Calypso Rose is the ambassador of Caribbean music, living legend of calypso ("kaiso") and soca, the Antillean genre born in the context of carnival (responsorial and polyphonic songs), with both African and European roots that arises in the 19th century (living its heyday towards the decade of the 60s and 70s), and whose origin lies in the urban communities of African origin in Trinidad and Tobago.
Rose McCartha Linda Sandy Lewis was born on April 27, 1940 in the small island of Tobago, Republic of Trinidad & Tobago, in the English Antilles. Today he lives in Queens in New York but returns several times a year to his island to regenerate, he says "I find my African roots in Tobago ...". Daughter of a pastor, Rose begins to sing with 15 years and, since then, she has dedicated her whole life to music, "I have not become a calypso singer, I am born Calypso."
He spent 17 years singing on cruises for an American company before having the opportunity to sing in the world-famous Apollo Theater and Madison Square Garden with two of the greatest exponents of the calypso: Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow.
Calypso Rose is a tireless worker, has written more than 800 songs and recorded more than 20 albums produced worldwide. Compared to Miriam Makeba and Cesária Évora, all the communities in the Caribbean - Anglophone, Francophone or Hispanic - receive her with fervor: she is the only female artist who has been crowned at the famous Trinidad Carnival, already in 1978, and in having taken five times in a row the "Calypso Queen" prize. Calypso Rose is an icon. Her personality, her charisma and her joy of living make her a soul singer. A singer of Soul, Gospel, Blues and of course Calypso, a diva of popular music.
In Far From Home (2016) we find a Caribbean musical parade with changes of rhythm, color and mood, in the purest style of Carnival, which, more than a festive ritual, is the main cultural event of Trinidad and Tobago and personifies the soul as well as the social and ethnic diversity of its population.
The executive production is carried out by Jean-Michel Gibert (who has managed the artist's career since her album A Dirty Jim in 2005). The production is in charge of Ivan Duran, and Drew Gonsalves (of the band Kobo Town) co-writes some of the songs and composes the arrangements. For his part, Manu Chao co-produces and leaves his unmistakable mark by singing in three songs ("Leave Me Alone", "Far From Home" and "Human Race") and playing the charango. The graphic art of the album with illustrations by Maxime Mouysset.
Calypso Rose is not only a totally unique artist, but also a heroic figure whose whole life is a lesson. "Far From Home" not only reboza of joy, but also bears the ever-conscious conscience of a woman who is still fighting for good, the denunciation of domestic violence in songs like "Abatina" or social injustice in "No Madame" (a song he wrote in the 70s and that has contributed to the evolution of laws regarding the treatment of officials in Trinidad). A woman whose memory goes beyond her own existence, in "I Am African", to encompass the fate of the entire black diaspora, in the same spirit as Bob Marley, whom he knew well and with whom he shared the stage in more than one chance. With her courage, her strength and her humanity, only she could, in these times of global discord and violence, sing a song of love and universal brotherhood as "Human Race".
01. Abatina
(Manu Chao / Drew Gonsalves / Raphael De Leon)
02. I Am African
(Manu Chao / Ivan Duran / Drew Gonsalves / Raphael De Leon)
03. Leave Me Alone (feat. Manu Chao)
(Manu Chao / Ivan Duran / Drew Gonsalves / McCartha Lewis)
04. Far From Home
(Manu Chao / Drew Gonsalves)
05. Calypso Queen
(Manu Chao / Drew Gonsalves / Alan Thomas)
06. Zoom Zoom Zoom
(Manu Chao / McCartha Lewis)
07. Trouble
(Manu Chao / Drew Gonsalves)
08. Love Me or Leave Me
(Manu Chao / Maureen St. John)
09. No Madame
(Manu Chao / McCartha Lewis)
10. Woman Smarter 11. Human Race
(Manu Chao / Aldric Farrel)
12. Wah Fu Dance!
(Manu Chao / Ivan Duran / Drew Gonsalves / McCartha Lewis)
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