Monthly Archives: June 2008

The Calypsonians- Lord Kitchener

Posted on June 27, 2008 by | 2 Comments

Lord Kitchener (1922-2000)

Aldwyn Roberts [1922-2000], was a calypso composer and performer born in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago. Born on April 18th to a blacksmith father named Stephen and a homemaker mother named Albertha, he is best known as Lord Kitchener, a sobriquet he derived from the valiant and formidable British soldier whose name was famous in Trinidad at the time Roberts started his career as a Calypsonian. He was also sometimes called just “Kitchener” or fondly “Kitchie” by those who knew him well. Continue reading →

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Calypso in Panama, Music of Panama

Tagged , , ,

The Mighty Sparrow

Posted on June 24, 2008 by | 2 Comments

The wonderfully picaresque Mighty Sparrow.

The Mighty Sparrow of Trinidad in a dazzling performance.


The Mighty Sparrow, along with several other Trinidadian immortals, laid the cultural and stylistic ground for the Calypso “Movement” that seemed to take firm root during the late 1950’s. This musical art form, however, evolved from a much earlier tradition as we have seen in my previous post.

Slinger Francisco, better known as “The Mighty Sparrow,” and less popularly known as, The Birdie, was and continues to be the unrivaled “Calypso King of the World.” The Mighty Sparrow, as well as many other Calypsonians, had a strong influence over the Westindian community in Panama reflected in the style and compositions of their own Panamanian Calypsonians. We will soon discuss our native Calypsonians in more depth. Continue reading →

→ 2 Comments

Posted in Calypso in Panama, Music of Panama

Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

Calypso and Its Roots

Posted on June 20, 2008 by | 1 Comment

Roaring Lion, Raphael Arlus Kairiyama De Leon aka Hubert Raphael Charles,
got his name from a resigned calypsonian called “Poetic Harris” who,
on hearing the power of De Leon’s singing, jumped up, threw his
hat in the air and shouted “He roars like a lion”.

Harry Belafonte and his million copy plus selling Calypso album from 1956

While thousands of Westindians from Grand and Small Island alike streamed into Panama to labor at building Panama’s Great Waterway and continue its smooth running operation, a new musical genre had been evolving and gaining much popularity in the Caribbean. Calypso would eventually lighten and stir the hearts of many and reach the comfortable homes of Americans and Europeans alike through the magic of Hollywood and the small screen. The tale of Panama’s “Silver People” would not be at all complete without the story of Calypso and the Calypsonians who helped shape Panama’s culture and history. Continue reading →

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Calypso in Panama, Music of Panama, West Indian Panamanians

Tagged , , , , , ,

My Auntie’s Sleeping Sickness- Part II

Posted on June 17, 2008 by | 1 Comment
Image: An old fashioned black cook’s kitchen

On other occasions I discovered that Auntie could actually hear and comprehend any conversation that was going on around her although she was profoundly asleep. We could be conversing and she would go to sleep. Some time into the conversation I would rouse her and ask her what I had been talking about and, sure enough, she would relate everything I or anyone else had said, almost word for word. This is when I knew that she was “conscious” throughout her narcoleptic “episodes” and she could reason. Continue reading →

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Silver People of Panama, West Indian Panamanians

Tagged , , ,

Auntie and Her “Sleeping Sickness” – Part I

Posted on June 13, 2008 by | Leave a comment

My Auntie Berenice Charles (on the right) and Aunt Gweny on the left. circ. 1991

St. Paul Episcopa Church in Panama City's Santana District hasn't changed much even today.

Old St. Paul Episcopal Church. My Auntie really introduced
me to regular church attendance at this church and
the joy of listening to the word of God in my first Sunday School.

My Aunt Berenice always struck me as a more gifted woman than what she led on. She had a good singing voice, had taught herself to play piano, she sang in the choir at St. Paul Episcopal Church. She could write, cipher, was big and powerful and was an exceedingly good cook- a talent that would earn her work in many Canal Zone kitchens throughout her long life. I first became acquainted with my Auntie when I was eight years old under adverse circumstances- the break up of my parent’s marriage. Continue reading →

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Silver People of Panama, West Indian Panamanians

Tagged , , , ,

Luis Russell- One of Jazz Music’s Greats

Posted on June 10, 2008 by | 1 Comment

Luis Russell, Jazz musician and band leader from Isla Carenero, Bocas del Toro, Panama

The Luis Russell “Swing Band,” was eventually bought by the Great Louis Armstrong

Luis Russell was born in 1902 on the island of Carenero, in Bocas del Toro Province. He would eventually become one of the first great jazz musicians to reach international acclaim. It was probably his encounter and close relationship with the great Louis Armstrong, however, who initiated some of his first arrangements with the super-talented Panamanian, that most distinguished his career. Armstrong later bought his incomparable band. Continue reading →

→ 1 Comment

Posted in Jazz Musicians of Panama, Music of Panama

Tagged , , , , , ,