The Calypsonians of Panama

Typical Calypso Grill scene in Panama.

Lord Cobra performing during his more vigorous years.

It would not be, however, until the late fifties and sixties that Calypso became truly fashionable amongst the masses in Panama. Flavorful and sentimental afro-Caribbean music became popular in our country mainly in the urban sectors. Since Calypso typically involves social commentary, often times laced with humorous satire on current events, it became the natural voice of social conscience, as we have noted in our previous post. Not all calypsos, however, are socially conscious as it has always had its risqué side too- as we will soon see.

There have been many interpreters who rode the wave of “Calypso fever” like Lord Kon Tiki, Sir Jablonsky, Lord Panama, Lord Cobra, to name but a few of the male proponents. We also have female stars who are not nearly as well known but were highly gifted in their own right like Lady Trixie and, of course, the inimitable, Violeta Green. The Calypsonians were solicited for presentations in the main nocturnal centers and “grill” establishments, as they are known here, or Bar and Grills.

By the time the film featuring Harry Belafonte arrived in Panama, it became an instant box office success. One theme in particular in that film, “Banana Boat” (“Day-O”from the album Calypso) for a long time headed the list of successes of our own hit parade, especially since Daniel Santos (one of my favorite Spanish balladeers) recorded it in Spanish for the Puerto Rican audiences.

Lord Kon Tiki was one of the most popular singers and solicited by the owners of many “grill” establishments. Lord Panama also became a big name in Panama’s Calypso scene with his interpretation of, “The Creature from the Black Lagoon.” Lord Cobra,who was born in Bocas del Toro also had a large following and probably has a special place in my heart, as well as Walter Ferguson. There was also Black Majesty, Lord Kitty, Delicious, Two-Gun Smokey, and the Pana-Afro Sounds were other outstanding singers.

By the 1970s the “golden age” of Calypso was over and many calypso players were beginning to view the music as being exhaustive. But calypso was not over rather it produced a new “flavor.” Calypso has undergone an evolution to keep pace, as it naturally has tended to do, with current happenings and trends. But we will discuss some of its new expressions in a later post.

The Panamanian Calypsonians have had a veritable hard way to go, as far as promoting themselves in Panama and overseas. Perhaps this is due to the predatory nature of the music industry as well as to their own lack of sophistication but, in any event, we the third, fourth and fifth generations of the Westindian descendants have inherited very little written knowledge about these artists who left an indelible mark on the culture of Panama. Many of them have died leaving very little recorded trace of their music. With the extremely sketchy material that we have at our disposal we will attempt to feature some of the lives and the music of these men and women.

In an attempt to document these first generation artistic pioneers our own University of Panama owned and run television station, Channel 11, prompted professor Gerardo Maloney to produce a documentary on Calypso and their interpreters, emphasizing the sociological profile of the immigrants of the islands of the Caribbean, their music, the frustrations and joys of these exponents of this uniquely Panamanian urban folklore. The documentary is very complete and contains valuable testimonies and performances by the proponents of this rhythm. We hope that someday the film will become more available to our Internet audience.

Some of the audio clips that I’ve posted on this blog were made possible in large part to our dear friend, Daniela, from, of all places, Argentina, who discovered a Calypso CD in one of those whole-in-the-wall kioskos down in Calidonia and presented it to us as a gift when she was here on vacation. The recordings are pretty fair in quality and crisp. Muchas Thank you,
Daniela- we miss you!!

I Only Had 15 Cents by Lord Kon Tiki (just click on player below)

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Fire in San Miguel by Lord Panama

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This story continues.