It was a good week for calypso last week.

Last Tuesday, there was a screening of the 2004 documentary called Calypso Dreams at the National Library. It was to promote the launch of the DVD. Kudos to Alvin Daniell and the rest of the Calypso Dreams team on this effort. The screening was dedicated to the memory of the Mighty Duke. One of the good things that have come out of the recent loss of the Mighty Duke is a greater consciousness of just how special this art form is. There is Web site to support the documentary http://www.calypsodreams.com

On the tent scene, last Thursday was Kalypso Revue at SWWTU Hall, and last Wednesday was the opening of Kaiso House at what was formerly Strand Cinema in Port-of-Spain.

At Kaiso House, we bumped into our good friends — Anjen Mc-Lean and Roger Prince. I had not seen them in years, so liming with them was long overdue. It was a reminder that one of the best things about the Carnival season is that it brings us Trinidadians and Tobagonians together in a way only we could understand. Nothing like Trini Carnival season…ent?

On that night, a few artistes in particular stood out to me. Sharlon Bailey gave us “Faking Evil”, a strong social commentary with great delivery. I also enjoyed the thought-provoking piece from Singing Sandra — “Ghetto of the Mind”. It appealed to me because she seemed to be inviting us to take responsibility for our own situations in life. Do not be so quick to blame other people – just consider the choices we are making.

In the Calypso Dreams documentary, I think it was Brigo who said calypso was like the “poor man’s newspaper.” It is a way for the average person to enjoy discussion and analysis of such a wide variety of topics. That comment came back to me as I enjoyed the performances at Kaiso House.

A particular favourite of mine on Wednesday night was Brother Valentino’s “A Fool’s Paradise”. It is one of those I would call a consciousness-raising piece of music. I heard lyrics like:

“A generation of people who refuse to be themselves.
The philosophy of 50 cent has them hook, line and sinker.
The young black men become like a sacrifice.
They love it; they living in a fool’s paradise.”

There were two or three video recorders in use, so I assume a DVD would be available in due course.

At the Calypso Dreams screening, we were chatting with Sean Samad from Cott Foundation who was telling us about some of the latest ideas on what could be the future of the music industry.

It all centred on the role the Internet is playing. One emerging idea is music downloads for free with advertising paying the artiste. Another was a certain number of downloadable tracks or even the ability to listen to an unlimited number of music tracks for a fixed monthly charge.

Internet companies that offer free content and services to consumers and where the advertisers foot the bill are not far-fetched at all. According to Alexa, the top three global sites are Yahoo, Google and YouTube. While the top three sites in Trinidad and Tobago are Windows, Facebook and Yahoo. In these two lists, I think only Windows does not depend on advertising revenue for most of its profit.

So if a company can offer search tools or Web e-mail for free to consumers, then why not music? This brings us to a local partnership between Flow and Trinidadtunes. Trinidadtunes has been offering music for free with the cost underwritten by Flow’s advertising.

Preserving and nurturing the creative arts is critical to our development. This kind of innovation and collaboration needs to be acknowledged. Kudos to the teams at Flow and Trinidadtunes. I know many of us have had challenges with Flow in the past, but my recent experience has been positive.

Just the other day, one of its sales specialists, a Mrs Khan, was exceptionally helpful in responding to my query. I believe in acknowledging good customer service when I see it. So again, kudos to the team at Flow.

As always, I end by saying that despite our challenges, we are so blessed to live in this beautiful country. We need to remember and acknowledge just how much uplifting work is being done all around us. Let us continue to have the audacity of hope in our country, as we move towards Vision 2020.

I read that before he passed on, the Mighty Duke spent his last days in the studio of his Cocorite home, where he penned a calypso called the Dying Art. It apparently tells of the dying calypso culture being replaced by soca music. My old pardner, Marty Raymond, also believes that the culture of Trinidad and Tobago is in transition, and as such, calypso and old mas culture is seeing its sunset.

Marty went on to say we are blessed, in that during our lifetime we experienced part of the “old time” Trinidad and Tobago, which so many seem to yearn for again. Marty really got me thinking. Would calypso soon be forgotten? I thought that it would be helpful for me to speak to Aiyegoro Ome about the National Youth Action Committee (NYAC). I met him before, and I remembered just how passionate he was about cultural development and our young people. So last Tuesday after work, I took a walk to 40 Duke Street in Port-of-Spain to chat with Ome, as well as to have a look at some of the talented young people auditioning for its calypso shows.

Ome sees artistic expression as the soul of a nation, and the key to its social and moral development. In that context, calypso is a key part of our artistic expression and also a way of helping young people battle external influences, which he believes are more powerful than ever. He reminded me that most, if not all, of the top soca artistes of today started off with calypso. In fact, many of these artistes got their first exposure in competitions and shows organised by the NYAC. He called names like Machel Montano, Destra Garcia, Denise Belfon and Shurwayne Winchester. Ome explains that they moved to soca for a number of reasons, including the financial rewards of soca as well as the apparent decline in popularity of the tents. But Ome firmly believes that calypso remains the secret ingredient in the soca art form.

In fact, not only does he believe that calypso is alive and well, he also believes it will soon return to its previous levels of popularity. He cites as encouraging the way in which artistes like Montano and Winchester have collaborated with calypsonians like the Mighty Sparrow and Calypso Rose in recent years. Personally, I am not sure that traditional calypso would return to the prominence it once enjoyed, but I can clearly see that the art form is not being forgotten. My friend Bose talks of the need to attract the right people. We need more like Cyril Diaz, Joey Lewis, Duchy Brothers and Roy Cape. We want to fall in love with calypso again. We want to smile at the lyrics, the way we did when Birdie and Melo had their great “battles.” We need to make it a little more difficult for the artistes to think of deserting calypso.

The NYAC has five competitions for young artistes: the Calypso Pioneers Competition for youngsters aged five to nine; the Calypso Jewels Competition for youngsters aged nine to 12; the Calypso Juniors Competition for 12 to 15-year-olds; the Pathfinders Competition for 15 to 20-year-olds; and the Stars of Tomorrow competition for those up to 30 years old. I was able to view some youngsters auditioning, and I remember seeing this tiny little girl, who looked three or four years old, singing with the confidence and presence of someone many times her tender age. I was amazed. I also saw a line of young potentials going all the way down the stairway and almost pouring out onto Duke Street. Ome explained that everyone will receive constructive feedback on their performance. I saw some tickets in the NYAC office for the Pioneers and Jewels competitions, which will be held on February 5 at Jean Pierre Complex from 10am.

I was glad to see the competition was being partly sponsored by First Citizens. I feel so good when I see companies being good corporate citizens! I was a bit disappointed that February 5 is a Thursday, though, because I would have liked to attend with my two sons. Tickets and information on shows at Generation Next, Kalypso Revue, Icons Calypso Tent, and the various Tuco tents are available by ringing 821-5855. As always, I end by saying that despite our challenges, we are so blessed to live in this beautiful country. We need to remember and acknowledge just how much uplifting work is being done all around us. Let us continue to have the audacity of hope in our country, as we move towards Vision 2020.