Canute Caliste and group: Breakaway (1962)

Описание: Canute Caliste, violin; Sonnel Allert, triangle; Gorine Joseph, two headed “bass” drum; William Alexander, tambourine. Recorded by Alan Lomax in L’Esterre, Carriacou, on July 30, 1962.

From "Music for Work and Play: Carriacou, Grenada, 1962," a digital album released July 7, 2015, on the Alan Lomax Archive's Global Jukebox label and compiled and annotated by Dr. Rebecca Miller. From her notes:

Forming the centerpiece of string band sessions, break aways are named after street marches (or parades): to “break away” means to loosen up and dance. Instrumental breakaways are uptempo, largely in 4/4 time, and consist of a statement of a melodic theme of eight or 16 bars. Upon return to the top of the tune, the violinist improvises both rhythmically and melodically over chord changes. In this spirit, break aways are showpieces and a Kayak violinist's ability to improvise and play inventively is highly admired. A well executed solo is typically met with shouts of "brave" (local term for "smart") and "good man.”

About the album:

In August, 1962, folklorist/ethnomusicologist Alan Lomax and his young daughter, Anna, arrived in Carriacou, a small island of the Eastern Caribbean nation Grenada. Using state-of-the-art equipment, Lomax spent the next five days recording a wide range of traditional music and song. On three-foot high loudspeakers, Lomax played the music back to those recorded and then conducted both formal and informal interviews about the music and culture—encounters that were also captured on tape and that were as light-hearted as they were informative.

Among the many hours of recordings that Lomax gathered were the songs and music performed by Carriacouans to pass the time at work. He recorded group and solo sea chanties sung by seamen to coordinate physical work, alleviate boredom, and express the homesickness that was often felt by sailors. Lomax also documented the music that Carriacouans performed to entertain themselves and each other, including “pass play” songs—a social music and dance performed by unmarried young men and women—waltzes, polkas, calypsos, and other string-band tunes, and he captured the stunning polyrhythmic music played for quadrille dancing by solo violinists and accompanied by often virtuoso percussionists.

Compiled and annotated by ethnomusicologist Dr. Rebecca Miller and featuring 33 re-mastered tracks from Lomax’s original stereo recordings, "Music for Work and Play: Carriacou, Grenada, 1962," is snapshot of Lomax’ warm welcome to Carriacou as well as a portrait of this rich, diverse, and vital musical culture.