Nov 21/07
An elegant krio-calypso Wednesday
Easy-going, jangly palmwine guitar for a mid-week post.
On his Original Music release, African Elegant – Sierra Leone’s Kru/Krio Calypso Connection, John Storm Roberts explores the relationship between palmwine guitar music from Sierra Leone and Liberia and Trinidadian calypso brought to West Africa by sailors passing through Freetown in the late 19th century.
Ebenezer Calendar, the musician you’ll hear today, was called the “calypso king” in his native Freetown, Sierra Leone. He was the country’s most famous palmwine musician during the 1950s and, according to the liner notes, “seemed to be personally known to almost everyone in Freetown.” This made him an ideal candidate to sing about everyday life in the city, the core of any good krio/calypso/palmwine song’s lyrics.
Ebenezer Calender & his Maringar Band – Fire Fire Fire
Tags: calypso, krio, liberia, original music, sierra leone, trinidad
Hi there:
We exchanged E-mails a while back. You were very kind in letting me get my hands on some plamwine music. And now, now, my friend, you’ve gone to my country. Well, yes, Calendar is a great musician. It’s very sad that the Sierra Leone Broadcasting Coporation’s library was burned down by rebels during the war. And with it, the recordings by Calendar. I fear one would have to do some digging to find his stuff. I got some recently, and would share some very traditional Sierra Leonean music with you soon. I’d lost your website, but I’m glad I’ve found it again with this post.
Take care,
Michael
Hi Michael,
Thanks for your note. I have a few Calendar recordings that I could send your way, and hopefully some other Benn loxo readers can come up with some tracks for you. Stay tuned.
Cheers
Matt
…oh and Matt, I forgot to mention that this song, as pointed out by my girl-friend this morning was later done by S.E Rogie. You know what; I think this Calendar post may just kick-start my idea to document all Sierra Leonean recordings, focusing on stuff I never heard-for I was too young. Some German folks did this a long time ago. They even went as far as collecting the songs and took them to Germany. In fact, now that I’m thinking about it, it’s strange to say, but if they still have them there, the Germans currently have more Sierra Leonean music than us Sierra Leoneans. As you may know; preserving the arts in much of Africa is not much of a priority, and understandably so. So, when I went to Sierra Leone last year, I collected as much as much Sierra Leonean music as I could. I would, in time to come, hopefully very soon, like to do some guest posts with them. In fact, it was just the other day that I got a CD in the mail that I’d left in Sierra Leone. I collected them up to the last hour I had to catch the plane.
Yes, sure. I’d love some more Calendar from you. Please forward me your E-mail address. I have lost it.
I’m going to stick with Benn loxo and this time hopefully for good. Keep up the great work. Someday an anthropologist; a retiring one, for few concern themselves about Africa; would use this site for some good work.
Michael
there was also a Cd put out by Wolfgang Bender called Sierra Leone Music: West African Gramophone Records (Zensor ZS 41) which was a collection of early recordings from freetown
tracklist is as follows:
1. The Freetown Darkies / Jiving Marie Calypso
2. Calender and His Maringar Band / Double Decker Buses
3. Tejan-Sie & The Sierra Leone Police Dance Band / Welcome to the Queen
4. Ali Ganda Carnival Star Orchestra / Freedom, Freedom Sierra Leone
5. Frank Caulker and the Nugatone Band / Baby A Tire With You
6. Cherry and His Maringa Band / Sophaya My Loving Girl
7. Freetown’s Leading Sextet / Stay Carolina Stay
8. Famous Scrubbs and His Band / Mountain Cut By Havelock Street
9. Ebenezer Church Choir Freetown / Welcome Happy Morning
10. Salia Koroma & His Accordion / Ganene Bimbe
11. Tity Kamara and Her Bondo Drumma / Orbutie Or Geerana
12. Kamara, Koleya and Chorus / Yengema
13. Lokko Tribal Union / Ni Ao Goh Yah
14. Sopkhona Kouyate and Guitar Accompaniment / Tara Abludai
15. Hachimo Jalloh and His Guitar / Yaria
16. Sankoh and His Kono Boys / Yaa Tomboe
17. James Fayia & Chorus / Epeya
18. Jeli Bokary and his Wife / Niania
Hey guys,
My name is Wills and I may soon be co-producing a segment on the music of Sierra Leone for AfroPop. I’m hoping to get copies of more music from Sierra Leone (especially from the recordings you both are mentioning above) for this public radio broadcast. Can you help me out? Please email: william.glasspiegel@gmail.com. Thanks so much!
Best,
Wills
I am trying o lay hands on music by ebenezer calender .Any ideas where I could buy ?
I will be glad if you can get me some of calender,s music.Thanks
If anyone can be so kind as to send me some of Calendar’s music I’d really appreciate it. Thanks NbdyBeatsDaMiz@aol.com
Where can i get the Wolfgang Bender CD posted above? The listing covers a lot of very good and unforgettable music of that period.
Please provide me with more information with regards obtaining early “pop” music from Sierra Leone.
Its great to see efforts being made to assemble as much of the output of Sierra Leone’s greatest maringa musician as possible. Now that circumstances have made large numbers of us Sierra Leoneans permanent exiles,such projects would be highly appreciated. I wonder whether,in he same vein, efforts could be madeto put together the original music of not just Ebenezar Calendar but also of S E Rogie and later groups like Afro National. Any hope?
By the way, some Calendar music can be obtained at ‘honest jon’s.com’; type in ‘marvellous boy’ to access his collection of some lovely music from West Africa of that same period.
Bo me broda dem una make r wan for cry. r nor no us wan pan una get recording from de rokel river boys dem. R member dem satidae morning wae dem kin dae sing nar SLBS en r kin tote me hugfoot nar me ade for go sell nar Krootong road markit.