Officiel Voyage dans les Caraïbes : Rencontres de thé Nevis et Saint-Kitts par Alan Lomax

Tracks:
Quadrille
Quadrille #2
Good Moming
Do, My Jolly Boy
Bear Away, Yankee, Bear Away Boy
Feeny Brown
Blow Boy Blow
See Me Nanny-O
Old Sailors Never Die
Bye, Lola, Till Morning
Quadrille #3
Quadrille #4
One, Two, Three
Aunty Nanny Thread The Needle / Loose Me, Johnny, Loose Me
Tragedy at Brimstone Hill, The
Nevis Without a Payday
Masquerade Walking Piece
Mr. Dog, He Came to Town
Willie Boy
Baby, Rock Away
Poor Josiah
Yankee John, Stormalong
Caesar Boy, Ceasar
Long Time Ago
Bull Dog Goin Bite Me
Happy Christmas to You
Speech / Streets Of Laredo
Christmas Song
Mr. Highback
Rag Time
Bull Dog Goin Bite Me #2

Performer Notes:

• Engineers: Alan Lomax, Roger Abrahams, Antoinette Marchand.
• All tracks have been digitally remastered.
• Personnel: Jane Brandy, Reginald Syder, Santoy, Martha Nias, Lina Jeffers, Walter Robers, Rosaly Jeffers, Franklin Skeete, Reuben Morris, Roy Gumbs (vocals); Samuel Hanley, Kelvin Liburd, Alvin Prentice, George Sweeney, James Grant (guitar); Joe Liburd (cuatro); Anderson Duporte (banjo); Alfred Williams (mandolin); Merritt Boddie (flute); Daniel Hobson, David Freeman , Eldred Decent (fife); Alfredo Morton, Joseph Reid (bass drum); Selwyn Wathey (snare drum); Ernest Archibald (kettle drum).
• Recording information: Brick Kiln Village, Nevis; Gingerland, Nevis; Irishtown, St. Kitts; Newcastle, Nevis.
• Photographer: Alan Lomax.
• Alan Lomax was a folklorist and ethnomusicologist on par with the brilliant Harry Smith. Lomaxs collections vary far and wide and the Nevis and St. Kitts album of the Caribbean Voyage series beautifully collects recordings that he and Roger Abrahams made in the Caribbean in 1962. At that time, dance music of the area (including calypso, habanera, and conga) had received international recognition, but Lomax realized that there was other important music from rituals and folk traditions that deserved equal stature as cultural capital. This album includes lesser-heard songs from Christmas sports, official tea meeting ceremonies, and childrens songs. Guitars and flutes dance through uplifting melodies, songs like the instrumental "Old Sailors Never Die" jaunt along happily, and childrens songs like "One, Two, Three" and "Aunty Nanny Thread the Needle/Loose Me, Johnny, Loose Me" have a precious, otherworldly quality. But the best recordings on the album are joyful folk songs sung by Santoy, an artist so sublime that his music should really be released as albums all over the world so that listeners can be exposed to a musician sadly absent from their collections and Santoy can get the recognition he deserves. ~ Charles Spano

Professional Reviews: NAPRA Review (9-10/02, p.66) - "...Wildly funny songs and skits share the stage with music from customary and religious occasions..."

Producer: Alan Lomax

Format: CD (1 Disc); Mixed

Country: USA

Studio/Live: Studio

Release Date: 7 May, 2002

Label: Rounder Select