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Yes, ORTT for Kitch Daily Express Editorial - Opinion; Sunday, April 17th, 2022 https://trinidadexpress.com/opinion/editorials/yes-ortt-for-kitch/article_9a758d70-bea9-11ec-ba04-7b03928d9b35.html |
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Awarding the nation’s highest honour to the late calypso great, the Lord Kitchener, should be a no-brainer. Indeed, many would be forgiven for assuming that the Order of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT) had already been bestowed upon the legend known far and wide as calypso’s “Grandmaster”. Today, as the nation commemorates the 100th birthday of Aldwin “Lord Kitchener” Roberts, T&T should acknowledge its failure as a wrong to be put right. Kitchener’s son Kernal should not have to be arguing the case for his father; it should be evident to all that “Kitch” is worthy of our highest honour. If time is the test of relevance and quality, then the Grandmaster has passed with flying colours. Twenty-two years after his passing, the man and his music are as alive as ever. Not a Carnival passes without him being evoked in panyards, fete venues and concert arena. In between Carnivals, his music is a mainstay for lifting the spirit. All by itself, Kitch’s music is an enduring global ambassador-at-large for T&T and a magnetic force that connects Trinbagonians, Caribbean people and calypso lovers across every ocean, island and continent. It is a mystery why Kitchener never made it to the very top of the awards list, especially given the public lobby on his behalf and his own openly expressed view that he was deserving of it when he rejected the Chaconia Gold Medal in 1994. Perhaps it is explained by the political control exercised over the list of national awards which can be an avenue for reward as well as punishment. Today, the case for awarding Kitchener the ORTT is as compelling as ever, if not more so. When he passed away on February 11, 2000, the Grandmaster was the undisputed Road March King with a record 11 Road March titles. His ear for the steelpan also set him apart as a calypsonian with a rare and symbiotic relationship with pan music. In 1944, when the steelband was still in its infancy beating our rhythms, Kitchener produced a calypso, “The Beat of the Steel Band”, which became the first calypso to be played by a steelband. In an interview with Les Slater, he explained: “I made the steelband a real study. I know the runs and the notes that mean something to the sound of the band. I can hear the sound of the tenor pan.” This from a man who neither played pan nor had formal training in composing music. Kitch’s contribution to the development of the steelband should not be under-estimated. When he died, a steelband playing a Kitch calypso had taken the Panorama title a record 18 times, representing 50 per cent of the 36 Panorama competitions since 1963. There was no competition in 1979. His contribution to the Caribbean community during his 15-year relocation to London between 1947 and 1962 was immense. In a cold, disrespectful and often hostile land, Kitch’s music gave West Indians a sense of identity and cultural pride. Honouring the Grandmaster with the nation’s highest honour is long, long overdue. Let’s just do it. |