Search - Alan Lomax, Neville Marcano :: Portraits: Growling Tiger of Calypso

Excellent.

Kanky | New Orleans, LA USA | 08/06/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Neville Marcano, who is the meritorious Growling Tiger, genius of the Calypso, will dazzle you with his wit, wisdom, intelligent lyrics, and storytelling ability. The Tiger assembled the few remaining musicians on the island of Trinidad who could still play calypso like it was played in the old style, apparently... very loose and spontaneous, with instrumental improvisation that will amaze at every listen. Intricate dual guitars over upright bass, accentuated by the most madcapped and inventive fiddle! Very rythmic, as is characteristic of the Calypso. African, Latin, Afro-American Jazz in this Calypso, this flower of caribbean culture. This music is a meeting place for many cultures, as one would expect from a place with such diverse cultural influences as Trinidad, as well as being a unique musical expressive form which is indiginous to the island. Taped in the sixties by the noble Alan Lomax,who preserved the folk music of many cultures with his field recordings over several decades, these songs are shining examples of the Calypso music from Trinidad, and sound surpisingly good in recording quality. If you love music, you need this record. If you've never heard calypso, you will fall in love with it."

Brilliant!

methylethel | 02/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Neville Marcano, the Growling Tiger, is here at his very best. In these recordings by Alan Lomax, his style is more refined and mature than in earlier recordings like "Knockdown Calypsos." The album is interesting in itself for being a late (60s?)recording done in a style that dates from before the brass-band sound of the 30s and 40s. So you get the old bamboo-band/kalinda sound, but with a much better-quality recording than the classic (and tinny) brass-band calypsos. Most of the album is sharp-witted and musically solid, with some real gems like "Train Blow"-- Sung with Lady Iere-- "Money is King" (found in his earlier recordings, but never sung so well), and "War" with Indian Prince and Lord Iere (which also shows up on the Lomax collection's Trinidad album). Also interesting is the instrumental "Rose of Caracas"-- a beautiful showcase of the musicians Lomax rooted out for these recordings. A fascinating album."