Review by Choice Review
A seasoned and recognized authority on Caribbean music, Guilbault (Univ. of California, Berkeley) has produced what she calls an experimental biography of Roy Cape (b. 1942), a Trinidadian saxophonist and band leader active in both calypso and soca for more than 50 years. In choosing an instrumentalist the author wishes to counterbalance what she considers the overemphasis on lead singers, both in popular and scholarly literature. Though bandsmen are clearly less prominent in the public's mind, Guilbault asserts that tracing their lives can illuminate much about Trinidad's history, culture, and music since musicians must constantly respond to changing tastes and situations. The new form of biography she employs is both nonlinear (i.e., not chronological) and what she calls "dialogic and collaborative" storytelling (much of the text is marked as "JG" or "RC"). Based on Steven Feld's Jazz Cosmopolitanism in Accra: Five Musical Years in Ghana (CH, Sep'12, 50-0192), this biographical form is more a conversation than a narrative, but nonchronological treatment requires one to read the entire book to gain a full understanding. Chapter 5, "Remembering with Photos," provides much visual material, but no CD is included. The book is rich in the details of Cape's life and his times. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Terry E. Miller, Kent State University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
