Despite the horrors of the terrorist attack on their city, the great Paris-based steelband Calypsociation is continuing to offer music and harmony in these tough times. The band is one of the largest and longest tenured steelbands in France. Known the world over for their musicianship and progressive arrangements, the band has recently released a tribute album to Calypso Rose featuring several never-before recorded steelband arrangements of calypso and soca classics by the calypsonian. The album, Calypsociation Steelband Plays Calypso Rose, is the band’s fourth album release since 2004 and is available for download on their website, iTunes, and throughout the Internet.
The album grew from drummer Mathieu Borgne’s relationship with both Calypsociation (where he is drummer, arranger, and captain) and Calypso Rose (for whom he played drum set at several concerts and festival appearances in past years). The album grew out of the friendship between the pair. Borgne recalls that it was Rose who first proposed the idea of creating an arrangement of Senior Citizen Day for Calypsociation.
“It’s one of my tunes that Boogsie wanted to arrange!” Rose noted, and with this, Borgne went to work.
One arrangement led to another, from the Calypso Rose road march classic More Tempo to Do Dem Back and many more, until there was enough material to fill an entire album. It became obvious to Borgne and Calypsociation that they had the material to record a tribute album to Calypso Rose.
The results are stunning, and Calypso Rose, too, was very pleased. “She loves the album and she wants to perform with them, maybe in Paris next time she will come, or in Trinidad!”
Perhaps one of the best-known steelbands in France, Calypsociation has been together for over two decades. The roots of the band trace back to the late 1980s when Guillaume Kervel and Barthelemy Fougea went to Trinidad with some friends, and they fell in love with the music, culture, spirit and steelpan of Trinidad. The group brought a few steelpans back to Paris, and started learning the instruments. In 1993, Phase II Steel Orchestra toured France, and prior to returning to Trinidad, the band sold all the large steelpans (cellos, bass, guitars) to Calypsociation. With the addition of these instruments, Kervel and Fougea now had enough steelpans to create a steelband. They founded Calypsociation.
Little by little the band acquired more instruments from across Europe and the globe, including from the various French steelpan tuners. Each time somebody from Calypsociation went to Trinidad, the player returned with steelpans.
Steelband resonated with the Parisians and the popularity of Calypsociation spread quickly. As a result, the band developed a solid base of pannists and began performing all over Paris.
In 1998, Calypsociation collaborated with steelbands from across Europe and Trinidad to form a mass band for a concert with 150 pannists in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the abolition of slavery. The concert—called Caribbean Rhythm—was held at the Great Hall of the Villette and featured steelbands from all over Paris, as well as players from the Ebony Steel Orchestra in England, Renegades Steel Orchestra, and many others.
Since 1993, Calypsociation has performed all over France, and across Europe from Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, and they have also roamed further as far as Turkey and Guadeloupe.
For the past decade, Calypsociation and Andy Narell have collaborated on numerous projects. In 2005, the band joined Narell for a tour of the United States that featured stops in California and Oregon. In 2010, the band teamed with Narell and Lord Relator for a Calypso Fever concert with the legendary jazz band WDR Big Band of Germany. The collaboration resulted in a TV show and has since been released as part of Narell’s Alive! DVD set. He also recorded with them on his album Passages. Narell’s wife Anita Bonan is a long-term member of Calypsociation, further cementing the close ties between them. Each year since 2013, Narell has arranged for Birdsong Steel Orchestra for Panorama and members of Calypsociation have travelled to Trinidad to play in Panorama with Birdsong.
In addition to their performances, Calypsociation is an organisation that encompasses a variety of almost daily steelpan activities. Since 1996, Calypsociation created a steelpan school where nearly 80 players come every week to play in one of the four developmental steelbands within the Calypsociation organisation. Students range in age from youth to adults. The school is currently the only place in Paris where one can learn to play steelpan in a conventional steelband.
Economics makes it difficult to have a steelband in France and Calypsociation has the only panyard in Paris. The popularity of steelband in Paris grows every day; however, unlike in Trinidad, there are no sponsors ready to support the art form, or universities that host steelbands.
Beyond year-round practices each week, players in Calypsociation are very involved in the organisation and contribute to the association by paying membership fees and other expenses. All earnings from concerts go toward paying the rent for the panyard and pay the professionals involved in the association (captains, arrangers, tuners). According to Borgne, “all the pan players and the board of the association are playing and working for free. Passion for the art form is our motivation!”
In August, Calypsociation joined rarified company when they were one of only two steelbands from Europe to compete at the International Conference and Panorama steelband competition in Trinidad. Calypsociation brought 35 players from Paris and were joined by another 12 players from Pamberi Steel Orchestra. Nestor Sullivan and Pamberi Steel Orchestra hosted Calypsociation in Trinidad, and according to Borgne, the experience was life-changing:
“That was an amazing experience, specially to play in the Savannah! For some of the players [in Calypsociation ] that was their first time in Trinidad, and four of them have played pan for only one year….so you can imagine.”
Despite challenges with finding instruments with note-layouts similar to their steelpans in France, the band persevered. Beyond the competition aspect, the International Conference and Panorama offered Calypsociation a chance to share their music with Trinidadians. According to Lalsingué, “for years we wanted to arrange in Trinidad for Trinis, but you know how it’s hard for a foreign arranger to be accepted as a steelband arranger, so being in the Savannah to play our arrangement was amazing.”
Lalsingué further noted that the response was resoundingly positive: “All our friends from Desperadoes, from Pamberi, Ray Holman, Robert Greenidge, etc…they all give us support and told us they love our music.”
This year marks the second time the entire Calypsociation steelband came down to Trinidad, as the band had previously come down for the 2000 World Steelband Festival. For that occasion, Borgne composed a calypso, Pa Ni Pwoblem and another band member, Laurent Lalsingué, arranged a JS Bach piece.
For the International Conference and Panorama, Borgne and Lalsingué arranged Prophet of Pan for Calypsociation. Borne was disappointed when Desperadoes Steel Orchestra failed to make the finals of Panorama in 2012 playing the tune. He and Lalsingué, who share similar arranging styles, felt Prophet of Pan needed to be revived. Borgne and Lalsingué have loved Clive Bradley’s arranging style for more than 20 years. According to Borgne, “We had played in Desperadoes. He is our main inspiration.”
Prophet of Pan helped earn Calypsociation a respectable finish at the International Conference and Panorama and it is also the only non-Calypso Rose tune on the band’s new album. Coming off of the natural high of being in Trinidad, Calypsociation went back to weekly classes and rehearsals, preparing for more gigs, when the latest attacks happened. As a recent email from the band noted, they will not let it stop them.
“Fortunately, no one in Calypsociation has been injured, although we were all wounded to the heart. For decades, Calypsociation has been gathering musicians and amateurs, around the same love of music and entertainment. This is precisely what was targeted, randomly, but also very precisely, by the attack: music, leisure, friendliness and liberty, all that defines the French art of living. Now more than ever, Calypsociation and its members will keep playing music, laughing and sharing good times, to show that life and joy are stronger than death and terror, and that nothing can switch off the City of Lights."
• Ray Funk is a retired Alaskan judge who is passionately devoted to calypso, pan and mas. Dr Andrew Martin is an ethnomusicologist, percussionist, pannist, and Professor of Music at Inver Hills College in St Paul, Minnesota.