An explosion of Indian talent By Adrian Boodan article taken from the online Trinidad Guardian on 31st August, 2004 The last 42 years, more so in the past two decades, the local Indian music industry, fueled by increased media exposure, has witnessed an explosion of talent in the areas of chutney, chutney-soca and the remaking…
From Caroni Gyal To Calcutta Woman: A History Of East Indian Chutney Music In The Caribbean by Rajendra Saywack [This essay was prepared by Mr. R. Saywack in December 1999, while at the Black & Puerto Rican Studies Dept., Hunter College, CUNY, New York City.] INTRODUCTION In the summer of 1996, the dance hit, “Calcutta…
“PACK UP ME GRIP & LEH ME GO” The Terry Gajraj Story By Roshan Shiwcharran, GuyanaChunes.com Heart pounding, butterflies out of control, Terry Gajraj paced back & forth nervously backstage at the Brightstar Productions “Indo-Carribbean Show” in Toronto, Canada. Terry was about to share the stage for the very first time with many of his…
Was Sundar Popo the real pioneer of chutney music as some believe? Many writers have acclaimed him as such, and at one time, myself. But further research has prompted me to revise that opinion. I believe there is need for clarity, and I mean no offense to writers or to the late chutney legend. Sundar…
Chutney music while still in the evolutionary stage is enjoyed by millions across the Caribbean, America, Canada, England, Suriname and many other countries in the world. Essentially a genre with birthright in Trinidad and Tobago, the ranchy compositions are among the most popular dance songs in the country. They are loved by all who appreciate…
Trinidad and Tobago is the birthplace of chutney music and chutney soca, among other genres. It is home to the top chutney singers in the Caribbean and is spinning out new talent and new compositions daily. The artform is competitive and artistes go to extremes to compose their songs. There is no control over lyrics,…
The following is an address I delivered on Chutney Music at Yale University on Friday April 18, 2000. Chutney music, a syncretic Indo-Trinidadian popular music and dance idiom, is little known outside its own milieu. It is the product of the East Indian communities of Trinidad, Guyana and Suriname. Indians had originally immigrated to the…
Long ago, in traditional India society, women groups sang erotic songs at wedding and “sohars,” special songs at childbirth. These bhojpuri folk songs were lewd and suggestive and provided a way to hand down traditions and customs to later generations. Chutney music is a bhojpuri offspring. It was brought from the bhojpuri region in North…
An article, or rather, two articles in About.com, by Megan Romer has prompted me to clarify chutney music and soca. No offense to the writer, but I have read many articles that carry a misconception of what exactly is chutney music, and in this instance, the same goes for soca. Research usually clarifies such dubiousness.…
It did not begin with Nana and Nani as some believe. The song being neither chutney nor chutney soca, but a local composition with an appealing combination of Trini dialect and Hindi by the late singing legend Sundar Popo, about how indentured labourers spent their free time on the sugar cane estates. After a hard…