So perhaps I’m a little biased when it comes to 3canal. After all, they’ve been CFR’s official house band since 2005, and the bond is especially strong around where Carnival is concerned.

Caribbean Free Radio’s very first podcast was recorded in 3canal’s offices amidst the madness of Carnival Friday 2005, and last year 3canal and I teamed up to record the cut+clear carnival podcast, a six-part series examining various themes relating to the evolution of Trinidad and Tobago’s national festival.

We’d planned a reprise this year, but my work schedule and Haiti post-earthquake visit got in the way. So, as a substitute of sorts, 3canal passed me a recording they did for a local radio station previewing their 2010 Carnival show and releases. You can listen to it using the player below:

If you haven’t yet seen the 3canal Jam-It Show, I’d suggest you do so, and soon, as it runs only till Saturday (February 13). Since their move from the Little Carib Theatre to Queen’s Hall a few years ago, 3canal’s shows have been uniformly spectacular, especially in terms of the visual and musical production; but the 3canal Jam-It Show brings the theatrical aspects that made the Little Carib shows so delightful and special back to centre stage, making for a terrific—and terrifically funny—production.

Diehard PNM supporters should make an extra-special effort to attend!

(L to R) Fashion designer Robert Young of The Cloth with Wendell Manwarren and Roger Roberts of Trinidad and Tobago rapso band 3canal. Wendell and Roger are wearing jackets Robert designed for their upcoming tour of India.

Caribbean Free Radio #51 is a command performance of sorts recorded at Little House, home of 2/3 of my house band 3canal. I was summoned there last night to talk with Wendell Manwarren and Roger Roberts about their upcoming tour of India.

Also discussed: Roger’s participation in the New York City Marathon (bib #18722, in case you’re interested) this coming Sunday! I’ve just signed up with the Marathon’s Athlete Alert service so I can track Roger’s progress on race day.

For the past ten days my brother C*POP and my almost-brother Walt have been following Trinidad and Tobago recording artists Maximus Dan, Jah Melody and Marlon Asher as the three tour various cities in Europe. C*POP and Walt have been sending frequent updates, photos and videos which they’ve been posting at the Beach House Entertainment Facebook page. This video, the fourth in the series, is

a montage of scenes of the T&T Entertainment Co contingent leaving Berlin, arriving in Oslo, the June 3 show The Source Club in Oslo featuring Marlon Asher and Jah Melody, and the deejays who rushed to record dubplates with the two artists the day after

I also think it’s the best of the series yet. See the complete set of Europe tour videos here.

Episode #6 arrives a day late courtesy of the carnival week frenzy, which is not to say the show is without substance. Au contraire: in the final episode in the cut+clear carnival 2009 series, the members of 3canal and I visit with photographer, carnival connoisseur and Belmont native Jeffrey Chock at his home on Clifford Street for a chat about the carnival of yesteryear, the philosophical underpinnings of the changes taking place in today’s version of the festival, and—naturally—the experience of photographing one of the world’s most visually spectacular events.

This week’s 3canal track: “Paradise” remixed by Keshav Chandradath Singh

LINKS

Trust the cut+clear carnival podcast’s most freewheeling and raucous show to date to be the one featuring women (it’s also the first CFR episode to feature explicit language!). In episode #5 the members of 3canal and I sit down backstage at Queen’s Hall with Cecilia Salazar, Dionne McNicol and Elisha Bartels, three key members of the 3canal Show, and discuss matters ranging from performing while pregnant to the banning of songs featuring “daggerin’” from the Jamaican airwaves. We also remember the late, great John Isaacs, the fourth member of 3canal, on the ninth anniversary of his passing.

Previews of this year’s edition of the 3canal Show begin on Thursday 12 February, 2009 at Queen’s Hall, Port of Spain, Trinidad. The full run begins on Monday 16 February.

This week’s 3canal track: “Where Do We Go From Here” from the album “Joy+Fire”

LINKS

In cut+clear carnival episode #3 we visit veteran producer and steel orchestra arranger, Pelham Goddard, at his home in St. James for a chat about the evolution of music for steel orchestras and 3canal’s foray into the steel band arena with Pelham and the Exodus Steel Orchestra. In addition, Wendell treats us to a series of audio vignettes explaining certain aspects of the steel band scene in Trinidad and Tobago.

This week’s 3canal track: “Festival Time”

LINKS

On episode #2 of the cut+clear carnival podcast 3canal and I chat with Curtis “C*POP” Popplewell and Walt Lovelace, the men behind the Beach House Carnival fête and some of the country’s most original music video work.

Tune in to hear Curtis and Walt hold forth on why they prefer not to be referred to as fête promoters and the state of music video production in the country.

This week’s 3canal track: “Joy+Fire”, from the album of the same name.

LINKS

For the 2009 carnival season I’ve teamed up with 3canal to produce a series of down and dirty (dutty?) podcasts called cut+clear carnival. We’re keeping it deliberately simple and free-flowing: the plan is for us to meet on Mondays, riff for 15 or so minutes on things carnival-related, preferably with a guest, then have the show edited and uploaded by Tuesday.

In this pilot episode Roger Roberts and Wendell Manwarren of 3canal shoot the breeze with MPC wizard Keshav Chandradath Singh of the cut+clear crew and Canboulay.

See you at the launch of 3canal’s 2009 release, Joy+Fire, on Sunday 19 January at 6pm at the Queen’s Hall Courtyard, Port of Spain, Trinidad!

3canal’s web site
3canal at Trinidadtunes.com
3canal on iTunes
3canal on Facebook
3canal on Twitter

In episode #47 I drop in on CFR’s house band, 3canal, to chat with Roger Roberts and Wendell Manwarren about last week’s ReThePublic concert; the band’s upcoming appearance at the WOMEX world music festival in Seville, Spain; and how 3canal learned to stop worrying and love Facebook.

Links

Technorati Tags: brazil, maria bethania, music, tropicalia, brazilian

Singer M.I.A., explaining, in The Village Voice, why she was lurking around Studio Film Club last year (or was it earlier this year?). Maybe I’ll like Kala, her upcoming album, better than I did Arular.

Technorati Tags: trinidad, M.I.A., music, caribbean

- Guadeloupean saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart’s MySpace page. His latest album, Soné Ka-La, gorgeously synthesises Guadeloupean gwoka and all that jazz (full-length music samples are available at MySpace).

And while we’re on the subject of great saxophonists, the New York Times yesterday runs a moving article about Sonny Rollins — who’s now 76 — as he comes to terms with the death of his wife and (reluctantly) embraces technolological change.

- My photos from last night’s Divali dinner at Omi and Lalo’s are up on Flickr. They’re a bit on the dark side, and again, will be more appreciated by those who know the people in them. But I do deconstruct a dinner plate.

- And here’s one from the tech files: last night, in my quest for a method of cheating the upload date on a few of my photos so they wouldn’t appear at the top of my Flickr photostream, I came across h4ppierphotos, which worked like a dream.

- Reporters Sans Frontières has released a new report on the Internet in Cuba.

- “Bird of Night”, the chamber opera by Trinidadian composer Dominique LeGendre (who was the subject of CFR podcast #38 — those were the days, weren’t they?), opened this past Thursday at London’s Royal Opera House. The show runs till October 28. (Hat tip to Titilayo).

I touched upon my Martinique experiences some time ago at the dormant-but-not-in-fact-dead Caribbean Free Photo. In that post I mentioned the group Malavoi, whose music, I said, “features prominently on the soundtrack to my Martinique days.”

Yesterday I happened to come across the MySpace page of Ralph Thamar, Malavoi’s former lead singer. Around the time I arrived in Martinique Thamar was just starting his solo career, and I recall once having somehow gotten seated at a table (probably due to some screw-up in the seating plan) with him and Edith Léfel and Marijosé Alie at a bizarre event called “La Nuit des Stars” that was being televised by RFO Martinique. Those were some strange times, indeed.

I no longer keep up with French Caribbean music like I used to, and this video for the song “Fe Van” reminded me of what I might be missing. Accompanying Thamar on piano is Mario Canonge, another fine Martiniquan musician whom I had the good fortune of meeting briefly last year, when he played with the band Sakésho at a jazz festival here in Trinidad.

“Fe Van”, incidentally, is from Thamar’s 2005 album Alma y Corazon.

So here it is. The snake is real, and so is the lightbulb.

Upstairs, Orange Sky’s latest album, is available at Amazon.com.

“It’s quite an exciting little thing,” Wendell Manwarren of 3canal told me over the phone yesterday as we discussed “Caribeana Imperia“, the show the band has been preparing over the past few weeks in Washington DC. That’s almost certainly an understatement. “Caribeana Imperia” opened on Thursday 13 July and from all reports audiences had no difficulty getting into the groove.

In CFR #44 the three members of 3canal — Wendell, Roger and Stanton — and choreographer Dave Williams fill me in on the details over the telephone from their DC headquarters.

“Caribeana Imperia” runs at the Gala Hispanic Theatre in Washington DC from Thursday-Sunday until July 30. The show is directed by Hugo Medrano and Wendell Manwarren.

Mentioned in the episode are the Caribbean writers Martin Carter, V.S. Naipaul, Derek Walcott and Earl Lovelace.

The song played in the episode is “Imperia” by 3canal. Purchase your 3canal CDs at CDBaby.

Listen to the podcast by using the player at the top of the post or access it using any of these methods:
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Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt, and if you’re an Amazon.com shopper, you can also support CFR by initating your purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We’re always tickled as well when you check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog, or put yourself on our Frappr map.

“Happy Song” is from the CD Jab Jab Say — grab yourself a copy at CD Baby.

In other 3canal news, according to the reports out of Washington DC, preparations for the show “Caribeana” are going swimmingly.

CFR is back! And what better way to celebrate my return to podcasting than by paying a visit to cut+clear productions, headquarters of 3canal, CFR’s “house band”.

This time the topic isn’t the band but rather band member Wendell Manwarren, who was in Germany a few weeks ago appearing in a soon-to-be-released television documentary which aims to “capture the vibe” in the FIFA World Cup 2006 host country ahead of the arrival of the Soca Warriors (Trinidad & Tobago’s football team) and the legions of Trini fans in June. Wendell shares with us the highlights of his whirlwind tour (seven cities in 2 1/2 weeks!) and explains why there’s now a pink rhino covered in blue devils gracing the streets of Dortmund. We also play two tracks from 3canal Vibes, the group’s 2006 album, which you can purchase online at CDBaby.

Play the podcast using this link:
Or access it using any of these methods:
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Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt, and if you’re an Amazon.com shopper, you can also support CFR by initating your purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We’re always tickled as well when you check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog, or put yourself on our Frappr map.

And while you’re at it, now would also be a great time to purchase one of these Limited Edition Commemorative World Cup Warriors t-shirts from 3canal’s 3line t-shirt collection:

And get the latest Soca Warriors news and analysis at the Soca Warriors Forum and the Trinidad & Tobago World Cup Blog.

Inspired by a line from David Rudder‘s “Bahia Girl” about the affinities between Trinidad and Brazil, I get on Skype with my friend Gillian Marcelle during her sojourn in the enchanting Bahian capital, Salvador, and learn a bit about the land of capoeira and Carnaval (and caipirinhas!).

Play this episode using this link:

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Links:
Bahia Online | Flickr Bahia cluster

Music played in this show:
“Bahia Girl” by David Rudder from the CD No Restrictions | “Ilê que fala de amor” by Margareth Menezes from the CD Gente de Festa | “Maria Caipirinha” by Carlinhos Brown from the CD Candyall Beat | “Tarde em Itapua” by Quarteto em Cy from the CD Canta Brasil

Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt, and if you’re an Amazon.com shopper, you can also support CFR by initating your purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We’re always tickled as well when you check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog, or put yourself on our Frappr map.

Play this episode using this link:

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Or access CFR using any of these methods:
Download MP3 | RSS | Subscribe via iTunes | Subscribe via Odeo

Links:
3Canal’s web site | Download “web mixes” of “Rise” and “Vibes It Up”.

Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt, and if you’re an Amazon.com shopper, you can also support CFR by initating your purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We’re always tickled as well when you check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog, or put yourself on our Frappr map.

When the Christmas season rolls around, English-speaking Trinidad starts singing in Spanish. Episode #39 explains – briefly – the whys and wherefores of the musical form known as parang and offers a sampling of parang tunes by Los Parranderos de UWI.

Play this episode using this link:

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Links:
“The Sound of Christmas” – 1997 Article on parang by yours truly (PDF format (1.8 MB) – first published in Caribbean Beat) | Buy Los Parranderos de UWI’s Mi Parranda at Rhyner’s Caribbean Music Online Store

Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt, and if you’re an Amazon.com shopper, you can also support CFR by initating your purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We’re always tickled as well when you check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog, Caribbean Free Video, our vidcast, or put yourself on our Frappr map.

Happy Holidays!

Dominique Le Gendre with Royal Opera House accompanist Chris Willis

CFR gets classical in episode #38, as I visit with Trinidad-born composer Dominique Le Gendre at her home in London. I chat with Dominique about her early musical influences, about Caribbeanness and the classical tradition, her experiences as a Associate Artist at the Royal Opera House and her chamber opera “Bird of Night”, which is set to debut at the Royal Opera House in October 2006.

Play this episode using this link:

powered by ODEO

Or access CFR using any of these methods:
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Links:
The Complete Arkangel Shakespeare: 38 Fully-Dramatized Plays – audio version of the Bard’s complete works, scored by Dominique | Royal Opera House

Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt, and if you plan on doing any of your holiday shopping at Amazon.com, do support CFR by initating your purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We’re always tickled as well when you check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog, Caribbean Free Video, our vidcast, or put yourself on our Frappr map.

Technorati Tags: caribbean, classical music, derek walcott, music, opera, dominique le gendre, royal opera house, trinidad + tobago

Dropped in at 3canal headquarters this afternoon and next thing I knew a mini-podcast was in the offing! In down-and-dirty episode #37, CFR’s “house band” premieres “Rise”, their first single for the 2006 Carnival season, and talks about drawing inspiration from the Trinidad & Tobago football team’s recent qualification for the 2006 World Cup, their 2006 Carnival show, and other matters.

Play this episode using this link:

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Or access CFR using any of these methods:
Download MP3 | RSS | Subscribe via iTunes | Subscribe via Odeo

Buy 3canal’s 2005 album Jab Jab Say at CD Baby.

Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt, and if you plan on doing any of your holiday shopping at Amazon.com, do support CFR by initating your purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We’re always tickled as well when you check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog, Caribbean Free Video, our vidcast, or put yourself on our Frappr map.

Technorati Tags: caribbean, music, rapso, trinidad, trinidad + tobago

You can listen to this podcast in any of the following ways:
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Simon’s music recommendations: In the Heart of the Moon by Ali Farka Touré and Toumani Diabaté, and anything from Cuban pianist Omar Sosa and conguero Miguel “Anga” Diaz.

Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt or by initiating your Amazon.com purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We always appreciate it as well when you vote for us at Podcast Alley or check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog.

Technorati Tags: notting+hill+carnival, omar+sosa, miguel+anga+diaz, cuban+music, cuba, trinidad, caribbean+music

“Macafouchette” is a French creole word meaning leftovers, and it’s also the title of this show in which I–after another longish absence–sneak a few hours out out of my ridiculous schedule, dip into the CFR storage bins and choose a couple of choice tidbits which I hope come together to make something resembling a show. In this one I demonstrate one of the possible reasons West Indies cricket is in the state it’s in, talk about some of the stupid and awful things happening these days in Trinidad and Tobago and take you back to St. Barts for a musical interlude.

You can listen to this podcast in any of the following ways:
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Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt or by initiating your Amazon.com purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We always appreciate it as well when you vote for us at Podcast Alley or check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog.

Music played in this podcast:
“Fruit Punch & Bacardi” by Sherrif feat. Bumper and Starboy | “City of Grace” by Eldon Blackman from the album Spirit of Love

A short one just to say I’m alive, well and swamped with work, and also to thank you all for supporting CFR with donations and t-shirt purchases, with special thanks to Dave Slusher for mentioning his CFR t-shirt purchase on the Evil Genius Chronicles. I also play a PSA with info about one of the ways you can support the victims of Hurricane Katrina, remember the Martiniquans who died in the plane crash in Venezuela on August 16, and say that I’ll probably be attending the Portable Media Expo in November.

You can listen to this podcast in any of the following ways:
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Please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt or by initiating your Amazon.com purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We always appreciate it as well when you vote for us at Podcast Alley or check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog.

Music played in this podcast:“Trinidad Hurricane” by Wilmoth Houdini from the album Roosevelt in Trinidad: Calypsos of Events, Places and Personalities, 1933-1939| “Planète Lá” by Beethova Obas form the album Planète Lá | “Borderline” by 3canal from the album Jab Jab Say

Just also received an email from Putumayo World Music announcing that they will be donating all proceeds from their critically acclaimed albums New Orleans and Mississippi Blues to relief efforts in the Gulf Coast area through the end of the year.

Technorati Tags: Hurricane+Katrina, caribbean, Martinique+plane+crash, podcast, Trinidad, caribbean+music, Putumayo, portable+media+expo

Another instalment in CFR’s Video Chronicles series (which just got established as I wrote this, by the way), in which I invite my friend and colleague Danielle Dieffenthaller to help me tell the story of the video shoot which spelt the end for one unfortunate member of the species Dasyprocta leporina. Sorry we couldn’t put our hands on a copy of the song “Goutimania” as promised on the show.

You can listen to this podcast in any of the following ways:
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Our sponsor is on hiatus (perhaps permanently) so CFR is now officially unsponsored, so please consider supporting us by buying a CFR t-shirt or by initiating your Amazon.com purchases by clicking on any of the Amazon.com links on the site.

We always appreciate it as well when you vote for us at Podcast Alley or check out Caribbean Free Photo, our photoblog.

Music played in this podcast:
“Met Kolobri” by RAM from the CD “Le Jardin”.

Technorati Tags: caribbean, trinidad, video, filmmaking, agouti, animals,

You can listen to this podcast in any of the following ways:
MP3 | Online Player | RSS

Links:
Vote for Caribbean Free Radio at Podcast Alley. Help us make the Top 50 this month! | Tortuga Rum Company – makers of the world-famous Tortuga Rum Cakes. Order yours online today! | Caribbean Free Photo – CFR’s photoblog | Treat yourself to a CFR t-shirt!

Music played in this podcast:
“Old Lady Walk a Mile” by Élan Parlé, from Élan Parlé 5 – The Ming-Toy Project | “Now Is The Time (ronaldinho remix)” by 3Canal (remixed by Robbie Styles) from The Now Is The Time Is Now Remixes

Technorati Tags: caribbean, music, trinidad+tobago, rapso, 3canal, podcast, odeo, blog

You can listen to this podcast in any of the following ways:
MP3 | Online Player | RSS

Links:
WeatherCarib | National Hurricane Center – and their Emily RSS feed | Weather Underground | Taran Rampersad’s blog | Wikipedia | CFR’s Odeo page | Bicyclemark’s Audiocommuniqué | Digital Flotsam – P W Fenton’s podcast

Music played in this podcast:
“Keep Trying” by Eldon Blackman from the album Spirit of Love

Other links:
Nominate your favourite podcast/s for a Podcast Award! (Be sure to read the rules, however) | Vote for Caribbean Free Radio at Podcast Alley. Help us make the Top 50 this month! | Tortuga Rum Company – makers of the world-famous Tortuga Rum Cakes. Order yours online today! | Caribbean Free Photo – CFR’s photoblog | Treat yourself to a CFR t-shirt!

Technorati Tags: hurricane, tropical+storm, hurricane+emily, caribbean, podcast, weather, odeo, itunes, podcasting, podcast+directory, caribbeanmusic

The addition of the CLR James papers to the Memory of the World Register | Amerindian names of the Caribbean islands | Andy Palacio & the Garifuna in Belize | interview with Andy Palacio at Global Hits

You can listen to this podcast in any of the following ways:
MP3 | Online Player | RSS Feed

Other links:
Nominate your favourite podcast/s for a Podcast Award! (Be sure to read the rules, however) | Vote for Caribbean Free Radio at Podcast Alley. Help us make the Top 50 this month! | Tortuga Rum Company – makers of the world-famous Tortuga Rum Cakes. Order yours online today! | Caribbean Free Photo – CFR’s photoblog

Music played in this podcast:
“Iere Vibes” by 3canal from The Best of 3canal | “Se Busca” by Andy Palacio from Keimoun – MP3 downloads available at Calabash Music CDs available at Stonetree Records | “Love Our Children” by Candice Alcantara from Candice Alcantara

Technorati Tags: clr+james, andy+palacio, garifuna, amerindian, caribbean, caribbean+music, podcast, caribbeanfreeradio