FETE 'TILL YOU SWEAT

by Andil Gosine

Do you like to jump-up and wine? Or just drink wine? Whatever the case may be a carnival fete promises just a few things. And clock-watchers best find some patience or stay away because there's no way the tyranny of Eastern Standard Time is going to rule any jam-and-wine session.
Craving an escape from the terrifying serenity of Ottawa, I showed up on time - at the advertised time - at Fete Caribe's first party of last year, only to wait for two hours with a group of wondering tourists until the crowd arrives en masse. A fete starts when enough people decide the grooves are right and it ends when the grooves are worn out or when some heavy hand decides to shut it down.
People from age three to 93 fete for different reasons: to check or be checked, to lyrics or be lyrics'd, to bounce up people you want and don't want to see, to indulge in sentiment or create some, or just to relax. But there ain't none of this sit-down-and-watch, or copy-one-dance-step, or drink-till-you-drop business that goes down in the rest of Toronto's musical landscape. People fete to get a high that comes partly from a cold Carib or a rum-and-coke, but much more from just feeling free.
Fetes are the core of Carnivals, and Caribana, the largest festival of its kind in North America, is no different. But we don't need Caribana to fete anymore. The soca-calypso scene in Toronto has exploded well beyond one short parade on a police-controlled pathway on one particular day. Soca-calypso shows occupy no fewer than six slots on Toronto airwaves. CHRY alone has three and CIUT, CHIN and CKLN also have regular soca-calypso programming.
Ernest Adams, one-half of DJ crew The Outlaws and calypso specialist at Play de Record, says that rumours about Toronto's soca scene being the biggest of any music circuit in North America are probably true. We just played with Crossfire and the place was packed, he says. "Over 1500 people were there".
Although Caribana is still his busiest time of year, Adams now gets called for jobs throughout the year. Now, he says, R&B promoters are trying to cash in on the popularity of soca fetes, which usually depend on word-of-mouth and flyers as publicity. They see a sure money-maker and want to get a piece of the action.; The T.O soca scene has also developed a character of its own. Crowds in Toronto are kind. Deliver any shit on a Trinidadian stage and you will not-so-kindly be offered some toilet paper to wipe it up. Maybe because the talent pool isn't so strong, or maybe because we try to leave the foolishness of Indo/Afro/Asian racism in the Caribbean, crowds in Toronto are a little more appreciative of performers. Despite lacklustre performances by more than a few at Lamport Stadium soca competitions over the last few years, no one was ever pelted, stoned or booed off the stage. Although Trinidadian performers are still top draws, Adams says there is now greater demand for other kinds of soca. The Bajans have come on really strong this year, he says. Everybody is [booking] Crossfire and Macfingall.
The modern Trini stalwarts-David Rudder, Superblue, Nigel Lewis and Sonny Man-still rule the roost but a string of local newcomers are also coming on strong. Adams says he now gets requests for Connector, Victorio, Jayson, Elsworth James and other Torontonians at Play De Record.
According to Connector, Trinidadian artists are still the ones people most come to see at fetes, but he also believes that locals can make breakthroughs. I approached calypso with a positive attitude and everything turned out positive for me," he says. "It's hard getting promotion for local calypsonians.Connector adds, "There's a lot of cut-throat [activity] if you live in Toronto."
One of the judges Connector will likely face at this year's Calypso Monarch competition is Dr. David Trotman, a professor at York University and calypso expert. Trotman believes that Toronto calypsonians are now reaching a new level of maturity that has stretched beyond Caribbean nostalgia.
"There have been some very good [calypso] compositions," says Trotman, "but they still have to ween themselves away from the acute 'Trinidadian-ness' of soca." This year, Trotman offered the first full course on calypso taught at a Canadian University. "I've always used calypso in courses years before," he says, "but (this time) I wanted to do a full course that focused on the oral literature of Trinidad." Soca's osmosis in Toronto just can't be ignored. Major record stores now have soca/calypso sections and an Internet search for "calypso" pulls up over a dozen entries and news groups on the web.
In some quarters calypso music is considered the great delinquent among English music genres, waiting for a superstar calypso artist to take it to the top of the Billboard charts like Bob Marley did for reggae music.
But for now I'll find solace in searching through my pockets to find enough money for Brother Marvin's latest album or arguing in class about whether Rudder's lyrics are sexist or just sexy.