Calypso
Also called "Kaiso", Calypso is a carnival duple music from Antilles.
Rose
Mc Cartha Linda Lewis, known as Calypso Rose, is the undisputed Calypso queen.
2022
May 19th
“Calypso Rose, Carlos Santana and The Garifuna Collective reveal ‘Watina’, the first single of the Calypso Queen’s upcoming album ‘FOREVER’. They pay homage to the Garifuna, a Caribbean people “scarred by slavery, excluded from memory”. Watina was originally a local hit from Andy Palacio and The Garifuna in Belize. This version aims to spread the story of Garifuna all around the world”
2020
September 16th
Calypso Rose and the label Heavenly Sweetness reveals their new EP "Heavenly Sweetness loves Calypso Rose". David Walters, Blundetto, Biga Ranx, Guts and iZem revisit the titles of the queen of Calypso: from "Back to Africa" to "Calypso Blues", passing "Voodoo Lay Loo" and "Same Boat".
April 27th
On April 27th, Calypso Rose celebrates her 80th birthday. For the occasion, friends and personalities who had marked her career sent her thoughts, words and songs.
February 20th
Calypso Rose is honored and named Officer in the French Order of Arts and Letters.
2019
October 29th
Calypso Rose was on stage in Paris at the Olympia. Since her first album, which she recorded at the age of 23, she has never stopped to thrill and make her fans move.
Summer Tour 2019
On June 1st, the Queen of Calypso begins her summer tour. After her performance on the stage of We Love Green festival in Paris, she goes in July to the stages of Jazz in Vienne (France), Pohoda (Slovakia), Décibulles (France), Colours of Ostrava (Czech Republic), WOMAD Festival (UK), Reggae Sun Ska (France) and Foreztival (France).
April 20th
In April 2019 she bring some caribbean vibes to Coachella, becoming the oldest artist to ever grace the stage in the history of this legendary festival.
2018
December 18th
Calypso Rose is honored with the Grand Prize for World Music at France’s SACEM (Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers) Grand Prix annual music awards.
March 16th 2018
Calypso Rose releases « Calypso Blues », the great cover of the jazzman and songwriter Nat King Cole The diva appears wearing the same outfit as Cole in his first TV show in 1955, singing the blues of the Caribbean people who emigrated to the US
2017
February 10th 2017
Victoires de la musique (French ‘Grammys’): Calypso Rose wins the award of Best Album in the World category
June 3rd
Release of « Far From Home », Calypso’s new platinum album, with the participation of Manu Chao.
2016
March 11th
Release of the compilation ‘Calypso Soundsystem feat. Calypso Rose Queen of Calypso for 40 years !’ on Because Music, the label of Major Lazer, Manu Chao, Selah Sue, Christine & The Queens…
2015
Manu Chao discovers Calypso Rose and helps in the production of her new album, in which he will be featured on three songs.
2011
Another cover of Kitchener’s "Jump in the Line” is released by hip hop artists Pitbull, T-Pain and Sean Paul.
2010
Harry Belafonte’s version of the "Banana Boat Song" is sampled by renowned rapper Lil Wayne.
1999
Calypso Rose receives international award of Caribbean music, which is the consecration for an artist to Calypso.
1991
Calypso Rose receives the award for “Most Outstanding Woman" by the National Action Committee for Women in Trinidad and Tobago.
1990
Jean-Michel Jarre releases an album in tribute to ocean explorer Cousteau with four tracks "Calypso", "Calypso 2, "Calypso 3", "En attendant Cousteau,” which reflect the influence of Calypso rhythms and feature the Amoco Renegades steelband.
1989
Disney won an Academy Award for the most original music in The Little Mermaid with "Under The Sea" music ( "On the Ocean") which has a rhythmic and instrumental own in Calypso.
1988
Harry Belafonte’s cover of Lord Kitchener’s "Jump in the Line" is featured in the Tim Burton film Beetlejuice.
1986
Calypso Rose receives the title of Ambassador at Large of Liberia with her song “Pepper Soup “and for her efforts to support the improvement of life in the West African nation.
1978
The "Calypso King" competition is now renamed "Calypso Monarch" in honour of Calypso Rose,who win the competition with “I Thank Thee”.
1977
Calypso Rose is the first woman to win Trinidad’s prestigious "Road March" competition with her song "Gimme More Tempo".
1974-1978
Beginning of Rose’s five-year reign after winning the title: " Calypso Queen ".Do Them Back is her first gold record.
1970
Birth of Soca, rhythmically very close to Calypso but with more melodic bass lines and less sophisticated lyrics. Calypso Rose wrote her first soca tune “Action is Tight “
1967
Calypso Rose performs with Bob Marley and the Wailers at the Grand Ballroom in New York City.
1965
In 1965, the American singer Shawn Elliot releases a cover of Sir Lancelot’s 1943 calypso" Shame and Scandal in the Family". It is a big hit in North America and Europe. In the same year, it becomes a hit in France for Sacha Distel and Dalida under the title " Scandale dans la famille "
1963
Calypso Rose’s first trip to perform outside of Trinidad and Tobago. She visits the islands of Grenada and St. Thomas, where she win the "Calypso King" contest with her first recorded song "Cooperation" . This is the first time in history that a woman wins the title.
1960
Birth of Ska, which is heavily influenced by the melodies and lyrics of calypso. It is characterized by exuberant horn lines and a distinct offbeat rhythmic pattern on the guitar.
1957
Calypso makes its cinematic debut in the film "Island in the sun" starring Harry Belafonte. Released in 1956, his album " Calypso " (RCA Victor )spends 31 weeks at the top of the Billboard chart and is the first album by a solo artist in history to sell over one million copies.
In 1957, the actor Robert Mitchum also enjoys great success with his album "Calypso is like ... so" ( Capitol ) which was recorded after a visit to Trinidad.
> Les Inrocks
1955
Rose writes her first Calypso “Glass Thief”after sawing a man stealing the glasses from a woman in a market . It is the first Calypso denouncing inequality between the sexes.
1945
Calypso becomes wildly popular in North America and covers of calypsos by US artists like the Andrews Sisters (who released a plagiarized version of Lord Invader’s " Rum and Coca Cola ") were selling millions of copies in 1945.
1940
McArtha Linda Lewis is born in 1940 in Bethel, a small village on the island of Tobago which, together with Trinidad, forms one of the many island republics of the Caribbean. The twin-island nation is the birthplace of Calypso music.
Late 19th
Also called "Kaiso", Calypso is a folkloric carnival music from Trinidad and Tobago, ancestor of other folkloric Caribbean genres . It is related to Jamaican mento but distinct in both its rhythms and lyrical form.