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| Ella Andall and Gillette Group of Companies Chairman Peter Gillette. |
KAISO! de anti-master narrative ca’naval series is back for the second year! In case you forgot, KAISO! the series presents perspectives of the Trinidad & Tobago Carnival arts and culture that veer from mainstream depictions. We want to tell the true story of Carnival, the true history of Carnival.
For those of you not familiar with the term “kaiso” the word refers to the genre of music known as calypso. Calypso is an Anglicised version of the word. Kaiso is said to have come from the Hausa word meaning bravo. The tradition remains to this day that audience members shout “kaiso! kaiso!” after a calypsonian performs well. There are some who will tell you kaiso refers to the more authentic or traditional calypso style that is generally not as fast-paced as modern soca music and generally more concerned with political resistance and storytelling. (Soca derives from “soul of calypso” and is generally party oriented.)
Songstress Ella Andall is a calypsonian/kaisonian par excellence. On Thursday February 2nd, 2012 she received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the good folks at Power 102FM. Andall was among three deserving awardees including comedian and cultural activist Dennis “Sprangalang” Hall and technical operator Hugh Phillips. The ceremony was overshadowed by the media/thanks-to-our-sponsors party but awards were received graciously nonetheless.
Since the late 1990s Andall has dedicated her music to documenting the praise songs brought to the Caribbean by various peoples from the African continent. She’s garnered some “flak” for singing music that was described as not being calypso. I have been a fan of her music and admirer of her aesthetic and paw-raising voice since primary school. Admittedly, as much as I love African music I too believed that she had stopped singing kaiso. Beautiful as the chants are, I yearned for brass and poetic social commentary. Of course she set me straight with this quote: “I don’t have to label it. I know that I’m dealing with African music for sure because that’s who I am. I have not moved at all, what I’m doing is recording all the music of praise the ancestors left here.” Andall still sings kaiso, whether in English or Yoruba and she challenges Trinidadians to broaden their understanding of the music we call our own. Enjoy the video of her receiving the award and photos from the event below. Kaiso! Kaiso!
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| Dennis “Sprangalang” Hall receiving his award. |
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| Hugh Phillips receives award. |
*KAISO! fast fact: Over the past few years, the days in the week leading up to Carnival Monday & Tuesday in Trinidad & Tobago have attained distinguishing names. Today (Wednesday 15 February) was Bacchanal Wednesday.
Zahra Gordon 
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