#archivecarnival

[marklyndersay]

Born Roy Lewis, becoming Lutalo Masimba and evolving into Brother Resistance, leader of the rapso movement in the 1980s and the lead singer of the Network Riddim Band, this artist created a space for a generation of young poets who would  find release in an earthy new sound characterised by dense, swirling lyrics. The Network wasn’t welcomed. The police trashed their rehearsal space in 1983 and many of their concerts at City Hall were poorly attended, and I know this because I went to write about the work they were doing there. Later works from Resistance became more introspective and worldly and led to tours and foreign engagements. Since 2011, Masimba has led the Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Association, first as acting president and then appointed in two successive elections in 2013 and 2016. This 1991 photograph was shot for SG Magazine, a revamped Sunday Magazine for the Guardian that I did with Dexter Lewis @dexout and Marlon Rouse between 1990 and 1992 (the first issue was on the press during the attempted coup and was never released). As it turns out, I went into the People’s Mall on Frederick Street to photograph Resistance with a whole other plan in mind, but I forgot a component in my gear and the flash wouldn’t work. So I photographed him in a shaft of light lancing through the makeshift roof. Day Six of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #musician #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #rapso #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #lutalomasimba #nationalcarnival commission #ncc #music #portofspain #composer #brotherresistance #peoplesmall #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Frederick Street, Port of Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/Buc9l8bAYFk/?utm_medium=tumblr

[marklyndersay]

Winston Bailey crosses the Savannah stage at Dimanche Gras in the late 1980s.  The Shadow had came some distance from his first appearances at the Savannah, when he would walk to a microphone stand planted dead centre and sing to his audience without moving from the spot, turning from the south to the north to address his audiences, first in the Grandstand then the North Stand. In later years, most notably when he clearly relished his performance of Looking for Horn, he strode confidently from one end of the stage to the other, courting the cheers of the often neglected North Stand audience. He spoke with authority in every word and every gesture to fans of calypso, his love for them returned a hundredfold by Trinbagonians who heard their stories and experiences in his quirky, heartfelt lyrics. He transitioned in October 2018 at 77, weeks before he was conferred an honorary doctorate by the University of the West Indies. #archive #lyndersaydigital #calypsonian #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #kaiso #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #winstonbailey #shadow #dimanchegras #savannah #stage #performance #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Queen's Park Savannah) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuQDQl2gKr4/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=u54g8estjpgw

[marklyndersay]

The Red Ants J’Ouvert band enters Kathleen Street from George Cabral Street in St James before dawn on February 23, 2009. Part of my reportage on the operations of Tribe but unused in the final edit, the band, thousands strong, weaves through St James daubed in paint and with bad behaviour on its collective mind. The band isn’t so much a part of Tribe as it is a parallel complement to it and is run by some of the members of Tribe’s management. The street party is the culmination of a series of events that are organised under the brand leading up to J’Ouvert morning. Day Nine of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #jouvert #archivecarnival #trinidad #paint #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #paint #morning #party #dawn #tribe #stjames #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at St James) https://www.instagram.com/p/BulaJ7egc0c/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=a5t9628ne00o

[marklyndersay]

Chocolate City flows through St Clair heading to Boisierre Village. The band introduced a cocoa mix to the J’Ouvert menu of liquids that you pour all over yourself at dawn on Carnival Monday. I’d planned to do a photo essay about the band for years, but every time I went looking for them after Carnival, they had decamped to a new location. Finally, I got my chance in 2010 when the band set up shop on Ariapita Avenue (find Local Lives via the Shorby link in the profile). I couldn’t seem to impress on anyone the significant of capturing the actual creation of the cocoa mix and it turned out to be the one thing in the band’s preparation that I didn’t get. It’s a problem I face often with photo essay stories, particularly Carnival subjects, who are used to a media focus on certain things they do and are genuinely non-plussed when I show an interest, even insistently, on photographing something they consider unimportant. You never get everything, but to this day I still feel a twinge at that lost opportunity. The band doesn’t encourage its players to actually eat the mix they hand out in squirt bottles, but the smell of the players coming down a street is certainly unique in the festival. One of its more pleasant olfactory experiences. Day Nine of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #jouvert #archivecarnival #trinidad #chocolate #notfood #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #cocoamix #carnivaltuesday #maraval #dawn #chocolatecity #woodbrook #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Boissiere Village, Port-Of-Spain, Trinidad And Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BulZ5wWgLMT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=7qkc6bl8ztbi

[marklyndersay]

The pannist and arranger, Jit Sukha Samaroo photographed in 1983 for promotional material to accompany a trip by Trinidad All Theatre Productions to Europe, where the group, led by director Helen Camps would perform a more expansive version of J’Ouvert, a Carnival pantomime that the group had produced after the success of King Jab Jab.  Samaroo, notoriously reclusive and disinterested in being photographed, submitted to the session at his Lopinot home during a retreat by the performing company to the rehearsal space of The Samaroo Jets. That band performed in-house at the Trinidad Hilton for many years and Samaroo would go on to be a successful arranger for the Amoco, later BP Renegades Steel Orchestra, registering nine Panorama wins between 1982 and 1997. Samaroo was awarded the Chaconia Medal (Silver) in 1995 and received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West Indies in 2003. He died at his home in January 2016. Day Seven of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #panman #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #music #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #jitsamaroo #musician #steelband #steelpan #lopinot #arranger #steelpan #panorama #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Lopinot) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuffWNCgifr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=oyxz5zub8xd8

[marklyndersay]

Photographed as part of the photo essay I did on Phase II in 2013, Hanging out in the House of Music (http://lyndersaydigital.com/ll/no/15.html), part of the Local Lives series (which you can find in the Shorby link in my profile). I’d chosen Phase II because they were the major band that was closest to where I live in St James (so, laziness) but I also hoped to trade on my prior acquaintance with the band’s manager, Errol Skerritt. That got me into consideration, a spot on the agenda as it were and after printing up previous published essays, I got an assent. From the management. The players were a whole other matter entirely, and they did not welcome another photographer loitering around in their yard harvesting images that would, apparently, yield a fortune. So I got cussed. And cussed again. And I kept coming back and photographing anything that wasn’t openly hostile until the pannists came to understand that I wasn’t going to give up. This image captures band arranger Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharpe wrestling a pan rack into position at Panorama finals. When Sharpe gets to the point of moving pans himself, it’s a sure sign that he’s annoyed at how long it’s taking to move the instruments into place.  The band would win that year, rewarding my laziness and taking home another trophy.  Day Seven of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #panman #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #music #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #lenboogsiesharpe #musician #steelband #steelpan #queensparksavannah #panrack #steelpan #panorama #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Queen's Park Savannah) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bufe1ytAqVn/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1wx0ws71i33nw

[marklyndersay]

When I met Drupatee Ramgoonai and her husband, I had no idea what lay ahead for her and for the music she would boost into popularity beyond measure. They arrived quietly carrying hefty tassa drums, which I arranged carefully behind the singer to make photographs for her first album, featuring Mr Bissessar, which defined a new category of soca, one that Shorty had flirted with on his albums but which the Ramgoonais took firmly and authoritatively in a new direction. I confess to later being startled by the…um…vigorous performances that the quiet Mrs Ramgoonai put down on stage, but there was not question of her agency and determination in ignoring naysayers and bringing Indian music and influences more fully into focus in Carnival. This 1988 photo is for her second year sophomore album and it captures a woman considerably more assured and certain of her place in the world and she remains so today, even as younger, sometimes less classy performers follow her considerable lead on stage. #archive #lyndersaydigital #chutney #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #drupatee #drupateeramgoonai #chutney #technology #queensparksavannah #chutneysoca #tassa #drupatee #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BubCeVEAan6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=j7032sl769yv

[marklyndersay]

Peter Minshall among wireframe horse’s heads at the Callalloo company mas camp in Cocorite in 1995. Donkey Derby was the band that Minshall salvaged from the much more expansive designs and construction work he’d embarked on for a design collaboration with the Spanish designer Miralda called The Honeymoon. With the collapse of that project and the pervasive presence of Whoa Donkey! a surprise Carnival hit by the United Sisters, who counted among their number Singing Sandra and Tigress, Minshall went with the flow and created his own sardonic look at T&T society, building a massive papier Machel Trojan Donkey to form the centrepiece of his Savannah presentation. But that was weeks away and I needed an early photo of the masman for the Carnival Souvenir I was working on for the Trinidad Express. I showed up by arrangement one evening, scouted a spot among a collection of wire-frame donkey heads in varying stages of completion and lit the designer so that the background, a messy collection of debris and rehearsing dancers dropped off to black.  He looked up quizzically and I said three words to him, “Alas, poor Yorick.” He got it immediately. Day Three of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage. #archive #lyndersaydigital #masman #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #peterminshall #callalloocompany #bandleader #donkeyderby #hamlet #cocorite #mascamp #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Cocorite, Saint George, Trinidad And Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuV7Gingv2s/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=u5dw86chesgy

[marklyndersay]

Peter Minshall may have created other famous Kings of Carnival, he may even have created better Kings of Carnival (I’m looking at you Merry Monarch), but he never created a more singularly influential and watershed design than he did with Mancrab. In 1983, Minshall created Mancrab as King and villain of The River, an ascetically all-white band that he proceeded to drench with electric dyes on the stage. There was before Mancrab and there was after Mancrab. It wasn’t the start of a trilogy when it appeared, but it was a remarkable story, rich with allegory and visual impact, the conflict between technology and a simpler country life distilled into the mechanical attack of the obsidian carapace worn by Peter Samuel and the earthy, ethereal beauty of The Washerwoman, worn by Minshall’s sister, Sherry-Ann Guy. It was ecological disaster as pantomime, that first terrifying squirt of red into the floating white canopy above the costume’s head a morbid warning about tainting the natural with the manmade.  The engineering for the remarkable costume was conversationally attributed to Ellis Chow Lin On, the recording engineer behind KH Records who also participated in the formation of Charlie’s Roots. Day Four of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #masman #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #peterminshall #callalloocompany #bandleader #ellischowlinon #queensparksavannah #theriver #trilogy #mancrab #dimanchegras #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Queen's Park Savannah) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuYeH7tAs17/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2cfvcefk9i13

[marklyndersay]

The Original De Fosto Himself, performing at Dimanche Gras in February 2010. Winston Scarborough believed in calypso because it was in calypso he found himself. He was raised in the Tacarigua Orphanage, where he learned the music that would hallmark his career as a calypsonian, composer and musician. With no knowledge of his parents, not even his birth date, he made his way through the world of calypso and found his most resonant influence in the Lord Kitchener and it was hearing Kitch sing Jericho that he determined that he would write for the dominant orchestra of his time, the steelband. His skill with music would offer him a sideline in scoring music for calypsonians. In 2017, he was hospitalized for kidney complications and high blood pressure. He passed away in November 2018, just days after performing at the funeral of Winston Bailey. #archive #lyndersaydigital #calypsonian #archivecarnival #trinidad #performance #kaiso #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #winstonscarborough #theoriginaldefostohimself #dimanchegras #savannah #musician #composer #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Queen's Park Savannah) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuQCnMcAy4h/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nxj4snn2pd6y

[marklyndersay]

Brother Superior photographed at his home office in Diego Martin in November 2014. Andrew Marcano was such a pleasant subject, willing to give me almost an hour to scout locations at his home, setup and photograph him. He even responded to my over-the-top request to photograph him relaxing in the small pool he’d constructed there to relax in. Part of it might have been the length of time we’d known each other, part of it was certainly his friendship with my estranged and by then, late father, about whom he was willing to share many stories while we worked. While I like all of the photos we did, including one he suggested playing his guitar on the small stage he’d built at the back of the home, this one, in his workspace, surrounded by his vintage record collection really spoke to me about the joy of his life, his love of music and all that it had done for him and the people who were blessed to hear him perform it. He died in New York in November, 2018. #archive #lyndersaydigital #calypsonian #archivecarnival #trinidad #office #kaiso #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #brothersuperior #andrewmarcano #musician #composer #recording #calypsodreams #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Diego Martin) https://www.instagram.com/p/BuQCa7wAJCU/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1br8vra9uvf91

[marklyndersay]

Shot for promotional use by Rituals Records in 1998, this photo captures the original line-up of 3 Canal @3CanalTT, a group formed by theatre practitioners and J’ouvert entrepreneurs who had a surprise hit in 1997 with the rapso J’Ouvert anthem, Blue. The group, as individuals, had been drawn to Carnival by the work of Peter Minshall. There friends Roger Roberts and Wendell Manwarren met John Isaacs, Stanton Kewley and artist Steve Ouditt and the idea for the group came up, starting with a J’Ouvert band Jocks-Tuh-Pose. They produced the small band for a few years until 1997 when they had a chance to make a song. Blue caused a sensation, and the J’Ouvert band crossed the line from a little art project into what Manwarren has described as “an experience for an entire generation. Isaacs, who died in 2000 had long advocated that the group refocus on theatre, particularly the earthy, intuitive work that they had experienced in Helen Camps’ Tent Theatre and in the workshops at Minshall's Callalloo company that shaped their stage presentations. The 3 Canal show has been staged annually for the last 15 years, the J’Ouvert presentation is in its 25th year and the band has an expansive discography on streaming and download websites. A Las’ Lap lanyap for Day 10 of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #theatre #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #music #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #3Canal #musician #steelband #rapso #queensparksavannah #3canalshow #jouvert #blue #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BupBXFqgvJ3/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qxluf86mc51o

[marklyndersay]

The United Sisters were four female calypsonians who joined together to challenge male dominance of the road march and the party circuit and to unify their efforts to succeed in the industry through mutual support.  From left, they are Marvelous Marva (Marva Joseph), Tigress @tigress1570 (standing, Joanne Rowley), Singing Sandra @singingsandra1 (Sandra Des Vignes) and Lady B (Beulah Bobb), photographed in 1993 at the height of their fame backstage at Kitchener’s tent in Port of Spain. I remember it as being on Henry Street in this era. They were rocking Trinidad and Tobago Carnival with their soca hit Whoa Donkey which gave rise to The Donkey Dance, the notorious “Reverse Donkey” and directly influenced Minshall’s decision to resurrect the Donkey Derby band from the ashes of The Wedding. By then, the group had placed second in the Caribbean Song Festival with Ambataila Woman. In the late 90’s Tigress migrated to the United States and Lady B died in September 2001. A Las’ Lap lanyap for Day 10 of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #theatre #archivecarnival #trinidad #portrait #music #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #3Canal #musician #steelband #rapso #queensparksavannah #3canalshow #jouvert #blue #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/BupBA0wgY_J/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=17ew4kwqcxwju

[marklyndersay]

Errol Ince, second from right, performs with his band the MusicMakers on the Grandstand stage in 1959. Ince @inceerrol learned music at the Tacarigua Orphanage and by 1953 was a featured first trumpet player with local big bands, playing on recordings by top calypsonians. He formed the Errol Ince Music Makers in 1959 and ran it until 1961 when he left for England. He performed for many years in Europe before returning to Trinidad. In 1966 he migrated to New York, where he played with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. He returned to Trinidad again in 1979, playing at Kitchener’s Calypso Tent for two years, then revived the Music Makers for another two.  He made a career performing with major tents and with the bands backing the Calypso Monarch Competition. He was voted the best trumpet player in Europe between 1968 and 1972 and received the Louis Armstrong Award in 1964. As a composer, he is most famous for Oh my Papa, but has composed for Baron and Natasha Wilson. He led music coaching in the Mentoring by the Masters series hosted by the Arts and Culture Ministry in 2013. His first album, Dance Trinidad, was released by Columbia Records and the TELCO Record Division in 1960. A Las’ Lap lanyap for Day 10 of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage. This post is taken from images scanned and repaired and gathered into a collection of vintage images shot around the year of my birth by my father, Kingsley Lyndersay. #archive #lyndersaydigital #musician #archivecarnival #trinidad #band #musicmakers #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #kingleycollection #kingsleylyndersay #savannah #stage #carnivalday #errolince #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Queen's Park Savannah) https://www.instagram.com/p/BupAfY1A8cR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=59dhe27esl0k

[marklyndersay]

Dr Robert Ammon, a dentist by profession produced his first Carnival band, Gods of Olympus in 1954, the first band, it is believed, to use hammered metal breastplates made of copper as a part of the costuming. Much of the work was done by Ken Morris, who did the copper working on Conquistadors, which Ammon, by then just Bobby at the mascamp, produced in 1959. Metal work in costumes wasn’t the only thing that Ammon introduced to Carnival and 1962’s Flag-wavers of Sienna introduced flags on a standard as a hand prop that enhanced the stage presentation. Ammon would win the Band of the Year title four times, in 1957 with La Fiesta Brava, in a tie with Harold Saldenah’s Atlantis with Holy War in 1958 (both band featured extensive work by Ken Morris), China in Peace and War (1960) and in partnership with Wayne Berkeley when they produced Secrets of the Sky in 1973. By then, Ammon had largely left the life of the bandleader behind. According to Glendon Morris, the son of the metal artist Ken Morris, the cost of the metal costumes kept rising until it was priced out of existence. The younger Morris did not take up his father’s hammer for Carnival and instead helped create the Belmont Original Stylish Sailors (BOSS), which created its own Carnival traditions influenced by Cito Velasquez’ take on the Fancy Sailor. Dr Robert Ammon died in June 2009. Day 10 of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage. Today’s posts are taken from images scanned and repaired and gathered into a collection of vintage images shot around the year of my birth by my father, Kingsley Lyndersay. #archive #lyndersaydigital #calypsonian #archivecarnival #trinidad #georgebailey #kaiso #carnival #trinidadandtobago #filmphotography #kingleycollection #kingsleylyndersay #savannah #stage #carnivalday #masquerader #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive (at Queen's Park Savannah) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bun9tajAWEX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=8mc61junbrwr

[marklyndersay]

Bryan Tico Skinner and Associates provide one of the great delights of Carnival, a J’Ouvert band that hit the streets on Carnival Tuesday. These masqueraders (paintsqueraders?) refresh their look on Ariapita Avenue in Woodbrook in 2007. These are not the fierce devils of the Paramin mountain top, with their aggressive chants, fire breathing and determined confrontation with their audience. Skinner’s devils were the playful imps of the festival, their perennial jabs of sarcasm and irony a reminder of the fundamental silliness of our daily costumes, their buckets of grease and paint an invitation to shed our skins and laugh at society or at least smear it with a wicked grin. The band offered a sense of humor that’s largely disappeared from the festival, with portrayals condemning various aspects of society ripe for lampooning to the various Hells that were the theme of the year’s presentation. In 1996, the band underlined the results of a hastily called election with their presentation, Snap Election is Hell. “I play current affairs, things that are bad,” he told the TT Guardian in 2005. “You do something wrong, you are a devil…it finish there." Day Nine of Trinidad Carnival - An Instagram Exhibition, 10 days of posts that take note of notable people and events from my archive of Carnival coverage #archive #lyndersaydigital #jouvert #archivecarnival #trinidad #bluedevils #design #carnival #trinidadandtobago #digitalphotography #paint #carnivaltuesday #commentary #dawn #grease #woodbrook #trinidadcarnival #thelyndersayarchive #exhibit #instagramexhibit (at The Avenue) https://www.instagram.com/p/BulYdkogSI-/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=psqasc89e5v