"Me never expect those songs still alive"

31 Dec, 2020, 1 comment

101-year old Walter "Mr. Gavitt" Ferguson, the retired Calypso King of Costa Rica, was treated to a first row of freshly digitalized calypsos from the vast tape archive of Manuel Monestel.

Enjoy the following video, containing heartwarming footage of Don Walter enjoying some of his recently recovered Calypsos - songs he hasn't heared in over 35 years:

"It so nice man - me never expect them song still alive". He remembered most of the recovered songs - the happy centenarian even managed to sing along - turning the listening session into a meeting of old friends after decades of separation. Still, a few songs came as a complete surprise, as he couldn't remember having written or performed them: "Me never remember song like them exist at all ... but the guitar is me playing!"

Now we could not have done this enormous digitalization work (over 50 hours of material) without all those generous donations we've received to our crowdfunding Campaign... The Tape Hunt Project, Manuel Monestel and of course Don Walter and his family are very thankful for all your kind support. Also big thanks to sound engineer Draxe who was in charge of the professional digitalisation.

Some of the recovered songs were included in the "Sneak Peek" reward (donations of $100 or more), which was sent to the donors yesterday - thank you again for your generosity and commitment to save Costa Rican cultural history!

And there is even more to celebrate: On 01.01.2021 it will be precisely four years that we have started the Tape Hunt, and three years since we've started our website and social media campaign.
Of course, 2020 was a turbulent year for obvious reasons, but still we were lucky enough to find and recover more tapes than in any other year - a task that would not have been able without our supporters.

Please stay tuned for more on this...

Statue of Don Walter unveiled in Cahuita

14 Nov, 2020, No comments

On Nov. 14th 2020 a real life statue of Walter Gavitt Ferguson Byfield was unveiled in Cahuita's Central Park.

The statue was made by joung sculptor Minor Mena López shown in the top picture above. Because of the Covid pandemic only a few spectators gathered for the event hosted by the artist and Don Manuel Monestel (picture 2nd row left and center). As usual the living legend himslef was not attending, but was represented by family members (son and tape hunt initiator José Peck Ferguson, picture 2nd row on the right).

Wimba! Biggest tape collection to be digitalized...

3 Oct, 2020, No comments

Help us fund the professional digitalization of Manuel Monestel's archive recordings of Walter Gavitt Ferguson - 50 hours of material!

Since the early 1980s, Costa Rican researcher and musician Manuel Monestel freqeuntly travelled from the capital city San Jose to the the caribbean village Cahuita to meet up with the legendary Calypso King Walter Gavitt Ferguson a.k.a « Mr. Gavitt » or « Segundo ». Where others had just seen an old modest man with guitar and tape recorder, Monestel recognized a genious composer with a vast body of work and a unique artistic expression. Thanks to the tireless work of Monestel to give Ferguson’s music a national and international platform, the world is now able to grasp and enjoy the beautiful musical universe of the « trovador de Cahuita ». And with time, Monestel’s academic and artistic efforts also became an important driver of the valorization of afrocostarican culture and the growing interest in Calypso Limonense in Costa Rica nad beyond.

By the mid 1980s, the two men had naturally become very good friends. With Gavitt in his most productive phase, steadily composing new material and recording it on his legendary one-off cassettes, it is not surprising that Monestel occasionally got hold of a few of Gavitts tapes in all those years. But when we recently asked him to look around how many he could find, his answer blew our mind: «I’ve still got around 45 tapes and also a few recorded interviews with Gavitt.» «Oh my god ! This translates to roughly 3'000 minutes of material… » « Yes, I know. »

Needless to say, this is the biggest catch since we started the Walter Gavitt Ferguson Tape Hunt : Besides being an invaluable testimony of time, those 30 to 40 year-old cassettes also contain more of the unheared "lost Calypsos" that urgently need to be rescued from the slow but unstoppable decay of the magnetic tape.

Now the huge task is to carefully digitalize those approximately 50 hours of historical recordings for the Tape Hunt archive of the Ferguson family. Also, a personal copy will be made for Gavitt, so he can once again hear his old and forgotten songs. The task will be performed by a professional sound engineer in San Jose, Costa Rica. To pay for the sound man’s services, we have started a crowdfunding campaign - donate here.

The raising of this treasure was also covered in Costa Ricas newspaper La Nacion - read here.
Thank you for your kind support!

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Calypso dancers say "thank you Don Walter"

28 Sep, 2020, No comments

The project Cultura y Raices CR (Costa Rica) produced this wonderful video, showing afrocostarican youth dancing to Walter Ferguson's "Carnaval Day" and thanking the Calypso King for his music.

We are very moved by all those beautiful people expressing their feelings and gratitute to Don Walter's music and their support of the international Tape Hunt! Big up - bless up!

Follow Cultura y Raices CR on instagramm

Don Walter on Costa Rican postage stamp

8 Jun, 2020, No comments

In Costa Rica, you can now send your letters or postcards using a stamp or a post mark with Don Walter Ferguson.

The official stamps are depicting "Musicos y compositores nacionales": Besides the internationally known Calypso King Walter Gavitt Ferguson (stamp of 1'215.00 Colones), there is a stamp with writer and folclorist María Mayela Padilla (stamp of 720.00 Colones) and one with Martha Fonseca y Bernal Villegas of the rock duo "Suite Doble" (stamp of 825.00 Colones). The stamps were issued on May 29th 2020. To obtain these stamps please contact filatelia@correos.go.cr

On top of that, Don Walter's portrait is now also gracing official Costa Rican postmarks.Read more about it here and here.

Celebrating 101 years & Calypso Day in lockdown

7 May, 2020, No comments

Happy Birthday Methusalem!

Today Walter Gavitt Ferguson, the Costa Rican calypso master, turns 101 years old, and he is in quite good mood. He thanks everyone for their kind and generous donations to the recently startet fundraiser, helping him and his family to make ends meet during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Unlike his 100th birthday a year ago, which was celebrated all over the country, nobody will shake his hands today... The lockdown was a heavy blow for the retired Calypso King, as the Ferguson family lives off a small cabin rental business in Cahuita that can't survive without tourism. The ongoing fundraiser and the new Benefit Album "Keep the Cabin Above The Wata" are a big help to ease the financial pressure.

Calypso Day at home... Enjoy 2.5 hours of Costa Rican Calypso!

Today is also the second time that Costa Rica celebrates National Calypso Day. And despite the Lockdown, you can still celebrate Calypso Day at home - this is why we have put together a mix full of Limonense Calypso. So just press play and get in the mood.

Muchas Gracias a Ramon Morales de Leche de Coco Calypso y a Jorge Salazar Navarro por contribuir a este mix.

The cover shows a photo of the actual "Cabin in the Wata" which was built by a fisherman called Bato as he refused to move away from his land when Cahuita National Park was created by the Government in 1970. You can listen to Don Walter recounting the whole story of the "Cabin in the Wata" in the following video (in spanish, thanks to Tania Robles):

Don Walter's portrait in Portugal

22 Apr, 2020, 3 comments

Did you know that a renowned Portuguese artist did a portrait of Don Walter? Here is the Story.

When Portuguese photographer and film maker João Silva returned to Lisbon from an extended trip to Costa Rica, where he had helped to create the South Caribe Roots Archive, he must have had hundreds of great photos in his luggage, many of them portraits of local people.

Back in Lisbon, he met up with his friend, artist and singer Pedro do Vale, an internationally renowned painter of big, photrealistic portraits. The two friends looked through João's portrait photos for inspiration and Pedro's eyes soon fell on a picture showing an old man from Cahuita with a unique facial expression. Pedro liked it and decided to paint it. João explained to his friend that this man actually is the legendary musician Walter Gavitt Ferguson, which he had interviewed for the Roots Archive.

It took Pedro do Vale about two months to finish his amazing portrait of Don Walter. This great piece of art is still in Lisbon today, belonging to the artist.

Above: Portrait painting by Pedro do Vale (2017, charcoal on paper). Below: Original photo from 2014 by João Silva

Big shout out to photographers João Silva and Lucas Iturriza for sharing the story of how the portrait came about.

Keep the cabin above the water - Fundraiser and benefit album

15 Apr, 2020, 1 comment

Help Walter Gavitt Ferguson and family through the COVID-19 Crisis

Although Walter Ferguson, 100 year old Calypso legend of Costa Rica and author of „Cabin in the water“, has touched many lives across the globe with his music, has never been able to live from it: For the last four decades, Don Walter and family have been living off a small cabin rental business in their hometown Cahuita.

In all these years, the Fergusons have welcomed countless tourists from all over the world in the traditional guesthouse „Sol Y Mar“ and the romantic „Riverside“ cabins. By offering guided tours, the Fergusons helped visitors to discover the caribbean beaches, local culture and the rich wildlife surrounding Cahuita.

Now, as COVID-19 CRISIS has stopped tourism completely, the Fergusons are affected badly and struggling hard. They urgently need financial support to make ends meet and to hold on to
their business, their life’s work and their home for over a century.

Please make a donation if you can. As small as it may be, it will help to keep the Cabins afloat and save the future of the Fergusons.

DONATE to the fundraiser

HERE

Donate 6 Euros or more & get a free download of the exclusive BENEFIT album «KEEP THE CABIN ABOVE THE WATA» featuring Tape Hunt recordings by Calypso King Walter Gavitt Ferguson. The new album contains a wealth of beautiful "Best Of" material recorded between 1979 and 1998. Check it out / buy it directly here.

"Keep the cabin above the wata" the benefit album is up on Bongo Joe. Foto of Don Walter by Lucas Iturriza.

Calypso Travels - The story behind Don Walter's song "72 Weeds"

8 Apr, 2020, 1 comment

Music genres as well as specific songs have been travelling throughout the West Indies for a long time.

Here is an example of the well travelled Caribbean composition "The Weed Song", adopted by Walter Ferguson as "72 Weeds".

Walter Gavitt Ferguson ca. 2009, photo by Nazareth Pacheco

"The Weed Song" originated in British Guyana. Unlike many other travelled Calypsos, this one can actually be traced back to a specific Calypsonian called BILL ROGERS. Since its first recording in 1934 on shellac, it has been played and recorded in countless versions throughout the Caribbean. The following video shows five of them from different eras and different locations.

On Costa Rica's Limon coast it was adopted as "72 WEEDS" by WALTER GAVITT FERGUSON (enjoy a Tape Hunt version in the video) and also by PITUN (EDGAR HUTCHINSON) probably during the 1940's/ 50s when they played in LOS MISERABLES together.

Stirred by its fame, "The Weed Song" served as a base for new compositions «borrowing» meldoy or lyrics from the original tune :

In 1954, US singer HARRY BELOFONTE and writer JACK N. ROLLINS changed "The Weed Song" in lyrics and melodic structure (except for the refrain), now telling the story of a small boy getting sex education. Their song called "Man Piaba" was hugely popular outside of the Caribbean.
In 1957, Trinidadian GEORGE ANDERSON, together with his brother, the legendary Calypsonian DUKE OF IRON (CECIL ANDERSON) invented completely new lyrics for "The Weed Song", but keept the melodic structure and rhythm intact. The lyrics of their song called "The Walking Department Store" tell the story of a street vendor who is selling stolen items.
This song too travelled through the Caribbean, an example is the version by LORD COBRA of Panama, who dubbed it "Crooked Salesman".

New podcast on Tape Hunt

17 Mar, 2020, No comments

The latest episode of For Keeps: A Podcast About Collections And Connections hailing from San Francisco USA, is dedicated to The Walter Gavitt Ferguson "Tape Hunt".

Thanks to all involved, stay healthy and bless up!

5 more tapes... and a documentary

18 Jan, 2020, No comments

Wimba! Costa Rica surprises again with a handful of excellent tapes and a film crew

Compact audio cassettes usually don't last very long - even if you have them just lying around, the magnetic tape will eventually deteriorate - sadly a major obstacle for this project. So it is evident that we were very excited and greatful, when an original tape of Walter Ferguson surfaced in Turrialba, decades after it had been recorded by the mythical Calypso King from Cahuita.

Likewise excited was Gustavo Morales, the director of the upcoming documentary "The Cabin, the Wata and the Whole World", a film telling the story of the almost forgotten rural Calypso King, the various efforts of musicologists, record producers and tape hunters to save his legacy and the growing global impact of his music.

Without further ado, and with the kind help of tape owner Mario Chacon, Gustavo organized a recording studio in the city of Turrialba to transfer the tape and a film crew was sent down to document the recovery of the Calypsonians music. Tape hunters Peck and Niels drove up from Cahuita to meet them, hear the tape and monitor the digitalization.

After a warm welcome we all sat down and Mario explained us how he had aquired his tape personally from Don Walter in August 2002: Like hundreds of travellers and music lovers before him, Mario knocked the gates to Gavitt's house and shortly after was greeted by the King himself. Mario introduced himself and mentioned that he was interested in buying some of his music. The 83 year old Calypsonian explained that he had just finished a lenghty recording session (it would become the legendary "Babylon" album, all recorded in Gavitt's house because of his refusal to go to a city studio), but unfortunately that recording was not yet available. There was a pause, Mario felt slightly disappointed and the Calypsonian scrached his head. Then, all of a sudden, Gavitt lit up, told Mario to wait right there, turned around and went back in the house. After a few minutes Gavitt reappeared at the gate with a smile on his face, a cassette in his hand and added: "Tres mil quiniento Colones." Though Mario didn't have a cassette player at the time, he thanked Gavitt and bought the tape straight away... It is a fact, that after his first CD was on the market in 2003, Don Walter stopped recording cassettes and sold CDs instead, so Mario's tape may well be the very last of his unique self-recorded tapes that the Calypso King ever sold on his doorstep.

Photo of Don Walter 2002 by Mario Chacón

When sound engineer Carlos Loria started the listening session, we were more than happy to realize that Mario's tape was still in quite good condition, and moreover, that the last song proved to be a unique song we hadn't yet come across.

Now it was Peck's turn to surprise us all with a tape he had just stumbled over the other night in his home in Cahuita. The hand written J-card and the following listening session confirmed our hopes: just two songs into Side A we bumped into another lost calypso!

Then, about an hour into the listening session, someone knocked on the studio door. It was Peck's cousin David who had just come down all the way from Alajuela, and with him he brought another three cassettes that he had rescued after his mother, one of Gavitt's sisters, had passed away. Since David's tapes didn't have any writing or track lists, we were all very excited to know what was on them. We moved tightly together around the tape machine. The oldest of David's tapes was a SONY CHF60 - according to old catalogs, this specific model was produced between 1978 and 1981 [http://audioidiots.com]. As sound engineer Carlos gave at it run, we were immediately blown away by the clarity of the 40 year old recording: Gavitt's voice sounded relatively young - quite similar to the 1981 recordings we have received from musicethnologist Michael Williams - so we are confident that this recording is from the very early '80s, maybe even the oldest recording we have found so far. David's other tapes were recorded in the mid '90s [http://vintagecassettes.com/] and fortunately also still in great shape.

We all agreed that this day at the Studio "Eclipse" in Turrialba shows exactly how the magic of Walter Ferguson works: people get moved by his music, and when they really start to love and care, they eventually want to give something back. So more and more people are joining the Tape hunt, all for the love of music and the immense respect for Mr. Gavitt.

As the digitalization and evaluation of those 5 tapes will take some time - please stay tuned for more news on this.

Tape Hunt on BBC World Service

19 Dec, 2019, No comments

BBC World Service, the world's largest international broadcaster joins Don Walter's Tape Hunt - listen to the show

We're stoked to announce that the BBC World Service, with an estimated 60 million listeners worldwide weekly, will air an exclusive "Tape Hunt" episode on Sun 29 Dec 2019, featuring interviews with Don Walter, Peck Ferguson and Niels Werdenberg. Big up to Reporter Clayton Conn and his team for their effort to spread the word.

Fingers crossed, this show will reach more tape owners around the world (please contact us here) so we'll be able to find Don Walter's missing Calypsos from the 70s, 80s and 90s!

Following the broadcast on 29 Dec 2019, the Radio show will be available online.

Listen here

Vol. 2 arrived in Cahuita Town

22 Nov, 2019, No comments

Finally Vol. 2 of the Tape Hunt album arrived on the Caribbean Coast. Thanks to all involved!

In Central America, music distribution networks don't exist anymore, neither do record labels or CD or vinyl production factories. That's why the Tape Hunt project collaborates with a European label (Bongo Joe Records). Since most Record or CD Shops in Central America have been put out of business in the last 15 years - because of the dominance of downloading and streaming music - it is so much harder to get a copy of our album in Costa Rica than, say in Europe, the US or Japan.

As with Vol.1, Vol.2 was again produced in Europe. In order to get the album to Costa Rica and make it available within the country, we had to build our own very basic "grass roots" network, and we heavily rely on the friendly support of the very few remaining music dealers like Denki Records in San Jose. Thanks again to you all!

So today we celebrate the fact, that Don Walter can finally sell his copies in Cahuita. It will be available at Tienda Sol Y Mar at the family's hostel and breakfast place, right at the entrance to the gorgeous Cahuita National Park, that encompasses some of Gavitt's former cacao farm land.

Wimba! Ya Don Walter tiene la copia de su disco, el Volumen 2 del The Walter Gavitt Ferguson "Tape Hunt" Pueden conseguirlo en CD o vinilo directamente con la familia Ferguson los teléfonos 8838-3661 y 8893-2252

Wimba! Another legendary tape found

8 Nov, 2019, No comments

This one hails from Turrialba Cartago, Costa Rica and contains a missing composition... We'll keep you updated on this one.

The Guardian & Radio Nova join the treasure hunt

31 Oct, 2019, No comments

Next step: Europe! The same day Britan's long-standing newspaper The Guardian published a spot-on story about our project, French cult station Radio Nova aired a live show from Costa Rica, focussing on Don Walter and our treasure hunt! Coincidence?? Read all about it!

Spoiler: We don't know either! All we know is that we are very very greatful for this lovely support! Big up to Erin MacLeod for her great effort and catching up with Don Walter, Manuel Monestel, Paula Palmer and Michael Williams for this article. Shout out to Isadora Dartial, David Blot & the team from Radio Nova for making the pilgrimage all the way to Cahuita!

Fingers crossed we'll find more tapes in Europe!

Read the Guardian piece on line here.

Enjoy the Nova Club Episode here.

"Wa' apin man? It apin already!"

24 Oct, 2019, No comments

This beautiful lost Calypso was only unearthed half a year ago in the USA. Hear what happened long time ago and enjoy some historic photographs from the Limon region.

This previously unreleased Calypso was found on one of Don Walter's priceless home recorded cassette tapes. The specific cassette belongs to US author Paula Palmer, who wrote a book called "Wa' apin man / What happen" in 1977. It is the first book about Talamancen culture and quite some pages are dedicated to Don Walter. He returned the favour by composing this Calypso.

We estimate there are still many dozens of songs missing, maybe captured on surviving casettes out there, waiting to be discovered again. Help us get the word out there to find more cassettes and save another piece of Costa Rican cultural history.

"A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots."-Marcus Garvey-

Historic post cards copyright by Imagenes Tropicales
Black and white photographs by South Caribe Roots Archive

Photo of Walter Ferguson wall painting by Christiane Zwick

Book by Paula Palmer

German Radio Show on Walter Ferguson

10 Oct, 2019, No comments

Photos kindly provided by Christiane Zwick

An award winning report about Don Walter, Calypso, Cahuita's National Park and Environmental Policy.

In 2013 German journalist Christiane Zwick interviewed Walter and Peck Ferguson in Cahuita.

A year later her story for Radio NDR won the Golden Columbus Award.

Calypso in Costa Rica: "The recognition came late but not too late, when in 2012 the Costa Rican government declared Calypso a national musical heritage. The keeper of this heritage, Walter Ferguson, had just turned 93. In his songs, the Calypso singer sang of everything that moves the minds on the Caribbean coast of the Central American country: the struggle for survival of the cocoa farmers, for example, and the founding of the National Park, which has changed everything in Cahuita, but today ensures his family's livelihood. Reporter Christiane Zwick listened to the "King of Calypso" and was led through the rainforest by his son Peck."

Original source: https://christiane-zwick.de/journalismus/ Available only in German language.

Audio-Player

Tape Hunt album Vol. 2 out now

20 Sep, 2019, No comments

AUTHENTIC AND IRRESISTIBLE AGAIN: The second "Tape Hunt" compilation album (LP, CD, CAS, DIGITAL) features another string of 15 previously unreleased jewels, carefully selected and restored from the Calypso King's legendary home-recorded Audio Cassettes that were found in various places in Costa Rica, the United States and in Canada. CD and LP come with extensive Liner notes on Ferguson's Biography, his tapes and the recent finds by the ongoing Tape Hunt. The album is available here.

Vol. 2 is dedicated to Don Claudio Reid, Cahuita's school teacher and Gavitt's good friend who passed away earlier this year. The song "Bad Minded People" tells the story of how Mr. Reid created Cahuita's central Park with his own two hands.

Links to Reviews:

Around the wax (FR)

MOS DEF, JNEIRO JAREL and Don Walter Ferguson

25 Jul, 2019, No comments

Did you know that Mos Def and Jneiro Jarel are fans of Walter Gavitt Ferguson?

Some years ago, the famous rapper & actor Mos Def a.k.a Yasiin Bey told his colleague Jneiro Jarel that he should visit Cahuita and link up with the legendary Calypso King. He followed through and fell in love with Cahuita.

In an Interview with the VICE magazine, Janeiro explains:
"I had a long talk with Yasiin Bey about getting away for a while, and I was interested in this small town on the Caribbean coast called Cahuita. He lit up and said he used to live there [and that] I should meet up with the legendary local musician, Walter Ferguson. I ended up going and fell in love with the place," says the nomadic producer Jneiro Jarel (also known as Dr. Who Dat?). Thus came about "Cahuita," Jarel's ode to the Costa Rican beachy paradise. A slice of experimental hip-hop made of live instrumentation and sampled bird calls, the track carries the grooves of LA's beat community, where Jarel spent several years collaborating with artists like Flying Lotus and Daedelus.

Check out the resulting Track: "Cahuita"

Cassette production for Vol.2

25 Jun, 2019, No comments

The Legendary Tape Recordings VOL.2 is in production right now.

We’ve worked hard in the past months to put out the second compilation album (VINYL, CD, CAS and DIGITAL) of Don Walter’s legendary Tapes on time. Vinyl already entered in production and we’re crossing fingers that we’ll have them on time for the Calypso Festival scheduled 15-18th of August 2019.

Why do we issue Don Walter's new album also on Cassettes?

We feel it is essential to re-issue Walter Gavitt Ferguson's sound on Cassettes, because the artist is really inseparable from this medium for three good reasons:
Cassettes are the source: All recordings on the album stem from recovered Audio Cassettes.
Cassettes are Gavitt's trade mark: He is not only King of Calypso but also King of low-fi home recording. 
Cassettes contain his musical legacy. 

The Legendary Tape Recordings Vol.1 (released in 2018) is still available here. In Costa Rica Vol 1 is available here (CAHUITA) and here (SAN JOSE).

Wa' apin, man? What happened?

Recovered treasures

In 2017, nine original tapes were located in Canada:

In 2018, six original tapes were found in Costa Rica:

In March 2019, five original tapes were recovered in the USA:

In May 2019, unreleased parts from Don Walter's "Folkways" album were donated to the Tape Hunt:

In January 2020, another five original tapes were found in Costa Rica:

In October 2020, the biggest catch containing 45 original tapes was unearthed in Costa Rica:

Available music albums

Currently Vol. 1 & 2 of the "Legendary Tape Recordings" are available - containing 30 previously unreleased Calypso treasures rescued by the Tape Hunt :