I congratulate the Minister of Tourism, Randall Mitchell MP, for his reported admission that Carnival has failed as a tourism product. In 2015, I had already described “the acceleration of the decline of Carnival into a minority sport”. Only last week I complained again that our rich and varied musical …
Read More »Uhmm, Kes… Hello?! Gilkes explains why he takes exception to soca star’s new video
I’ve been a big Kes fan for ages. I love “Wotless” and I’m not sure if I can get enough of the song “Hello”. Its recently released video, however, is a whole different bag of worms. Don’t get me wrong, I’m always happy when our ‘kaiso’—no matter the genre—is given …
Read More »Daly Bread: Music in Districts’ glorious potential, lengthening Carnival calendar and why Pan Trinbago is not missed
“Stay in tong!” I shouted those words on Sunday last, in appreciation of the scintillating performance of Coffee Street, San Fernando band, Skiffle, in Adam Smith Square, Woodbrook, Port of Spain, at the second event put on by the Music in the Districts programme. This event confirmed that other pan …
Read More »Glasgow to head new TTPA; call issued for national dialogue on tourism and Carnival
Randy Glasgow, the well-known production company which bears his name and which put on a slew of shows locally every year, has been elected to head the newly formed Trinidad and Tobago Promoters Association (TTPA). Another four members, including Secretary Colin Miles, were on Tuesday elected to form the Executive …
Read More »Dear Editor: Ole mas, dissent, decency and the dangerous descent into meaninglessness
“For the large masses of working people in Trinidad, Carnival, particularly Jouvert, was always about subversion, defiance, sarcasm dressed up in deceptive hilarity. It was one of the very few avenues by which they were able to openly express how they felt about the unfairness of their lives, the hypocrisy …
Read More »Daly Bread: Reclaiming the Greatest Show tag, the Junior Panorama’s potential and that gross Paula-Mae headline
As is the norm in our Republic, when something outrageous happens, it is condemned only by whispers in cliques and in the chambers and domes of elites, except for a few brave souls who speak out. And so it was with last week’s front page banner headline, “I am not …
Read More »Bad calypsonomics to blame for tents going bust; Baldeosingh considers impact of State interference
“In a market economy, prices indicate demand which, in turn, affects supply—falling prices indicate lower demand, higher prices reveal shortages and, generally, supply adjusts to meet demand. “[…] The trouble was that State subsidies distorted the market for calypso. So government funding, especially over the past 25 years, concealed preferences—or, …
Read More »Daly Bread: ‘Sweet type of love!’; groovy bards and Panorama shuffle offers hope amidst calypso gloom
What a great result from the Panorama semi-finals last Sunday. The two groovy “young boy” songs Year for Love and Hello—subject only to a tie for fourth place with Lightning Flash—ran first, second, third and fourth as played by Renegades, Despers, Phase II and Skiffle respectively. These songs create a …
Read More »Afryea’s Advice: Parents and guardians, caution! Carnival church camp can corrupt your child
Carnival, the Greatest Show on Earth, was one of my favourite times of the year. Apart from the extra holidays we all received, it was a time when the church would go out to camp somewhere in the countryside to get away from the noise and the confusion and the …
Read More »Dear Editor: Chutney has a place in Carnival no matter what Cro Cro says!
“[George] Singh’s outburst was a public exposé of what the Indo-Trinidadian (Indian) community had always known, i.e. Indian culture (e.g. chutney, pichakaree) is given marginal or no space in ‘national’ and regional shows (e.g. CARIFESTA). […] “In all his anger, Singh was careful not to confirm what almost every Trinidadian suspected …
Read More »Daly Bread: What’s left of Carnival? Reviewing the problems at Revue
On Wednesday last, we received news that the Revue Calypso tent was the latest victim of money problems in the cultural milieu. This news was made worse when readers digested that the Revue was more than 50 years old and had been founded by the late Lord Kitchener. Kitchener’s body …
Read More »Daly Bread: The mudda count phenomenon and our sliding standards of behaviour
Massive: that is the extent of the opportunity presented by “Massive” Gosine’s “Rowlee Mudda Count.” It is an opportunity to have a meaningful discussion about taste and standards in public and cultural life. It does not matter whose count is referenced. The central issue is whether the unrelenting references to …
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