Count Bernadino & His Calypso Bacchinals
Release Date: Unknown
Label: Sunrise Records
1. Gimme, Gimme, Gimme Dance
2. I'm Sorry For Myself
3. Wings Of A Dove
4. Marianne
5. Nassau The Paradise
6. Steel Drum Medley (Bridge on the River Kwai-Happy Wanderer - Dominique - Dixie
7. Bernadino's Theme & Philosophy
8. Woman Go Look For Work
9. Shame And Scandal In The Family
10. Ruckus In Detroit
11. Take Your Meat Out Me Rice
12. Down Blue Hill Road
01. FLOWERS JUMP UP
02. RED SHOES
03. GERMAN CALYPSO
04. NOBODY'S BUSINESS
05. McMILLAN AND KENNEDY
06. FRECKLES ON HER PAWS
07. PLEASE MR. JUDGE
08. HINDU CALYPSO
09. MUSICAL TEACHER
10. AUNTIE MARY
11. CHINESE BASEBALL
12. AIN'T GONNA WORRY
Count Bernadino: The Masterful
Release Date:
Label: Sunrise
1. Sugar
2. Monkey (Song)
3. My Dingaling
4. I got problems on My Mind
5. The Man Is Strong (Where De Man Gone)
6. Shame & Scandal
7. Every Day Is A Holiday
8. My Philosophy
9. The Big Bamboo
10. Mama What A Pain I got
11. I Am A Calypsonian
Come On
Love Alone
Sha-Bop
Go Down to Bimini
Red Shoes
Zombie Jamboree
Chinese Baseball
Mama Lay Lay..
Truly amazing is the ability to get on stage at age 81, jump around, sing, play, and thoroughly entertain your audience. That's what "The Count" continue to do at local hotels and special events. Count has the keen sense to make up songs on the spot, a tradition long practiced and developed by Trinidadian calypsonians like Lord Kitch, Mighty Sparrow, Black Stalin, and more recently David Rudder. "The Count" is really one of a kind in our Bahamas. When most singers plan their lyrics carefully, he sings about things that are happening instantaneously.
Click play to hear Count sing his composition (Chinese Baseball) -
This craft is quite entertaining and usually brings much laughter and amazement to the audience. The musical form used by Count is very free in as much as the music is usually a vamp on a set of chord changes that repeats over and over. The hook of the song is normally set in a way in which there's some harmonic variance when sung. In this first example, a stop time on chord V is where the hook of the song is placed in order to bring attention to the line. In addition, Count sings his calypso very freely, almost ad lib, and sometimes speaking in telling his story. Note that this is the very essence of calypso. Whether it's social commentary, or an entertaining story, the free verse style of calypso follows no set rules except to create crafty rhymes that flows well. Much like the modern day rap artist, a calypsonian is only as good as his vocabulary. Here's a couple of songs by our calypsonian, "Count Bernadino".
Click play for "Shame And Scandal"
It was quite common for calypsonian's all over the Caribbean and West Indies to publicly confront politicians through their songs. They quite naturally had an audience with the everyday person on the streets, and used their platform to air their social concerns. In this next song, Count points out the lifestyle of the politicians before and after getting into office. The calypsonian has developed a reputation for taking a stand against those in power.
