Covering a Bob Brozman Calypso
I’ve been listening to blues and New Orleans music since a very long time. I discovered the great multi instrumentalist Bob Brozman covering and bringing back to life old forgotten songs from America, such as old blues, Hawaiian music, calypso, ragtime, Caribbean music, gypsy jazz …
His version of the song “Uncle Joe” particularly moved me. The rhythm, the cuban influence, the chorus was easy to remember and catchy. So I decided to cover this old acoustic calypso.
Since then, I’ve been digging and searching more and more songs from that period. Wilmoth Houdini “Brave son of America” is an important song, it has been covered by CW Stoneking, an other musician that I appreciate, covering old traditional songs. Leyla McCalla covered “Money is king” from Growling Tiger…
WHAT IS CALYPSO MUSIC?
Calypso music origin comes from Trinidad and Tobago back in the 19th century. Its rhythms can be traced back to West African Kaiso and the arrival of French planters and their slaves in the 18th century.
The songs generally speaks about the everyday life, politic, sexuality… with a lot irony and humour. It’s a way to talk about the society out loud in a popular way. It’s the blues of the Caribbean.
Here is a small video of our version of “Uncle Joe” in a nice bar of Istanbul!
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