Don't Be Afraid - It's Fun: André Tanker and "Wild Indian Band"

Today's raucous song is a Carnival song from the late Trinidad & Tobago musician and composer André Tanker. Starting at the age of seven with a steelpan given to him by pianist Ellie Mannette, he moved on to guitar and cuatro (a type of lute) when he was 12 and 13, eventually playing small parties with musician Ray Holman when they were in their teens. He formed his first band, the Flamingos, and added jazz and Cuban influences while his band played at the Trinidad Hilton. He began to connect with the wider Caribbean music and musicians, which evolved his music to include themes of black consciousness and liberation. He later developed an interest in Indian classical music and was influenced by musicians such as Ravi Shankar. Tanker has been compared to Bob Dylan by Trinidadian calypso artist David Rudder for the influence that he had on the music of his country. This song, Wild Indian Band, refers to the dance and music groups that perform during Carnival season, and can be found on the 1996 album Children of the Big Bang, on the 2008 album Wild, and on all kinds of various artists compilations including Putumayo Presents: Carnival (2001).

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Tanker