Republished with the expressed permission the author
February 25, 2001
By Raffique Shah
THIS year’s [2001] Carnival has been dedicated to the Mighty Sparrow (Slinger Fransisco), who, as a colossus of calypso, deserves every accolade that he has been given. It was particularly pleasing to see the normally staid Caricom Secretariat honour Sparrow by granting him its highest award. “The Birdie” also holds an honorary doctorate from the University of the West Indies, another deserving award to someone who has probably had more influence on Caribbean people than most academics who carry the title.
Still, in the midst of Sparrow’s glory year, and without detracting from the bard’s stature or raining on his parade, I cannot help but think of Kitchener. True lovers of the art form had grown to expect so much from Kitch every year that we failed to note his advancing years or even entertain the thought that he might not be with us one day. Well, reality struck home last year, and on the eve of Carnival at that: Kitch succumbed to the ravages of an irreversible disease and before we knew it, he was dead. I mean, it was like yesterday he was crooning the sweet sounds of “Toco Band”, and today he was gone.
Before I dwell on what Kitch’s absence from the Carnival scene has meant for calypso and local music, I should write a few words about Pretender. When he was brought on stage at the Category Finals last Thursday night, “Preddie” looked....well, not so good. “Preddie” is not only the Grandmaster of Ex-Tempo, as he was so aptly described by Gypsy. He is the last of the “true true” bards–men and a few women–who came from an era in which calypsonians had to battle the colonial establishment merely to earn the right to sing their songs.
Pretender comes from the mould of bards who composed their lyrics, added the melodies they felt most suitable, and performed their songs on stage. There were no “fast foods” calypsonians in those days. One couldn’t “order” a song complete with lyrics, melody and musical arrangement, and simply sing it to gain fame and glory. The calypsonian was also chief cook and bottle-washer to his trade. That was Pretender (and a host of greats, all of them now deceased). And “Preddie”, like Kitch, was enduring, in the sense that even with his obviously deteriorating throat he could ex-tempo a few verses last Thursday night.
But back to Kitchener–or his absence from carnival for the first time. For those under 40, the tens of thousands who cut their Carnival teeth on “jump and wine” songs, Carnival minus Kitch probably means nothing. For me, for lovers of “real kaiso”, for those who appreciate musical gems that have become as scarce at Carnival as creative costumes, the death of Kitchener has denied us his annual fare of at least two melodious songs. Even in his final years he never failed to deliver, and although the seemingly unbreakable bond between him and what is now BP Renegades broke a few years before his death, he was able to extract sweet revenge on his rivals with “Toco Band” in 1999.
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