Gypsy's wife dies in NY...No Back to Basics Tent this year

THERE will be no Back to Basics Calypso tent this year due to the passing of the wife of its head and National Carnival Commission (NCC) chairman Winston “Gypsy” Peters.

Marva Peters died on January 2 in New York, US. The cause of death was not shared.

The tent’s co-manager Errol Peru said a decision was taken not to have the tent as Gypsy would not be up for it.

“Gypsy is in no condition for us to have any tent. It is a form of respect we have to show to the boss. Being the boss, he is not in any mood or condition. Carnival is just around the corner and he is still in New York,” Peru said.

However, Back to Basics and Randy Glasgow Productions will host a three-day event called the 2023 Calypso Tent Festival from February 14-16 at the National Academy for the Performing Arts, Frederick Street, Port of Spain.

The first of these will be a Valentine’s Day show called Fall In Love Again featuring TT musician Anslem Douglas, Barbadian Edwin Yearwood, Shurwayne Winchester, Aaron Duncan, Trini Jacobs and lawyer/calypsonian Sasha-Ann Moses among others.

Peru aid NAPA will be filled with love on that day and while calypso will be featured, the artistes will display their versatility.

On February 15, the organisers will host A Calypso Tent Monarch.

The performers will battle for the Black Stalin challenge trophy as well as a cash prize.

“That will give an opportunity to all of the calypsonians who never had an opportunity to make it to the big yard,” he said.

He its organisers hope to make this an annual event.

There will be a Clash of Titans on February 16 between calypsonians from Back to Basics with calypsonians from other tents.

It is going to be a five tent calypso showdown, he added.

Peru said this is a model the tent’s organiser will employ in the future.

“We need to bring young people back into the calypso tents. Everything is more focused on soca now – nothing is wrong with that, soca artistes are doing well and we have to say Thank God to them – but we need to bring young people in.

“The people who tend to follow calypso over the years, a lot of them have aged and some have passed. We need to bring back young people in the tent.”

Peru said that was why they were trying to incorporate young blood into the shows.

He said the tent is not about bashing but about entertainment.

“Over the years there has been so much bashing in the calypso tents that caused people to stay away from the tents.”

Peru said people wanted to be relaxed and entertained in the tents.

“We need to bring back good entertainment in the calypso field.”

Asked how they intended to accomplish this, Peru said the organisation also plans to have a competition tentatively called the Soca/calypso monarch.

He said the organisation intended to have established soca artistes sing calypso.

The exact details are still being worked out.

Peru said it intends to host this event shortly after the Calypso Tent Festival.

The tent’s organisers also have other plans including the return of the Buy Local Calypso Contests which ran from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Ethnomusicologist and calypsonian Dr Hollis “Chalkdust” Liverpool said the Buy Local contests was started by the People’s National Movement (PNM) in the 1960s and was aimed at getting public buy in for local industries.

“We learnt about saving foreign exchange and the high foreign exchange.”

Chalkdust, an eight-time winner of the competition, said his first calypso was called Support Local Industry.

He said a lot of the country’s then business people supported the competition. Chalkdust said many calypsonians took part including All Rounder and Relator.

He said the competition’s return was a good thing. He said one of the last judges for the competition was Sparrow.