Anthony Joseph - Caribbean Roots, review: ‘Provokes and questions through words and music’

Back to his roots: Anthony Joseph releases Caribbean Roots
SHAUN CURRY/AFP/Getty Images
Simon Broughton29 July 2016

British- Trinidadian Anthony Joseph has created a sort of Caribbean Allstars orchestra to accompany his spoken poetry on Caribbean Roots.

It’s the saxes of Shabaka Hutchings and Jason Yarde and steel pans of Andy Narell that really ring out as the music absorbs influences from Trinidad, Jamaica, Haiti and the French Antilles.

Slinger is a tribute to the great Calypsonian Mighty Sparrow, while Our History is about being tied to the land and revolution.

The title track says “set yourself in the soil, put your head in the sky of these Caribbean Roots”.

Joseph’s poetry is thoughtful and avoids slogans.

He just provokes and questions through words and music.

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