{"id":564,"date":"2012-01-19T13:55:16","date_gmt":"2012-01-19T13:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/?p=564"},"modified":"2012-01-19T13:57:30","modified_gmt":"2012-01-19T13:57:30","slug":"a-walk-with-roy-cape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/a-walk-with-roy-cape.html","title":{"rendered":"A walk with Roy Cape"},"content":{"rendered":"

Journalist Nyerere Haynes reports on his interview of famed musician\u00a0 and bandleader Dr. Roy Cape, Trinidad Guardian<\/em> Jan. 18, 2012.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I arrived at the home of legendary musician and bandleader Roy Cape; he\u2019s already at his front gate signalling to me to park in the garage adjacent to his charming burgundy home. When I get out of the car he asks me if I made it to his place all right. He shouldn\u2019t have worried, as his directions landed me right at his front door. Before we could get the interview started, he takes me to a room where his computer stands and proceeds to show me his moving performance of a song done by Black Stalin for his Honorary Doctorate acceptance ceremony on YouTube. We stand watching the performance silently\u2026all the while, Cape is unable to remain still, and fingers an invisible saxophone with his knees slightly bent, as he relives one of the sweetest performances of his career. He goes on to tell me about the week of non-stop preparation for the performance where he re-worked the song and played it \u201cinto eternity\u201d until he was finally satisfied. Yet still, at the ceremony, spontaneity ushers itself in an element towards the end of the song that was befitting of the occasion.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t plan the phrasing of the final bars of the song, but in the moment, I was filled with so much happiness and appreciation that it happened that way,\u201d Cape says in his soft, yet gravelly tones. \u201cIt was all about giving the fans a performance they would never forget.\u201d We relocate to his living room and the first thing I notice are his trophies, accolades and pictures all proudly on display upon his television cabinet. The photos tell a story of his long journey and the labour of love that has seen Cape and his band through the years. He proudly states that music is his vocation and while he did other jobs periodically, it was the music that truly opened up the world to him. \u201cIn this vocation, people like myself pay a lot of attention to the needs of the audience. Through the years I\u2019ve received awards through different bands but the greatest award is one from the public. They awarded me with love, appreciation and admiration for my service to the people and country. When this happens it creates a space for what has happened\u2026me receiving an honorary doctorate for my life-long journey,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

Cape\u2019s love for music has been a passion that burned within his spirit since a tender age. As a child he would spend the majority of his time at panyards and by age of eleven he purchased his own pan. However, his mother gave it away\u2014that wasn\u2019t the life she wanted for the young Cape. Her death a year later would see Cape making a decision which would ultimately define him. The choices that lay before him were either to go to Grenada to live with his grandmother or to live at an orphanage that is now known as the St Dominic\u2019s Home. He chose the latter and it was at that very orphanage where he would join the steelband (and later the music band) where he started playing the clarinet and later the alto sax.<\/p>\n

He recalled the days of playing at the calypso tent Kingdom of the Wizard under William Munroe; the band that he would eventually lead. \u201cWhen I was approached by Monroe to lead the band, I asked him if I would be able to determine the salaries of the musicians. He tell me to submit a budget and that was the beginning of what would become the Roy Cape All-Stars,\u201d Cape relates, smiling. \u201cWe did shows, studio work and jammed on the road with some the best\u2026(he counts them off on his fingers) Black Stalin, Sparrow, Kitchener, young Machel Montano, Arrow, Swallow, Beckett, Gabby, Duke, Super Blue, Shadow, Rose. Is so many people we work with, even younger singers during the Keskidee Caravan days like Homefront, Denise Belfon and Supa Chile. This was a nice time of mixing the music with that project by Mr Robert Amar.\u201d<\/p>\n

He goes on about the years of opportunities the band has had working with some of the most highly regarded calypsonians in the world. I ask him about his most memorable experience leading the Roy Cape All Stars. He rubs his bearded chin and thinks a bit as he mentally searches though his many salient memories. \u201cApart from playing the music\u2026I would have to say performing as a Soca Monarch finalist in 1998 with a song called Jam Meh Mr Cape. It was an experience I had never thought about\u2026it was like I walking in a dream. I placed ninth in the competition out of 30-something contestants. I have to say that I was very much satisfied with my involvement at that level,\u201d Cape recalls.<\/p>\n

I shake my head in agreement, expecting to hear more positive reminiscing. \u201cI can still remember my first journeys outside of Trinidad. It was in 1961 that I was a part of an inter-island tour\u2026we went Barbados, Grenada, St Vincent and Antigua. Things could have gone wrong\u2026things went wrong.\u201d He drops a bomb. \u201cWe got thrown out of a hotel,\u201d Cape says, and abruptly changes the subject. I steer him back to the topic because, well\u2026I have to know what went down. Cape frowns. \u201cThe show buss nah; the promoter couldn\u2019t pay the bill. We were lucky. Good Samaritans take us in and let us stay by them. Those things wasn\u2019t strange in them days. Shows used to buss, shows does still buss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thankfully, the hardships faced by Cape back then are now replaced with lavish accommodations whenever he travels with the band. \u201cPeople putting me up in five star hotels and all kinda thing now; I don\u2019t need all that but they tell me it comes with the territory so I humbly accept it,\u201d Cape says, grinning. We talk some more, until it\u2019s time for me to head back. Cape gives me directions again to get on the road safe. We part and the music is still in my head. I can\u2019t help but think about this humble man, who has accepted the honour on behalf of all the other musicians who have gone before him, those who currently strive to keep the culture alive and those who are yet to come.<\/p>\n

He knows that what he has received is not easy to come by; his life is a testament to that. First published in Distinguished Gentleman December 2011\/ January 2012 Carnival.<\/p>\n

For original post: A walk with Roy Cape | The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Journalist Nyerere Haynes reports on his interview of famed musician\u00a0 and bandleader Dr. Roy Cape, Trinidad Guardian Jan. 18, 2012. I arrived at the home of legendary musician and bandleader Roy Cape; he\u2019s already at his front gate signalling to me to park in the garage adjacent to his charming burgundy home. When I get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[234,233],"class_list":["post-564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","tag-kaiso-all-stars","tag-roy-cape"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4zx0X-96","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":572,"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions\/572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quiliby.com\/all\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}