August 1st is Emancipation Day in Trinidad and Tobago, a public holiday. Trinidad and Tobago was the first country in the world to commemorate the abolition of slavery with a national observance, and since that time several other countries (mostly in the Caribbean) have followed suit.

For quite a few years now the last week in July, building up to the holiday (August 1), has been set aside for a series of festivals, lectures, films and fairs in honour of the occasion.

This year the African Food Festival is being held on the Sunday before the actual holiday – (click here for my writeup of the 2010 Fair!)

Emancipation Day Display 2007, Piarco International Airport, Trinidad

TriniGourmet’s 2010 Emancipation Day Menu

• Sarina’s Savoury Peanut Chicken
• Red Red
• Sarina’s Spicy Ochro/Okra Melee
• Calypso Rice
• Pawpaw Nectar

For more information on Emancipation Day visit:

• Emancipation Day – Trinidad and Tobago’s National Library Portal

This post was originally published August 1, 2007. It has been updated twice since then.

March 30 is Spiritual Baptist/Shouter Liberation Day in Trinidad & Tobago.

From Wikipedia:

Spiritual/Shouter Baptist Liberation Day is an annual public holiday celebrated in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, on March 30. The holiday commemorates the repeal on March 30, 1951 of the 1917 Shouter Prohibition Ordinance that prohibited the activities of the Shouter or Spiritual Baptist faith.

It seems hard to believe or to fully understand the idea that practicing a faith could be considered illegal here in T&T where we pride ourselves on religous tolerance and diversity, however for many decades that was exactly what the Shouter Baptist community endured. In high school, one book that we studied “The Wine of Astonishment“, allowed us a little window into what those times were like.

Today, it is a common sight on a Sunday morning to see members of the Spiritual Baptist faith on their way to and from services in their stark white garb.

For this day I have envisioned a vegetarian lunch of truly local fare!

Wholewheat Bake
Trinidad Buljol
Baked Green Fig
Broiled Carambola (Five Fingers) Over Vanilla Frozen Yogurt
Trinidad Mauby

To learn more about the Spiritual/Shouter Baptist Community visit the below:

• Spiritual/Shouter Baptist Liberation Day (National Library Information Services)
• Spiritual Baptist beliefs and customs

After the frenzied crescendo of Carnival Tuesday all merriment and debauchery ends (or is supposed to end) with the ushering in of Ash Wednesday and the start of the Roman Catholic observance of Lent. My father tells me that ‘back in the day’ all sound stopped at midnight and no calypso would play on the radio with the end of Carnival Tuesday. Things have definitely changed since then! Although you still see many individuals with ashes on their forehead heading to work, you are also equally as likely to see the throngs of people who take the day off work and head to the nation’s beaches for a ‘cooldown’.

SIGHTS:

SOUNDS:

Here you can see some video of Trinidad’s most popular beach, Maracas Bay. The little huts are concession stands, the most popular offering of which is ‘Shark n Bake’

TASTES:

For many in Trinidad Ash Wednesday is a day for relaxing (or partying) at the beach. And, as mentioned above, the defacto beach snack here in TnT is Fried Fish n Bake

This post was originally published on February 3, 2007. It has been updated twice since then.

I was talking to a Brazilian friend a few years ago and she was surprised at some of the differences between our Carnival and theirs. You see it was a few weeks ago when she decided to look and see what costume/band she should play with. She was shocked when all the Trinis were like, whoa you are way too late. You see, here Carnival bands launch their designs in the final quarter of the previous year. Designs go on sale shortly after and the hottest sections sell out very quickly, sometimes within hours, as people put down their deposits. Several weeks before Carnival the actual costumes are ready for pickup with the rest of your deposit. Oftentimes people don’t have the money or desire to pick up their costumes. However since costumes are sized to the measurements of the buyer if you are trying to pick up a costume last minute you may be stuck with one that is 2 sizes too small, or too large.

Carnival bands range from small local affairs to large elaborate franchises. They may focus on Las Vegas showgirl styled costumes, or on imaginative social commentaries and folklore. On Carnival Monday and Tuesday the bands file through the streets along a prior pre-approved route, complete with music trucks with live musicians and DJs. This route passes past viewing and judging points for the title of ‘Band of the Year’.

SIGHTS:

Additional Carnival Band Links:

• National Carnival Bands Association of Trinidad and Tobago
• Trinidad Carnival Diary”
• 2011 Carnival Band Listing

SOUNDS:

Carnival is not just for the adults though Before the adults have their time in the sun the children also have their turn with their very own Kiddies Carnival

For many Trinis this is where they first get their taste of ‘mas’ I never played in the big Kiddie Carnival but always took part in my prep school’s private one

There I am!

You can see some lovely Kiddie Carnival pics (like the one above) at the website for the carnival band Spoilt Rotten Kids

TASTES:

Saltfish Accra – fried shredded saltfish in a highly seasoned dough, served with pepper sauce

This post was originally published on February 14, 2007. It has been updated twice since then.

J’ouvert (joo-VAY) is the start to the Carnival celebrations. It begins in the pre-dawn hours of Carnival Monday and lasts until daybreak. J’ouvert (which is a Creole corruption of the French Jour Ouvert – day opening) is also known as ‘dirty mas’. It seems to symbolise us going down to our rawest most animal and basest selves in the cover of the night, before the sun emerges to reveal us in our finite forms and encourages us to wash all the mess and stress away and be reborn in our shiny new costumes

J’ouvert is marked by smaller groups and bands and a general free for all vibe. J’ouvert bands congregate around main themes based on what they will cover their bodies with. That’s right. Cover their bodies. You see, J’ouvert is also like fingerpainting gone wild. There are mud bands, paint bands, pitch (oil) bands, (baby) powder bands, and most recently chocolate bands! Each band smears themselves in the coverings of their choice and dances through the streets looking for ‘victims’ And when a blue band meets a mud band (or any other) at an intersection… well it is sheer joy for each side to smear the other with their own ‘branding’

I remember when I first played J’ouvert. I was a teenager, and it was probably 1993 or 1994. I went playing with my friends and had no idea what to expect. Crime was not what it is today and my parents had no concern of me and my friends walking from our home through the suburbs with no adults or car ride to find out what was going on in the capital. I naively had resolved that I would not dirty because that sounded absolutely awful to me. Well I soon learned what was what. I had reached St. Clair (an affluent suburb) and was chipping (moving forward, shuffling my feet to the beat) with my friends when a middle aged man turned to me and smiled. He seemed safe enough and I smiled back. Out of nowhere his hand appeared from behind his back and moved across my right cheek. I felt something left in its wake and in shock gasped as he threw his head back, laughed lustily and danced off into the crowds. I had been marked! I think it was pitch too! Shock soon dissolved into laughter of my own too and all I could think of then was that i had to get my own jar of SOMETHING! I was gonna mark everyone I saw!! That’s really all I remember of my first J’ouvert It was a blur!

For more J’ouvert information:

• J’ouvert Morning, Trinidad Carnival (a UK perspective)
• J’ouvert on Wikipedia

SIGHTS:

J’ouvert is also a time for traditional carnival costumes to be revived. Known as ‘ole mas’ these costumes are part of Carnival lore. On Carnival Friday they also have their own parade through the streets of Port-of-Spain. It is a very thrilling sight!

The above picture is of some tired ‘Sailors’ on a Carnival Monday.

My favorite Ole Mas character is the…

Moko Jumbie!

How moko jumbies dance and move effortlessly through crowds is beyond me The jumbies in the above photo are all from The Dragon Keylemanjahro School of Arts and Culture.

For pictures and complete descriptions of Trinidad’s Traditional Carnival Characters visit our National Library’s Traditional Carnival Character’s Homepage.

Like every part of Carnival J’ouvert also has its own judging platform. And homemade costumes really get to shine here, many of them mocking current events and headlines both locally and overseas.

SOUNDS:

“Talk Yuh Talk – 3Canal” (hard hitting classic political commentary with J’ouvert imagery and percussion driven acapella Jouvert sound

TASTES:

In the years since I have played J’ouvert a few more times. Always with the J’ouvert bands that have popped up. These bands provide basic ‘jouvert kits’ for their members, as well as a hearty breakfast. This breakfast invariably is some combination of street foods and always includes the ubiquitous fete fare, corn soup (shown below).

This post was originally published on February 6, 2007. It has been updated twice since then.

Dimanche Gras takes place on the Sunday night before Ash Wednesday. Here the Calypso Monarch is chosen (after competition) and prize money and a vehicle bestowed. Also the King and Queen of the bands are crowned, where each band to parade costumes for the next two days submits a king and queen, from which an overall winner is chosen. These usually involve huge, complex, beautiful costumes.

For a historical look at this annual event visit Terry Joseph’s article “Dimanche Gras”

SIGHTS:

The compositions performed on Dimanche Gras night tend to be socio-political commentaries on the issues of the day (both local, regional, and international)

SOUNDS:

TASTES:

Bertie’s Trinidad Pelau (my father usually makes 2 ‘big pots’ of pelau that last us through Carnival Sunday to Ash Wednesday). Carnival is not a time to be slaving over a stove daily! His pelau making days are now behind him though, and I will be taking the helm this year for the first time!

If you are getting the sense that Carnival is one big long party you are right! So it only makes sense that one big long party would be made of many many big long parties as well. These parties in Trinidad are called fetes and are attended by hundreds sometimes thousands. Fetes feature the biggest soca artists of the season and can go on until daybreak. As the Carnival season draws near the number of fetes grows exponentially, and are not restricted to weekends either. It is not uncommon for people to attend a fete until well after midnight and then to go to their day job as usual.

Fetes are often held by schools and non-profits as fundraisers, by corporate sponsors and of course, by party promoters.

One of the best sources for fete listings, invitations and more is Trinidad Carnival Diary.

SIGHTS:

At a fete you will usually see people waving huge flags and other such colorful ‘accessories’. And of course no Trini worth their red, white and black would think of showing up at a fete without their own rag or ‘kerchief to wave and jump with

SOUNDS:

Fetes sometimes have ‘rhythm sections’ that add to the frenzied sound and atmosphere. One of the most popular and well-known rhythm sections is the Laventille Rhythm section. They were part of the cultural contigency sent to Germany as part of our 2006 World Cup delegation. You can see and hear them in the below clip.

TASTES:

It seems that every time a North American program wants to denote the ‘tropics’ you will hear the sound of a steelpan. It doesn’t even to seem to matter if the ‘tropics’ are in the Caribbean on a cruise ship or in Hawaii! If you ask someone from those parts of the world what instrument they are hearing you may even hear them say ‘steel drums’ … oh my my my.. It is time for some Steel pan 101. A Pan-o-vention if you will

The steel pan (not drum) was invented in Trinidad and is the only acoustic musical invention of the 20th century. It should then come as no surprise that it is our national instrument and one that we hold dear!

As a kid I played in my prep school’s steelband, I started on the cello and moved up to the tenor where I stayed until I left there to enter high school. Oh the memories

Steelband – The Beginnings
“Pan as an item was not invented by any person. It evolved and there are a number of people, including myself, who advanced it through certain stages of that evolution.” (Elliott Mannette, October 25, 2000)

Between 1838 and 1883, the beating of skin drums was an integral part of Carnival celebrations. When a ban on all drum-beating was imposed in 1884, Carnival celebrants had to look for an alternative to the skin drum. They turned to bamboo after they discovered that dried bamboo of various diameters produced different sounds, when cut to differing lengths and struck with wooden sticks. Bands that used bamboo to produce music were called Tamboo Bamboo bands and the first report of such a band taking part in Carnival was in 1891. With the passage of time, Tamboo Bamboo bands were integrated into Carnival and flourished until the 1930s.

With an innate sense of rhythm and a burning desire to express this feeling by beating on something other than bamboo and skin drums during Carnival, some poor, Black, skillful Trinidadians turned to metal containers for music in the 1930s. Although there are varying opinions as to when the first sound from beating on metal cans was heard, there is strong evidence that such a sound occurred in 1935 when the Gonzales (Port-of-Spain) Tamboo Bamboo Band hit the road during Carnival with a bass can. As word of this innovation spread, aspiring metal can players all over Trinidad began crafting the bottoms of any metal containers (pans) that they could put their hands on, by pounding and partitioning the flat ends with hammers and steel punches to create different sounds. This art would later come to be known as tuning and the players were called panmen. By 1937, paint cans and cookie tin-cans were being played alongside Tamboo Bamboo bands during Carnival. In 1938, Victor “Toti” Wilson of the Calvary Tamboo Bamboo Band played a paint pan that had four notes tuned to the chimes of the clock at Queen’s Royal College. By 1939, bands comprised of pans only began to form and were called steelbands. They initially took on names from popular American movies and the first two steelbands in the history of Trinidad were Alexander’s Ragtime Band and Hellyard. In 1940, calypso music and the steelband began their long marriage when the Roaring Lion composed a calypso specifically for Alexander’s Ragtime Band.
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Read more about ‘Steelband – The Beginning‘

Phase II Pan Groove Panyard – photo by caribbeanfreephoto
Phase II Pan Groove is one of the ‘elite’ steelbands in Trinidad and Tobago, their arranger is the legendary composer and panman Len ‘ Boogsie’ Sharpe.

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From Wikipedia.org’s Steelpan entry
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There are 11 instruments in the pan family:
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* Lead/Tenor (There are many variations of tenor pans: Spiderweb lead( 4ths and 5ths), 3rds and 5ths, left handed, etc…)
* Invader lead/Tenor (Variations include C and D invaders)
* Double tenors
* Double seconds
* Double guitars
* Quadduet (double seconds with extensions)
* Quadrophonic (four pans)
* Triple guitars
* Cellos (Three and four pan variations)
* Tenor bass (Three and four pan variations)
* Five bass
* Six bass
* Seven bass
* Nine bass (up to 12 bass)

Just like an orchestra, these different types of pans combine to form ‘bands’. Steelbands.

Once a year the various steelbands (often with corporate sponsors) compete at Carnival time in a festival called Panorama.

One of the things that never fails to amaze me is the sheer passion and dedication of the panplayers who volunteer countless hours, memorizing 20 to 30 minute arrangements without the aid of sheet music, formal training (for the most part) or the visual metronome of a conductor.

Trinis are really amazing!

SIGHTS:

Trinidad and Tobago Steelpan and Panorama Links:

• Pan Trinbago: The World Governing Body for the steelpan
• Steelpan – National Instrument of Trinidad and Tobago (directory of links)

SOUNDS:

The steelband has spread all over the world and online I have found clips of it in schools and festivals in ways and places that I would never have imagined! Below is a clip of the Church Rock Academy Elementary School Steel Drum Band from the Navajo Nation near Gallup New Mexico, share their love of music and celebrate their culture as they perform at the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington DC.

TASTES:

This post was originally published on February 14, 2007. It has been updated twice since then.

It is hard to imagine Carnival without music. And the definitive music of Trinidad and Tobago Carnival is soca. So what is Soca Music?

Well, why not let Soca Superstar Machel Montano say it in his own words?

From Caribbean Music 101 (the original link no longer works unfortunately):
What is Soca?

Soca is a modern form of calypso with an up-tempo beat. There is a popular misconception that soca is a fusion of American soul music and traditional calypso. Hence the name “so-ca,” soul/calypso. Though this sounds plausible, it is simply not true. Soca music originated as a fusion of calypso with Indian rhythms, thus combining the musical traditions to the two major ethnic groups of Trinidad and Tobago.

Unlike calypso music (which revolves around social and political commentary), soca is usually about partying, escapism and feel good vibes. Unlike reggae and dancehall music, soca and calypso have not made an imprint on the international mainstream the way that many think they should have. Whether this is due to poor marketing or a cultural barrier is something that no one can really agree on. However there are some soca tracks that have been breakout hits in North America and Europe. Most notably,

* “Hot Hot Hot” – Buster Poindexter (originally recorded by Arrow)
* “Follow the leader” – Soca Boys (originally recorded by Nigel and Marvin Lewis), a more recent version by S.B.S.
* “Who Let the Dogs Out” – Baha Men (originally recorded by Trinidadian Anslem Douglas)
* “Sweet Soca Music” – Sugar Daddy
* “Turn Me On” – Kevin Lyttle
* “Tempted to Touch” – Rupee
* “We Not Givin’ Up” – Machel Montano and Xtatik (Trinidad)

SIGHTS

The best places to see, hear, experience soca and calypso are the numerous fetes, reviews and tents that pop up over the Carnival season. Growing up there really was only competition that mattered, that was the one to be named Calypso Monarch on Dimanche Gras night. However nowadays, as the genre has grown and splintered, numerous concerts and competitions have popped up to meet the demand for musical expression and recognition.

Additional Soca/Calypso Links:

• TriniSoca.com: Trinidad and Tobago Calypso, Soca, and Carnival
• Muriel’s Treasure (a virtual encyclopedia of calypso links!)
• Trinidad and Tobago: National Geographic World Music

SOUNDS

Nowadays Trinidadian Soca music (itself a sub-category of calypso music) has spawned 3 distinct sub-categories.

1. Rapso : Trinidad dialect ‘hip-hop’ with smooth calypso melodies and bold socially conscious lyrics

2. Chutney-soca: A fusion of traditional Indian percussion and style of singing and Calypso; Tempo usually around 154 BPM

3. Ragga Soca: A fusion of Jamaican Dancehall and Trinidad’s Soca – uptempo calypso beat with moderate bass and electronic instruments.

Soca has been experimented with in Bollywood films, Bhangra, and new Punjabi pop. It has also been utilised by Japanese singer Minmi!

For more Soca clips visit Toronto-Lime.com

TASTES:

This post was originally published on January 24, 2007. It has been updated three times since then.

With only a few days it is high time that I shine a spotlight on Trinidad’s largest cultural festival, Carnival. Indeed, I even got a little ‘bouff’ today via email for failing to cover it yet! In my defense this series comes out every year, however the past weeks have been unusually busy and my blogging schedule suffered somewhat. No need to worry though, it is finally here

Where did the word “carnival” come from?
Hundred and hundreds of years ago, the followers of the Catholic religion in Italy started the tradition of holding a wild costume festival right before the first day of Lent. Because Catholics are not supposed to eat meat during Lent, they called their festival, carnevale – which means “to put away the meat.” As time passed, carnivals in Italy became quite famous; and in fact the practice spread to France, Spain, and all the Catholic countries in Europe. Then as the French, Spanish, and Portuguese began to take control of the Americas and other parts of the world, they brought with them their tradition of celebrating carnival.
From CarnivalPower.com

In Trinidad the Carnival season begins almost immediately after the Christmas leftovers have been put in the fridge and ends with a final 3-day frenzy that ends on Ash Wednesday. Trinidad’s and Brazil’s Carnival are to me the most colorful and creative explosions of the human spirit. However there are many key differences between ours and theirs.

From Wikipedia.com:
In Trinidad, Carnival is a holiday season that lasts over a month and culminates in large celebrations in Port of Spain on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday with Dimanche Gras, J’ouvert, and Mas (masquerade). Carnival is a festive time of costumes, dance, music, competitions, rum, and partying (also referred to as fete-ing). Music styles associated with Carnival include soca, calypso, and steel pan.
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The annual Carnival steel pan competition known as the National Panorama competition is held in the weeks preceding Carnival with the finals held on the Saturday before the main event. Pan players compete in various categories such as “Conventional Steel band” or Single Pan” by performing renditions of the current year’s calypsos. Preliminary judging of this event for “Conventional Steel bands” has been recently moved to the individual pan yards where steel bands practice their selections for the competition.
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“Dimanche Gras” takes place on the Sunday night before Ash Wednesday. Here the Calypso Monarch is chosen (after competition) and prize money and a vehicle bestowed. Also the King and Queen of the bands are crowned, where each band to parade costumes for the next two days submits a king and queen, from which an overall winner is chosen. These usually involve huge, complex, beautiful costumes.
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J’ouvert, or “Dirty Mas”, takes place before dawn on the Monday (known as Carnival Monday) before Ash Wednesday. It means “goodbye to the flesh” or “welcome to daybreak” (depending on the interpretation). Here revelers dress in old clothes and cover themselves in mud, oil paint and body paint. A common character to be seen at this time is “Jab-jabs” (devils, blue, black or red) complete with pitch fork, pointed horns and tails. Here also, a king and queen of the J’ouvert are chosen, based on their representation of current political/social events/issues.
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Carnival 2008
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Carnival Monday involves the parade of the mas bands, but on a casual or relaxed scale. Usually revelers wear only parts of their costumes, and the purpose of the day is more one of fun than display or competition. Also on Carnival Monday, Monday Night Mas is popular in most towns and especially the capital, where smaller bands participate in competition.
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Carnival Tuesday is when the main events of the carnival take place. On this day full costume is worn complete with make up and body paints/adornments. Each band has their costume presentation based on a particular theme, and contain various sections (some consisting of thousands of revelers) which reflect these themes. Here the street parade and eventual crowning of the best bands take place. After following a route where various judging points are located, the mas bands eventually converge on the Queen’s Park Savannah to pass “on the stage” to be judged once and for all.

Carnival Tuesday 2009 (IzATrini.com)

Also taking place on this day is the crowning of the Road March king or queen, where the singer of the most played song over the two days of the carnival is crowned winner, complete with prize money and usually a vehicle.

Palance – JW and Blaze from ForceFed Productions on Vimeo (Road March 2010)

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This parading and revelry goes on into the night of the Tuesday. Ash Wednesday itself, whilst not an official holiday, is marked by most by visiting the beaches that abound both Trinidad and Tobago. The most populated being Maracas beach and Manzanilla beach, where huge beach parties take place every Ash Wednesday. These provide a cool down from the previous five days of hectic partying, parades and competitions, and are usually attended by the whole family.
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Maracas Beach

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Over the next few days I will be going into more detail about many of the key characters and cultural signifiers mentioned above, as these are the things that make Trinidad Carnival like no other. From the sights, sounds and of course the tastes!

Street food on every corner

I hope that for many of you it will be an interesting introduction to a key component of my culture, and for those of you overseas who have memories of partying down here, I hope that it will make you so homesick that you will curse out your boss and jump on ‘d’ next plane!