Search - Various Artists :: Calypsos From Trinidad

History Can Be Fun

thebigoh | Up Above the World | 11/06/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As a passionate devotee of original Jamaican ska and its various offshoots, I was quite delghted to obtain this collection of primal calypsos from the land where this musical form originated. Trinidad rarely gets the credit for being a cradle of Caribbean music, but it unquestionably is just that. This music migrated to Jamaica and conjugated with mento to give birth to ska and then dancehall and rocksteady and then reggae. These tunes are so lyrically direct that you may need to read some Trinidadian history to truly appreciate them. As music goes, you can compare this to American folk of the fifties and early sixties and it stacks up quite well... and it came long before Pete Seeger and the Weavers were pushing their obvious political envelopes. This is political music at its most obvious. What's great about it is it spawned something less poltical, more listenable and ultimately more important... SKA.
This CD is great to have. Listening to it is like reading a good book. Bask in its significance historically, but don't expect it to be anything but a terribly important history lesson. You won't put it on for party guests. But you will like it for the right reasons. I'm the Big Oh and I need to go to Trinidad and visit the bird sanctuary and listen to some calypsos and drink some good rum."