Title: Carnival: The Sound of a People, Vol 1
Artist: Etienne Charles
Label: Culture Shock Music
Formats: CD, MP3
Release date: March 22, 2019

T’is the season for Carnival! Anyone familiar with the carnival season knows that the beginning of the year starts with many festive celebrations on Caribbean islands. Of course, one cannot talk about Caribbean carnival without mentioning Trinidad and Tobago. Known for its festive and colorful displays, Trinidad and Tobago carnival is where the community comes together to celebrate its cultural heritage in the present. Native Trinidadian jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger, Etienne Charles offers his newest release, Carnival: The Sound of a People, Vol 1, as a homage to this long-lasting tradition. Although, Charles’ previous albums—Culture Shock (2006), Kaiso (2011), and Folklore (2009), among others—also draw on elements of Trinidadian music, his new project explores the very heart of Carnival, with compositions grounded in aural soundscapes recorded in local communities by Charles and his team. Continue reading →