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 >>>SAN JOSE, (Jul. 2) IPS - Calypso, a rhythm originating in the  Caribbean
 >>>Basin during the era of African slavery, had been limited  in Costa Rica
 >to
 >>>the coastal Limon province until a musician  recently brought it to the
 >>>capital's recording studios.
 >>>   Over the last two decades, Manuel Monestel, a sociologist and
 >musician,
 >>>has forged the "Cantoamerica" project, a group  specializing in Latin
 >>>American music that experiments with and  develops Afro-Caribbean and
 >urban
 >>>rhythms. He has recently turned  his attention to calypso.
 >>>   Monestel is a believer that calypso is an important expression of  a
 >>>culture that has been marginalized from Costa Rica's daily life  - the
 >>>culture of the Caribbean black community.
 >>>   This Central American country has built its official history around
 >its
 >>>central valley, which is less than six percent of the entire  country,
 but
 >>>it is where nearly half of its 3.5 million inhabitants  live. Frequently,
 >>>the cultural wealth of the rest of the nation is  forgotten.
 >>>   "Calypso is more than just a rhythm -- its words reflect the life  of
 >>>the society, they satirize it, criticise it, love it and also  laugh at
 it
 >>>-- it is common for calypso to contain a lot of humor,"  Monestel told
 >IPS.
 >>>
 >>>   It is thought that composers of calypsos -- or "calypsonians" --  are
 >>>the direct descendants of black musicians known as  "chantuelles," who
 >>>during the slave era, spread news among the  Caribbean population.
 >>>   With their guitars slung on their shoulders, these minstrels sang  and
 >>>informed people about all kinds of things -- from rebellions  to jokes.
 >>>They were the chroniclers of their time.
 >>>   There is no authoritative explanation for the origin of the music's
 >>>name, but it evokes the goddess Calypso, a character in Homer's  Odyssey
 >>>who keeps the hero on her island for seven years.
 >>>   In the Caribbean islands, calypso is known as "kaiso," and has such  a
 >>>strong influence over the public that it has reportedly affected  the
 >>>outcomes of national elections.
 >>>   "Calypso is the raw material for many rhythms that are popular  now,"
 >>>said Oscar Sequeira from his seat under a palm tree in  Limon's central
 >>>park -- a massive man wearing a white guayabera (a  Caribbean shirt) and
 a
 >>>straw hat.
 >>>   Sequeira is a music instructor at a school in Limon, but he is also
 >the
 >>>leader of "Caribbean Calypso," one of the best known musical  groups of
 >the
 >>>genre in the Costa Rican Caribbean.
 >>>   After the colonial era, calypso spread throughout the Antilles and,
 >>>thanks to traveling festivals, it became very popular in places  such as
 >>>Trinidad and Tobago, where it still maintains its social  force.
 >>>   This rhythm arrived in countries like Costa Rica thanks to the
 >>>migration of people from the Antilles, where it began to take on  the
 >local
 >>>flavor.
 >>>   Calypso is sung, usually in creole English, and recounts the joys  and
 >>>misfortunes of the banana plantations, and the romances of the  people,
 as
 >>>well as making social criticisms.
 >>>   Calypso is an art form in which the performers made their black
 public
 >>>laugh in the face of the social ills they suffered.
 >>>   For example, the Limonese calypsonian Papa Tun, as he is known,
 >>>composed this humorous calypso about a malaria epidemic:
 >>>   "Zancudo, zancudo, no me piques mas/no quiero malaria/no quiero
 >>>morir/no me piques mas/no me piques mas/no me piques mas."
 >>>   (Mosquito, mosquito, don't bite me anymore/I don't want malaria/  I
 >>>don't want to die/don't bite me anymore/don't bite me anymore/  don't
 bite
 >>>me anymore.)
 >>>   Through its musical "rescue work," Cantoamerica has joined forces
 with
 >>>the one of the region's most respected calypsonians, an  80-year-old
 black
 >>>man who lives in the town of Cahuita in Limon  province. His name is
 >Walter
 >>>Ferguson, but he is better known as  Mister Gavitt.
 >>>   Gavitt sings about the little things -- life's details -- but he  has
 >>>also created calypsos with strong social meaning. In one of  them, called
 >>>"Retribution," he clearly captures the differences  among social classes
 >>>and their consequences. This is just a  fragment:
 >>>   "Retribution/I want to sing it loud and clear/retribution/I want  the
 >>>people to hear/Pushing people's children in the gutter/And you  are
 living
 >>>in luxury/Every day you got your bread and butter/And  then you practice
 >>>hypocrisy."
 >>>   Mister Gavitt continues composing and he sends his work to Monestel
 in
 >>>San Jose, where the musician has been performing Gavitt's work  with his
 >>>band.
 >>>   Monestel's newest project is to write a book about calypso, and  his
 >>>seventh Cantoamerica recording is expected to be ready for  release this
 >>>August, which will be appropriately named  "Calypsonians."
 >>>   The disk includes 10 songs (nine by Ferguson and one by Monestel),
 >>>which Monestel hopes will be a tribute to all calypso composers in  the
 >>>region. >>