ALDWYN ROBERTS LORD KITCHENER THE GRANDMASTER. Lord Kitchener (Kitch), the Grandmaster, was born April 18, 1922, as Aldwyn Roberts in Arima, Trinidad and Tobago (T&T ), into a family of six. His father was a successful blacksmith in Arima. Kitch attended the Arima Boys Govt School between the ages of 5 and 14, when he was forced to leave school following the death of his parents. When in 1944 the then 21-year-old Aldwyn Roberts climbed the calypso stage at the Victory Tent with the name of Lord Kitchener, it would not have been surprising if most of the patrons that night saw him as a passing cloud; as someone who might cause laughter, even get an encore, but who, like dozens of other youngsters, might disappear from the scene just as suddenly as he appeared. Few would have dreamed that like the Lord Kitchener from whom he took his name, he would prove formidable, hard to defeat, long lasting, successful, and much honored. It was his two big songs of 1946, recording events of 1945, which at once made him one of the most popular singers of the day. The first called Yes, I Heard the Beat of a Steel band, was the first calypso to take notice of the pan-beating young men at a time when society was hostile to them, seeing them as idle noise-makers. This calypso captured the steel band’s position at a historic moment, and underlined Kitcheners fascination with the pan - a fascination that was to last to the end of his life. After the 1947 Carnival season, Kitchener traveled to Aruba, Curacao and Jamaica. In 1948 he left Jamaica on the Empire Windrush, a ship that marked the beginning of large-scale Caribbean migration to Britain. One of the other passengers on that M.V. Windrush was Egbert Moore (Lord Beginner). Kitch got an immediate booking at the only West Indian club in London, following his debut on the BBC. Six months later, Kitch was appearing in three clubs nightly, and his popularity extended beyond the West Indian and African night club audiences, to include music hall and variety show audiences. Kitchener remained in England, where he had an active career that included extensive recording for the Parlophone, Melodisc and Lyragon labels. His records were exported in large quantities to the Caribbean, where he remained popular. Some of his records were also popular in West Africa. Road March Tunes.....(10 times) Panorama Tunes.......(18 times)
Posted on: Thu, 15 May 2014 12:41:19 +0000
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