Word: calypso
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From the minute he walked down the plane steps, the Gold Coast gleamed with 22-carat jive. On hand were 15 "highlife" bands (specialists in West Coast African jazz, with a, bouncing calypso beat), blatting out a special called All for You, Louis, All for You. No man to dodge a jam session, Louis ducked back into the plane and emerged with his gold-plated trumpet, his lip salve and his sidemen...
...Jazz Primitif (Rupert Clemendore and John Buddy Williams bands; Cook). Trinidad jazz in two styles. Just as it says on the label, Bassist Williams plays it primitive, with a trio of winds and a powerhouse rhythm section which divides itself between a two-beat Calypso and a hot-blooded shuffle entirely on the cymbals. Of special interest: the polyrhythmic Venezuelan Waltz. Drummer-Vibraphonist Clemendore plays jazz a la George Shearing and includes one hit tune, Princess Charming...
...Nobody is sure how calypso started, or even where the word came from. It has nothing to do with the nymph who held Odysseus prisoner for seven years...
...bands played one kind of marching tune: calypso.* Often calypso was considered vulgar, usually with good reason. But since 1920, when someone improvised a song called Class Legislation, calypso has been a kind of musical journalism, with such topical titles as The Destruction of Hurricane Janet, What's Federation?, The Princess Says...
...past years calypsonians staged nightlong "wars," attempting to outrhyme and outwit each other verse for verse, never repeating themselves as they improvised. Last week Port-of-Spain chose a Calypso King in a more sedate and less spontaneous contest. His professional name was The Mighty Sparrow. His song: Yankees Gone, hymning the imminent closing of the U.S. naval base. Excerpt...