The true essence of Stalin

Black Stalin Live, Stalin’s latest compact disc is truly a collector’s item. The recording is of a live concert at the Naparima Bowl. The 1995 show produced by Elton Benjamin in South Trinidad featuring the five-time calypso monarch is one of the greatest recordings by any calypsonian.

Ten years after the concert, executive producers Eric St Bernard and Sherrie Ann De Leon are able to capture the classic Stalin’s inner voice.

But before I go off on the recording I must mention the liner notes which capture the true essence that is Black Stalin. Written by Dennis “Sprangalang” Hall it reads in part, “Black Stalin never felt he had to choose a road as an artist. He seemed to have felt he was given a talent by the creator and had to use it to help his fellow man, so he always dealt with a situation from the firing line and not as an innocent bystander.”

The CD is one of the best collection of songs by the man who again according to Sprangalang is “the conscience of Trinidad and Tobago.”

According to St Bernard, “We were in a dilemma as to what songs would make the final cut for this 80 minute production.”

Seventeen songs performed between 1969 to 1992 made it on the CD, songs such as “Look On The Bright Side” (1991), “We Can make it if We Try” (1988), “Better Days are Coming” (1983), “No Woman No” (1986), “Martin Luther King” (1969), “New Portrait of Trinidad” (1972), “Caribbean Man” featuring Shaka (1979), “More Come” (1986) “Wait Dorothy Wait” (1985) and “Bun Dem” (1987).

Music was provided by Roy Cape All Stars which has been Stalin’s musical accompaniment for years. The band’s musical presentation at events is one to savour, since Cape’s brand of music retains the true essence of kaiso. Black Stalin Live was edited by Rich La Monte with photography by Carl Newallo. JW Records of New York will distribute it in North America and Europe while Crosby’s Music Centre of St James will distribute it in Trinidad and the Caribbean.

In his own words Black Stalin said, “I really feel good about this project and I am looking forward to doing another one soon.”

Black Stalin Live is a compact disc that every calypso connoisseur should secure.