#tentexperience

[marklyndersay]

Chris Garcia has been singing professionally for more than 30 years. Beyond his well-known hit Chutney Bacchganal, he has recorded a version of the Lord's Prayer and songs about the death of George Floyed and a celebration of the medical teams during the pandemic. His career, he says, is, "Just pure music." He composed and wrote music during the pandemic, including a song celebrating the agricultural sector for the IICA. #calypso #kaiso #tent #music #Carnival #singer #performance #trinidad #trinidadandtobago #tuco #barrackyard #portofspain #tentexperience #motherofallcarnivals #2023 The Calypsonians 2020 began as an attempt to survey and record in portraits the calypsonians working in tents during each year's Carnival season. It is an imperfect record, dependent on the willingness of individuals to participate and tents to accommodate the project. The first photographs were made in 2020 with visits to five calypso tents. During the pandemic, it was continued in 2021 and 2022 with photos done in an office at the studios of WACK TV during streaming sessions hosted by the station. (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpc2jZDu6mV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[marklyndersay]

Kurt Allen has been a working calypsonian and calypso singer for the last 42 years. This is the third year he has staged his recreation of turn of the last century calypso tent experiences, The Barrack Yard. The first editions were staged in 2015 and 2016. The tent in 2023 was titled Dragons of Carnival and was mounted as a tribute to "Chinee" Patrick Jones. On his Facebook page, Kurt paid tribute to Mr Kong Tin, his physics teacher who paid for his first recording, so his links with and appreciation for the Sino-Trinidadian community reaches back to his beginnings as a calypsonian. He chose a song written for the tent for is performance at the Calypso Monarch semi-finals over more aggressive social commentary because the message of the tent was more important to him. Kurt Allen won the Calypso Monarch competition in 2010 and the last year he competed with any intention of placing was in 2015. After taking the crown, he established The Office of the Calypso Monarch, an attempt to make the annual competition a tradition of winning calypsonians tithing their winnings to do projects that benefited their colleagues in the community. During his reign, he oversaw an effort to uplift the living quarters of the aging calypsonian Stryker, who passed just a few months afterward. "I'd hoped it would continue," he said, "but perhaps other calypsonians found different ways of helping their community." In addition to his 2010 Calypso Monarch win, he was the 1993 Young King and 1999 International Soca Monarch with Stampede. He has been a band singer, performing with Roy Cape All Stars between 1989 and 1992 and again from 1996 to 2000. He brought Blaxx to All Stars in 1999 and Destra to the band in 2000. He has performed for much of this century as "The Last Badjohn in Calypso." #calypso #kaiso #tent #music #Carnival #singer #performance #trinidad #trinidadandtobago #tuco #barrackyard #portofspain #tentexperience #motherofallcarnivals #2023 The Calypsonians 2020 began as an attempt to survey and record in portraits the calypsonians working in tents during each year's Carnival season. (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpgpSs8u6F1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[marklyndersay]

Dylan Yuk Low performed a clever mix of satirical rewrites of calypsoes and a deep dive into vintage calypso at The Barrackyard Calypso Tent on French Street. He performs as Chinee Dylan and was invited to perform at the show by Choc'Late Allen, who discovered him on Tik Tok where he has a following. Dylan began performing parang in 2017 with La Neuva Experience and has played pan since 2008. He began learning old calypsoes to sing to his grandmother, Lurenthia, because the songs stirred memories for her, #calypso #kaiso #tent #music #Carnival #singer #performance #trinidad #trinidadandtobago #tuco #barrackyard #portofspain #tentexperience #motherofallcarnivals #2023 The Calypsonians 2020 began as an attempt to survey and record in portraits the calypsonians working in tents during each year's Carnival season. It is an imperfect record, dependent on the willingness of individuals to participate and tents to accommodate the project. The first photographs were made in 2020 with visits to five calypso tents. During the pandemic, it was continued in 2021 and 2022 with photos done in an office at the studios of WACK TV during streaming sessions hosted by the station. (at French St. Woodbrook) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpQufwxuZDk/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[marklyndersay]

Derrick Seales has been a singer and performer since the 1980's. He began his career performing with TT Sunblast for three years before joining Shandileer for another three. He moved on to Sound Revolution, where he was a front man for eight years, then joined the Roy Cape All Stars in 1996 for seven years. From there, he became a part of Dil E Nadan, where he performed until 2020. Derrick got Covid while caring for infected family members and ended up in the hospital. "I am on Derrick Seales now," he said. "I gave bands the first half of my life and I am now starting the second half of my career." #calypso #kaiso #tent #music #Carnival #singer #performance #trinidad #trinidadandtobago #tuco #barrackyard #portofspain #tentexperience #motherofallcarnivals #2023 The Calypsonians 2020 began as an attempt to survey and record in portraits the calypsonians working in tents during each year's Carnival season. It is an imperfect record, dependent on the willingness of individuals to participate and tents to accommodate the project. The first photographs were made in 2020 with visits to five calypso tents. During the pandemic, it was continued in 2021 and 2022 with photos done in an office at the studios of WACK TV during streaming sessions hosted by the station. (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpgoylwuCNw/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[marklyndersay]

Karisia Willette is Queen Independent. She is a seven-time calypso monarch of St Kitts and Nevis and the country's first female monarch. She is the reigning Calypso Monarch. Her performance at The Barrack Yard Tent is her first formal performance in a Trinidad and Tobago calypso tent and came to the country at the invitation of Kurt Allen. #calypso #kaiso #tent #music #Carnival #singer #performance #trinidad #trinidadandtobago #tuco #barrackyard #portofspain #tentexperience #motherofallcarnivals #2023 #stkittsandnevis The Calypsonians 2020 began as an attempt to survey and record in portraits the calypsonians working in tents during each year's Carnival season. It is an imperfect record, dependent on the willingness of individuals to participate and tents to accommodate the project. The first photographs were made in 2020 with visits to five calypso tents. During the pandemic, it was continued in 2021 and 2022 with photos done in an office at the studios of WACK TV during streaming sessions hosted by the station. (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpc2_GjuMgZ/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[marklyndersay]

Earl Brooks performed pan instrumentals at The Barrack Yard in 2023. He  has been performing as a pannist for more than 40 years and is 70-years-old. He composed songs for Kurt Allen more than ten years ago, including Doh Meddle with Me, and has remained friends with the calypsonian ever since. In addition to his career as a performer he has arranged for Hatters and the London based steelband Ebony. He arranged for Brimblers in 2023. #pannist #steelband #tent #music #Carnival #arranger #performance #trinidad #trinidadandtobago #tuco #barrackyard #portofspain #tentexperience #motherofallcarnivals #2023 (at Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cpc2NVXuKes/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=