Person

Lancelot Layne was born to a Ms. Ethel Strawn (née Serrano) and raised in Gonzales, Trinidad

Trinidad

Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...

, a village near Port of Spain

Port of Spain

Port of Spain, also written as Port-of-Spain, is the capital of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago and the country's third-largest municipality, after San Fernando and Chaguanas. The city has a municipal population of 49,031 , a metropolitan population of 128,026 and a transient daily population...

. He had a start in many local singing shows and showcase forums in and about Trinidad. During his career, he travelled around the world giving lectures and shows at many music institutions and universities, and was one of the first artists to bring the music of Trinidad and Tobago

Music of Trinidad and Tobago

Calypso music and steelpan is what Trinidad and Tobago is best known for, including internationally in the 1950s through artists like Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow; the art form was most popularised at that time by Harry Belafonte...

 to the rest of the world.

Layne took many trips to Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

, after studying African history

History of Africa

The history of Africa begins with the prehistory of Africa and the emergence of Homo sapiens in East Africa, continuing into the present as a patchwork of diverse and politically developing nation states. Agriculture began about 10,000 BCE and metallurgy in about 4000 BCE. The history of early...

. A 1998 United Nations Radio

United Nations Radio

United Nations Radio is the international broadcasting service of the United Nations.The radio broadcast is part of the World Radio Network. In the United States of America, the broadcast can be heard on Sirius Satellite Radio....

 programme described the links between calypso

Calypso music

Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...

 and highlife

Highlife

Highlife is a musical genre that originated in Ghana in the 1900s and spread to Sierra Leone, Nigeria and other West African countries by 1920...

 music, focusing on an exchange of visits between Layne and high life musician Koo Nimo

Koo Nimo

Koo Nimo is a leading folk musician of Palm wine music or Highlife music from Ghana. Born in the village of Foase, in the Atwima District of Ashanti Region in Ghana,West Africa, he worked in various jobs in science and medical-related field while maintaining his interest in music...

 of Ghana

Ghana

Ghana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...

. In later years, Layne joined the Orisa faith. He had twin

Twin

A twin is one of two offspring produced in the same pregnancy. Twins can either be monozygotic , meaning that they develop from one zygote that splits and forms two embryos, or dizygotic because they develop from two separate eggs that are fertilized by two separate sperm.In contrast, a fetus...

 daughters, Niasha and Anuska, who are accomplished pannist

Pannist

A pannist is a person who plays the steelpan. A professional pannist can perform solo pieces, play with a steel band, or accompany one or more singers or solo instrumentalists...

s.

He is often described as being the founder of rapso; his 1970 song Blow Away was the first rapso recording, although the term was not coined until 1980. Many of his most remembered songs were not recorded, including the song Strike Squad, which he composed for his local football team. Get Off The Radio was a protest song about the imbalance of radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

 airplay

Airplay (song)

Airplay is a term used in the radio broadcasting industry to state how frequently a song is being played on over-the-air radio stations. For example, a song which is being played several times every day would be classed as receiving a large amount of airplay...

 between local and foreign works.

Discography

• 1971 Afro'dadian/Blow'way Antillana
• 1972 Carnival Calypso Hits (LP)
• 1975 Endless Vibrations/Soul Train
• 1975 Dat is Horrors/Kaiso For Mout
• 1975 Who Could Help Me/Make Life Easy On Me
• 1976 Yo Tink It Sorf/Chant
• 1976 Doh Dig No Blues
• 1977 These Boots Are Made For Walking/If I Were You
• 1980 Dis Pan Is For You (LP)
• 1982 Get Off The Radio
• 1984 Neo Calypso (LP)

External links

• Lancelot Layne biography by his daughter, Niasha Layne.
• Lancelot Layne discography from the Calypso
  Calypso music
  Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
  
   Archives.
• Origin of Rapso
• UN Radio Programme Wins Award in 1999 New York Festivals from the United Nations
  United Nations
  The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
  
  website.
• The Carnival Story - Calypso Revolution