chris Morris, 'Flying Man', 'Stockings', 'Brother Ebony', Shereen Caesar, Stanley Adams, Natifah Phillips and Marva Mc Kenzie. We also have one or two foreign based singers.
TRINISOCA: Contender, could you tell us about the workshop?
CONTENDER: 'Brother Ebony' is one of the Calypsonians who has been involved with all the Calypso workshops and that is all in keeping with the Klassic Ruso theory. We also have people like 'Manchild' and 'Luta' involved with the workshop. 'Luta' was a part of the Calypso workshop when he won the crown. Bianca Hall was also a part of the workshop when she won the national title. The workshop is a continuation of that sort of thing. The concept of the work at Klassic Ruso is to teach people about the lyrics and so on and guide them in the areas most needed. A youngster could come now and he or she would be assisted by people like 'Versatile', 'Manchild', 'Brother Ebony', who is a prolific writer. They can discuss lyrics, argue, exchange ideas in the workshop and so on. That is what Klassic Ruso is about. One of our philosophies is, if you notice in every Klassic Ruso cast you would see the youth and to one end of the spectrum you would see people like 'Duke', 'All Rounder' myself and 'Manchild' who are seniors and have been in the game for a while. We have people in the middle like Typher and those fellas.
We always look out for talent and improving the talent. A very significant name is Chris Morris. He is the man who wrote 'Crazy's' song this year "Cold Sweat". He also did 'Explainer's' song last year "Park It" and 'Scrunter's' song "Trombone". Chris Morris is a prolific writer. He is one of those boys coming up and we like to associate with that kind of thing. We feel he is somebody we should have in our tent and be part of the Klassic Ruso family. We cannot lock the door, but too many people are trying to run in. Sometimes we have problems and 'Versatile' has to stand by the door because so many people want to join the Klassic Ruso family (laughter). This is how we feel the thing should go. We feel that love and that unity and that should stay in Calypso.
TRINISOCA: Ms. Carr, who handles the junior programme?
BERNICE: I am the person who is in charge of the juniors. We had young people like Natifah Phillips came out of Juniors. Natifah is now at U.W.I. studying music. She writes and arranges her own songs. She has a very nice pan song this year.
TRINISOCA: Contender, can you give us an idea about the youth involvement in the Klassic Ruso Tent?
CONTENDER: Well, when we see that kind of young talent, we do not want it to be lost out there. We feel that it is something we should nurture. We always have young blood. Just last year we had 'Black Princess'. We also have people like Chris Morris and 'Just Simple'. This year we discovered some talent, it is not youth but it might be youth in a sense. We are open to different age groups. There is a fella called 'Stockings' who is not a youth. He is green in the thing but we say we will put him on the stage. The youth are free to come around and partake and be a part of Calypso. That is the kind of thing we encourage.
TRINISOCA: Do you think the overall participation in the Calypso is comparable to fifteen or twenty years ago?
CONTENDER: There has been a considerable drop in the participation in Calypso. The amount of people who follow Calypso or who participate in Calypso now has dwindled significantly. There might be a number of reasons as to why that has happened. I remember being a part of the Calypso tent when police on horseback had to control the crowd buying tickets on a Friday and Saturday morning down by Sparrow's tent, Original Young Brigade (OYB). Back then it used to have rush for tickets. You do not see that kind of rush by a Calypso tent anymore. That alone says that the participation is not the same. Long ago people used to fill the tents. I will go further to say that 'Lord Blakie' had two shows in the Victory Kaiso Tent in order to facilitate the people. That just goes to show the kind of patronage the tents had. Everybody couldn't get in and they were making noise so Blakie ran a show earlier to improvise. He ran a show from 7pm to 11pm and then a later show from 11pm till whenever. He facilitated two different audiences in one night. In recent times you might get about four hundred people and that's it.
We are comfortable at this location because of the patronage and so on. We feel if we have here full and we get that message across we would be comfortable. The crime and a number of reasons are keeping people from participating. I feel that somewhere along the line something went wrong. My personal view with respect to continuity and people's involvement with Calypso is that somebody didn't do something. Whether it was we the Calypsonians, the government, the Minister or the Ministry of Culture didn't do what should have been done to keep the continuity in Calypso. Hopefully it could be corrected. Somehow the youth seem to be different from the authentic and older Calypsonians.
TRINISOCA: Ms. Carr, what do you think about the female participation in the Klassic Ruso Tent as well as in the Calypso arena in general?
BERNICE: It is good. We have a nice selection of female Calypsonians and they are good entertainers.
TRINISOCA: Are the female Calypsonians comparable in numbers with that of the male Calypsonians?
BERNICE: No. But it is getting there.
VERSATILE: We have a lot of young girls who are very enthusiastic in the Calypso arena. In the earlier days a few of us used to go around in the schools and sing Calypsos. A lot of young girls emanated from that. When you go to a school and you sing your Calypso, the children might appreciate it. You might not know who would be interested, but it is possible that you might meet a girl on the stage only to realize that you were the one who planted the seed. I want to believe that a lot of seeds have been planted through the work we have done and through the Junior Calypso Competitions that Ms. Carr is in charge of. We have seen a lot of girls who came through the work we have done and are doing very well. Young artistes like Karene Ashe, Patrice, Kizzie Ruiz, Heather Mc Intosh, and many more who came out of the Juniors. They are not really equal in numbers but they are getting there.
TRINISOCA: What is the mission statement of this organization?
CONTENDER: Our motto is, "Presenting World Class Calypso Music". Our symbol is the globe.
VERSATILE: One of our missions is to make sure that we try and develop the Calypso art form as much as possible within our time and to do as much as we can to employ the Calypsonians especially around Carnival time. We do not like to say season, but give and take, it is really a season for Calypso. We try as much as possible through the tent's initiative to employ as many Calypsonians who are out of the season and may not have been otherwise employed as regularly as around this time. Out of the Calypso season we have the T.U.C.O. North Zone competitions that we try to keep. T.U.C.O. North Zone is very active as far as the mission statement is concerned.
CONTENDER: We feel that in keeping Calypso alive, we try our best to showcase this aspect of the culture. We at T.U.C.O. North Zone have the 'Extempo Rama' which is keeping Extempo alive. As a matter of fact we have been commended so much for that. It was one of the best shows held for the longest while. When people like 'Black Stalin' and 'Superior' say our Extempo show is one of the best they have seen, you know where that is going. I and by extension North Zone, have been able to pull a man like Winston 'Gypsy' Peters to perform in this event. If you know the history then you would know that 'Gypsy' doesn't perform under the T.U.C.O. competitions. He has a problem with that. I have been in association with Gypsy and Leroy Birch who was one of the better Extempo people. Leroy also withdrew from the competition but I have been able to keep him involved in the Extempo area which they appreciated and agreed to take part in.
We have the North Zone Calypso Competition and a number of other activities. As a matter of fact, to keep the thing going, we have socializing. We have something called a Calypso lime. To socialize, we feel that Calypsonians should not just come and sing. There are plenty people out there who like to associate and mix with Calypsonians. That is how it was before and we want it to stay that way. That is North Zone's role in the thing and we are living up to that. The testimony is all what we have done for this year and all what we plan to do for the future and just keep the thing going.
TRINISOCA: What are some of the plans you all have for 2007?
CONTENDER: One of the plans we have for 2007 is to be the best Calypso tent. We have been one of the best, if not the best, for the past few years. We have come up against the best and competed when we had clashes and so on. One of our missions this year is we do not want to leave any doubts that we are the best Calypso tent. What will be coming out of that is based on the product and the people participating in the tent. I could see a number of people getting into major competitions. I can see this tent being one of the talking points in terms of good Calypso and what the Calypso art form is all about. Those are some of the things we have set ourselves to achieve for 2007. After Carnival we would continue as we did last time with the other activities.
VERSATILE: Well, seeing that we would be having the best Calypsos around, the public should not miss out on this feast of Calypso for 2007. We have a very good cast and we hope we are going to get the support. We are also appealing to the public to support Calypso as they used to support it. I believe it is important that people come and listen to Calypso because Calypso and Calypsonians are the mouth pieces of the people. I think people have been missing out on a lot since they are not patronizing the tents as they used to before. The fetes are all right but that is just one way to let off steam. People need to be educated in certain ways. Calypsonians can do that. That is why we come to a place to assemble with bands music, choruses and lyrics. It is to teach something and also entertain the people. People should become wiser about what is going on. They should at least take a night off. Some people who came to the tent for the first time became Calypso fanatics after that. I hope the people will support all the Calypso tents this year.
TRINISOCA: Is there any other information you would like to share about the tents?
CONTENDER: We are still finalizing our itinerary. We have some arrangements being made with people and shows we are organizing. We haven't fixed that as yet. The opening night of Klassic Ruso Tent will be on the 19th January, 2007 after which we would not be here until Tuesday. There wouldn't be any tent on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. We will be coming back out in full force on Tuesday and Wednesday. We will keep people informed accordingly once we concretize where we would be on various nights.
TRINISOCA: Do you have any final words?
CONTENDER: I just want to continue where 'Versatile' left off. We need the support. As a matter of fact, people do not necessarily have to come. We are prepared to go to the people.
BERNICE: We just want the people to come so that our tent could sell out every night.
VERSATILE: I would like to mention here that we are trying to sell some nights to corporate sponsors. For instance, we would like to have like a Sagicor Night or a CLICO Night where the people can come and enjoy themselves. We want to sell packages.
TRINISOCA: Thank you for taking the time to share with us.
TUCO North Zone Interview in pictures:
www.trinisoca.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_itemId=50520
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