For this week's post, we travel to the island of Trinidad just off the coast of Venezuela.
In order to share free music, please follow the link below and in the track listing, play No. 103, Booboo Man.
http://www.folkways.si.edu/calypso-awakening-from-the-emory-cook-collection/caribbean/music/album/smithsonian
The recording only plays a few seconds of Lord Melody You see, effective calypsonians say one thing but mean the next and oftentimes leave you wondering what message they truly intended to convey.
Lord Melody, whose real name is Fitzroy Alexander, died in 1988. He was a friendly rival of the great Might Sparrow. He recorded calypsos from 1956 until 1985.
At the time of this recording, 1956, there would be numerous extemporaneous calypso duels. From the sound of this recording, there was a live audience as is evidenced by clinking of classes and loud laughter throughout. Because of the "double entedre" that is the style of calypso, only the Lord knows what happened when the crowd started to laugh at its loudest almost three minutes in. The instruments used in this recording are few compared to today's groups. Of course, the calypso of today is much more modern and consists of more electronic equipment than there are performers. The double meaning is not as apparent, because a lot of artists just say what they have to say instead of the traditional throwing of words.
Applying this week's readings, "engaged listening" will allow you to picture what the score may look like, while "attentive listening" must be utilized in order to understand the meaning of what is being sung.
The following page gives a brief biography of Lord Melody:
http://www.allmusic.com/artist/lord-melody-mn0000828756/biography
The following YouTube link gives you the full version of the calypso, Booboo Man.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srEDcmbrmZA
Title of piece: Booboo Man / Mama Look a Boo Boo
Performers: Fitzroy Alexander (Lord Melody)
Culture: Calypso
Orchestration: Guitar, Bass, Drums
*Disclaimer: This is a revised blog post...the original links did not lead to the piece I originally researched. I have no knowledge of why the link was changed.
More connection needs to be made to the course readings/discussion. Also, make sure you include your paragraph reacting to each week’s specific prompt. This can be found under Assignments each week.
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