Veteran calypsonian Seadley Joseph, who performed under the name Penguin was a "giant" in the calypso art form says fellow calypsonian Leroy Calliste, known also as Black Stalin. "We lost a giant in calypso music, we also lost a friend," Stalin said by telephone yesterday.
Joseph, 70, brother of former national security minister Martin Joseph, and a former president of Trinidad Unified Calypsonians Organisation (TUCO), passed away yesterday morning after a prolonged illness. He won the Road March title in 1982 with the song A Deputy Essential. He won the Calypso Crown in 1984 with We Living in Jail and Sorf Man. One of his other hits was Look de Devil dey.
Stalin said Joseph will be missed by the calypso fraternity and by the entire country. "He will be missed. His contribution to the artform is too much to even mention," he said. Stalin said the younger generation of calypsonians and future generations who get into the calypso genre have a lot to learn from him.
"Apart from his involvement in the music he was also involved on the business side of things and the youths today can learn from how he did things," he said. President of TUCO, Lutalo Masimba, also known as Brother Resistance, described Joseph's his death a "great loss."
"His death is a loss to the music of the world and to T&T as a nation. He was a gifted composer and in my opinion did not get his just due. He was one of the few people who won the Calypso Monarch and Road March," he said. He said Joseph's contribution to TUCO was invaluable.
"What he did for the organisation was important. He pointed TUCO in a progressive direction and it was an honour to work with him," he said. Winston Anthony Bailey, also known as the Mighty Shadow, was shocked by the news and told the T&T Guardian it was the first time he was hearing of his death but said he did "great work."
"I knew at one time he was sick. We all have to leave this life at some time, but he did work and made his contribution to the art form," he said. He added that the younger generation, if they listen to Joseph's lyrics, might be able to learn something. "This generation if they listen to his melody and humour in his calypsoes could learn something," he said.
