Concert Review: Soca and Calypso Fans go “Crazy” for Parang
December 17, 2018|
By Noah Schaffer
Septuagenarian, Edwin Ayoung, better known as Crazy, easily carried the rest of the night with his exuberant performance.
Crazy at the Unity Sports and Cultural Association. Photo: Michael C. Smith of BostonCarnivalVillage.com.
Trinidad’s most famous musical exports, calypso and soca, are in English. But, because the island was an early Spanish colony, Venezuelan farmers brought their own cultural influence. So traditional Trinidadian Christmas music owes much to the Spanish string band sound of parang.
Of course, the creative urge to mix-and-match never rests. Many of the top Trini lyricists have taken parang rhythms, added their own thoughts on the holidays, and created the sound of soca parang. That was name of the event held last Friday night at the Unity Sports and Cultural Association near Dorchester Center, a presentation put together by a trio of promoters known as Something Nice with Friends. The tiny Unity space is the home base for Boston’s Trinidadian-American community, offering not just a dance floor, but also a kitchen where curry chickpea “doubles” and corn soup can be served late into the night.
After a few hours of DJ music, the event started promptly at midnight with Loveman Kent, a Montreal-based artist billed as the French Calypso King of Canada. Performing to backing tracks, he started off with a well-received ode to parang fetes that even managed to fit in office holiday parties. “Pan in Danger,” about the need to keep the steel pan tradition alive, was dedicated to the rhythm section percussionists in the club’s right corner, who kept up a steady rhythm throughout the evening. “Pothole” addressed the challenges of driving in Trinidad (something most Bostonians can relate to), while “Indian Girl” paid tribute to one of the other ethnic groups that makes up the Trinidadian melting pot.
Photo: Loveman Kent at the Unity Sports and Cultural Association. Photo: Michael C. Smith of BostonCarnivalVillage.com.
Kent got an unusually strong response for an opening act, especially given that he was forced to deliver some bad news: Co-headliner Poser, a calpyso pioneer with a career dating back to 1962, was laid up in his hotel room with a bad case of food poisoning.
Despite that disappointment, another septuagenarian, Edwin Ayoung, better known as Crazy, easily carried the rest of the night with his exuberant performance. The opening tune “Cold Sweat” was not the James Brown classic, but a dance floor anthem perfect for wining, one of soca’s favorite moves. Crazy introduced the audience to a track he’d recorded for the 2019 Carnival season, “Ice Cream,” as he showed the crowd how to do the “banana split” dance. Crazy took a break from the lascivious lyrics for this tune to urge listeners to “Put Jesus In Your Christmas.”
“You paid $25? $30? I want everyone to leave saying they got their money worth,” promised Crazy, who announced that he’d honor any request. One patron asked for “In Time To Come” and, because the DJ didn’t have the track, Crazy offered an a cappella rendition of the prophetic song. Among its predictions is that in 2000 America would have a black president and that marijuana would be sold in stores. “At the time no one believed me,” said Crazy.
The recently departed calypso giant Shadow was remembered with his classic “Dingolay” before Crazy returned to Christmas lyrics, reminding listeners that he had recorded the first soca parang track in 1979. Salacious lyrics came back with the Eagles parody “Hotel Sexorama” and “One Foot Cock (Cock Can’t Stand Up),” supposedly the tale of a cock fight contestant who goes down for the count. The oft-covered uptempo 1989 classic “Nani Wine” had the dance floor full.
As the lights went on, signaling the 2 a.m. curfew, the promoters bestowed both Loveman Kent and Crazy with award plaques. One would think that a veteran cultural ambassador such as Crazy would have a drawer full of such items but, with emotion, he revealed he was rarely recognized at home. “People say — I’m just too Crazy!” he explained.
Over the past 15 years Noah Schaffer has written about otherwise unheralded musicians from the worlds of gospel, jazz, blues, Latin, African, reggae, Middle Eastern music, klezmer, polka and far beyond. He has won over ten awards from the New England Newspaper and Press Association.
Posted in Featured, Music, Popular Music, Review, World Music
Tagged: calypso, Parang, Soca, Soca Parang, Trinidad, Trinidadian Christmas
Tagged: calypso, Parang, Soca, Soca Parang, Trinidad, Trinidadian Christmas
Thanks. The Trini Caribbean people appreciate you taking the time to come out and publish a review of the show on your magazine. Yes! #CultureLivesHere