Kitchener - King of de Road by Garvin Blake (in homage of the Grandmaster’s 100th Birthday)

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Aldwyn “Kitchener” Roberts

April 18th, 2022 marks the centennial of Aldwyn “Kitchener” Roberts’ birth. The Grandmaster in the art of calypso, Kitchener’s music provides unique insights into Trinidadian culture. He was a griot, singing colorful tales about a colorful and complex society.

In five verses, Kitch could reveal more about his birthplace than most journalists could reveal in five-thousand words. With thoughtful lyrics, arresting melodies and gorgeous harmonies, he became a pulse of the people, the voice of carnival, bending phrase after phrase.

Dance rhythms are ever-present in Kitchener’s music, even when he's chronicling serious topics like the murder trial of Abdul Malik in “One to Hang.” The gentleman’s game gets a spirited bounce in “Cricket Champions”, his reading of the West Indies’ victory over England at Lord's in London. In 1971 he demands fair treatment for Trinidad and Tobago’s marginalized people in his uptempo cry, “Black Power”, which ends with a wailing saxophone solo.

Kitchener captured the emotional rollercoaster of Trinidad’s annual festival. From the euphoric “Home for Carnival” to the melancholic “The Carnival is Over”, the moods of carnival come to life. “Miss Tourist” gives a foreigner step-by-step instructions on how to play mas. And Kitch invites “Margie”, a beautifully tailored piece, replete with jazz harmonies, to meet him by Green Corner in Port of Spain, so, together, they could paint the town red.

Kitchener wrote some of the best compositions ever played by steelbands. His songs are anthems. Eighteen Kitchener tunes were transformed into panorama-winning masterpieces, starting with North Stars’ “Mama Dis is Mas” in 1964 and ending with Renegades’ “Guitar Pan” in 1997, three years before he died. When others were raising concerns about Pan’s potential demise, Kitch declared, “Pan Here to Stay!” He never lost faith in the art form’s capacity to captivate.

Aldwyn Roberts gifted the world a vast catalog of music. Staggering by any measure. For the next 100 years and beyond, artists of all stripes will be studying his works and discovering his genius.

Continue to Rest in Peace, Grandmaster.

Garvin


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