TNN 117

Jumpstation: Carnival commentary; De Tank rolls on; Yuh know Carnival over when.

Carnival come an' gone, boy...ah didn't realise is so long ago, nah....hear meh views on de lates'....
Exodus take de Panorama Final...I was in favour of Phase Two, because to dis day, I could confidently say, ah never hear ah steelband play like dat...musical genius I tell you...! an' at one point de band stop....dead.....silent......an' den start up again......you know de danger of doing dat?! Man, if only one person in dat rhythm section come back in outta time, is curtains for de rest of dat band yuh know....! Crowd bawl out like Tarzans....de say dat is it! Pan Finals finish...! Who comin' secon'?! Phase Two was jus' before Exodus....ah fall asleep after Phase Two, because ah say no way ah band could play better dan dat..but Exodus beat dem out boy...de only t'ing ah could say was dat maybe Phase Two in being so musically perfect perhaps left out a bit of the freedom and spontaneity outta de performance...but...de judges decision is final....ah eh taking nothin' away from Exodus, eh..dey play good...ah hear dem play later in de week....smooth rhythm, good spirit, nice clean sound, I eh quarellin'..ah jus' say IF I was judging... :) 

J'ourvert was as always, plenty mud mas, rhythm sections, some people behaving as if dey lose dey min'...ah see some females..ah not sure if dey leave home wit' dem outfits, but if I was dey mudder, dey wasn't coming back wit' it! Had quite ah few steel bands out, soundin' nice.....

Legends win Band of the year in the Big Band Category (quite colourful, but still a "bikini" band). Did not see Wayne Berkeley out atall...more's de pity....rumour has it de "young people" fin' dem "kinda bands" have too much cloth, so wen de "old timers" cyah make it gain..nobody to take dey place....the congestion at de Savannah was almost gone dis year......an' I wondered why, an' den the sad truth dawned on me...most of the small and medium size bands were not really around..the Big Bands had taken a lot of the masqueraders...it is now "fashionable" to play in Big Bands, so that everybody deserting de smaller mas bands.....one big band had near 7000 people dis year....another one split from last year and still managed to have enough people for a big and medium size band, to tell you how many people lining up to play in dem bands...unless de NCC do something de small mas makers, who usually have better made and designed costumes, go lose out an' we Carnival will be poorer for it....we have to put incentives into place to encourage small band leaders.....

Ah image of ah real "mas player" stick in meh head though...it had dis young fella, couldn't be more dan 6 years old playin' Blue Devil mas....ah was at de exit to de Big Stage wen he come off wit' ah l'il "village band"...de l'il fella have he fork in he han', an' if yuh see him dance de devil, de "jock waist" threatening advance, de tongue flickin' in an' out, tail moving from side to side, fork upraised an' every now an' den he stab an imaginary victim....man, people rush to get dey camera...onlookers staring in amazement at de performance..boy, ah feel good wen ah see dat....de power of tradition...not one "pretty mas" costume was looked at wit' such awe....well done, small man! 

Minshall was controversial as usual..to protest de deterioration on Mas designs, he refuse to cross de Savannah stage so he went to other venues...he played Sailor Mas .."Ship of Fools"...from far yuh only seein' ah sea of white, so yuh say "Dat cyah look good.." but wen yuh see it up close..my word, if yuh see de different types of sailor costumes, fancy sailors, noraml sailors, sailors with "midriff" blouse and shirts, sailors with scarves, different kinds of hats etc....like he research every manner of sailor mas ever done in TnT..if dat band was in colour, for me, dat woulda be Band of de Year.....

De children Carnival was good, de Band of de Year (though ah hear dey change dey min' ..something about de marks add wrong...)...anyway a wonderful presentation representing the cultures of Trinidad.....beautifully designed costumes, magnificent performance of de masqueraders etc...maybe Ms. Gabriel could assist some of our "adult" mas desiners! 

Calypso monarch could only have had one winner..Singing Sandra beat dem bad! Bad! Bad! De only one nearby was Chalkie (Chalkdust) with two potent songs...blazing lyrics and sarcasm....Devon Seales, ah young fella with ah good voice and stage presentation was also good...anybody else coulda stay home..! Certainly not a bumper year for calypso I could assure you....an' if dat is de bes' , we in realllllll trouble! VERY forgettable performances! We hope for better next year....

As regards Road March, woman again..Fay-Ann Lyons ran away wit' it, with ah authentic soca song, with decent lyrics (written by Lord Kitchener's son) and which I did tell dem ah like too bad! Good for de stage, good for de road, jus' good....! Name of de song was "Display".. Second place was also ah woman..Destra...a good year for her also..a close secon' I might add... (Carnival in TnT)

Soca Monarch crown went once again to Iwer George ("Ah Home")....dis is ah rather confused competition if yuh ask me..ah hear "Raggasoca" (which as far as I concern doh exist..is just a borrwing of de Jamaican bass background an' Jamaican accent, to blend wit' soca....hardly a musical genre of its own)....soca, chutney..everything mix up...ah doh believe Soca Monarch is ah appropriate name.....

De Police did an excellent job at de Carnival....de arrest one setta people J'ouvert Morning, search dem, find dey had weapons, had special court sittings and lock de tail away without bail till Ash Wednesday....nearly 90 of dem..man Carnival was practically incident free..dey really take back de Carnival from dem bandits an' dem, who out to spoil people fun.....an' de army was out helping too..but de good t'ing , while yuh was seeing dem, dey was not in de way, so yuh could free up an' dance up without running into any of dem...well don, Defence services..dey make we proud! 

Dat is meh comments (in ah nutshell...okay, in ah coconut shell!)

DE TANK ROLLS ON...

Nah, ah eh dealin' wit' war....is Andre Tanker who leave we dis Carnival....Carnival Friday to be exact de man jus' ups an' get ah heart attack..an' dat was it..at 61..

De man never look more dan 45 yrs to me..ah mean, ah know he had some age, because since I small I hearin' de man music (an' ah is "mature" now...so yuh know!).....always had dat ready smile an' mischeivous grin..ah man who was in touch wit' de soul of de nation.. traditional East Indian music, African percussions and rhythms, calypso, ballads and folk music, rapso, Andre move through all types..composing and combining, weavin' ah tapestry dat reflected everybody....

De ole time chant of Sayamanda and Hosanna, de haunting longing of "Ah went Away", de defiance of "Wild Indian Band", de music track for de first locally acclaimed movie "Bim"..., de rapso hits of "Ben Lion" and "Food Fight " (dis year...) 

Andre was more dan equal to welding dance music, social reflection/commentary, contemplative an' relaxin' sounds....an' like Stevie Wonder always like he harmonica to make ah intervention.....dat man encourage Mungal Patasar to become ah musician an' de man is one of de most potent sitarist in de country now, following Andre example an' blending Sitar wit' pan an' recreating and re-presenting wat is in all ah we in ah way we never knew possible...

Rudder say de man's music was ah starting point for Trinidad music, so many artistes were inspired by de humility an' talent of de self made musician...not ah rich fellow, he always radiated contentment...

Young an' old flocked to hear him...difficult den to understand de treatment he receive at de hands of we health car system, who say dey didn't have ah ambulance to take him dong to de private hospital, an wen dey get dey, people was all in dey face askin' who go pay de bill an' want to know if ah man wit' ah heart attack could "walk" instead of dem coming to de car to bring him out (wat kinda unimaginable stupidity and callousness is dat?!) ..It woulda be ah HONOUR to be able to take care of somebody like dat! You REALLLLLLY tin'k nobody woulda pay for de "Tanks"..

Man, people woulda be lining up around de corner an' dong de road to make donations...! Just like dey overcrowd de Little Carib Theatre to pay tribute to him ah few nights afterwards....in fact before de funeral dey had ah whole hour performances before dey start de service..ah was gearin' up to go, but as soon as ah lan' in de office, dey t'row meh in a meetin'..an' ah was already ah hour late for work! Man, dat one hurt meh....ah feel ah had to be dere...like for Kitchener funeral, ah stan' up outside de cathedral in de hot sun...dat was notin' compared to what Kitchie did give we...an' he did leave we during Carnival too....!

Fortunately we still have some recordings of Andre music (run out an' get ah copy of Children of de Big Bang...it go be sold out...we always rushing to buy people t'ing after dey dead, wen de money cyah help dem! Leh meh pat mehself on meh back..ah get nh copy 'bout two years now.. :) )

Who will record de "Life and Times of Andre Tanker"? Not de Ministry of Culture I can assure you! Dey eh have nothing for Kitch, Roaring Lion, Beryl Mc Burnie, Sundar Popo, an' de list goes on..so it would be out of character if they started now....! Wen we go get de first original an' true Trini musical production/opera using local musical styles? Wen we go see we music on MTV, BET an' other international music stations? Wen we go make it to be recognised as a valid musical genre in de Grammy awards? Wen we go begin to realise that wen people dead, dey cyah help we again, an' make full use of dem before? 

Wey.....de Centre/Home for Performing Arts? Wey......de school curriculaum to pass it on? Wey......de hell we goin'? 
Goin' las' lap behin' Minshall dis year (ah didn't see dat band until seven o clock in de night), dey had ah tribute to him..ah still remember de chant of de famous "Sayamanda" 

Chain of freedom across the world...
Gi' dem chilren ah hand to hold..
Like a rainbow come to life...
Let the sun shine
Bold and bright 

From Port of Spain to North Carolina....
Nigeria to Richmond, Virginia....
Pole to pole and corner to corner...
Behin' de bridge an' across de border....

Blaze of colour.
Rhythm and music, yeah..
Soul connection
Chain of love

Sayamanda .....Syamanda....Sayamanda..ring de bell!

....Everybody han' in de air wavin' goodbye for de las' time... :(

Condolences to de family an' to every music lover in dis island..de Tank has rolled on, he play he last rhythm..... he "went away", but indeed he "leave" an' he "forward home...to stay....."

Ah went awaaaaay......
Ah leave an' ah come back home...
Ah come back to staaaaayy.
Ah mus' see meh way.......

An' now de Mas finish,
YUH KNOW CARNIVAL OVER WHEN.....

People reachin' to work on time again......!

Yuh finally get de damn paint outta yuh hair....! 

Yuh actually sleeping when night come...! 

Yuh stop hearin' ah lot of "fresh water yankee" accents..."So, haw is you, brether...?"

Yuh skin stop fallin' off, so yuh no longer lookin' lik ah burnt lizard an' two colour! 

Yuh co-worker has retained sobriety for more than 12 hours....!

De "national" radio stations stop playing any kind of soca ...whatsoever! 

All de bikini yuh seein' is on Maracas beach......!

De line at Piarco Airport nearly reaching out de ENTRANCE door.....!

Yuh have to walk on de pavement again in Port of Spain.....!

If yuh start dancing in de street, dey lock yuh up in St. Ann's....!

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Okay, will return soon wit' de goin' ons in TnT....an' ah lot goin' on, ah could assure you.  Remember any queries, questions, comments, hail outs, etc…jus’ write to we anchorman Cobra at ttcobra1@hotmail.com an’ we go get back to yuh… Take care care, alyuh, ah gone….Peace….. Hosanna! Hosannah!..Higher..! Hosannah! Hosannah! ..Fire...! ….. (background music, Andre Tanker)

WAR KILLS PEOPLE...........