Walter Ferguson Tape Hunt - Wa 'apin?

Don Walter & Tape Hunt in ARTE TV Report

Sun, 10 Nov 2024 15:10:00 +0000

Renowned European TV program ARTE screened a short documentary on the life of Walter Ferguson, his music and the lost cassettes.

Wimba! On Oct. 30th 2024 renowned European TV program ARTE screened a short documentary on the life of Walter Ferguson, his music and the lost cassettes. The 14 minutes are a well pitched and beautiful hommage to Cahuita town and its famous troubadour. Short interviews and meet ups with Peck, Luis and Doreen Ferguson and Manuel Monestel recount the unique story of Don Walter and his home recorded music that travelled around the world on cassettes and got repatriated to the carribean shore by the tape hunt project. In a short sequence we also get to see Roberto (protagonist of the song Roberto Tours) and even Bambi at a street corner - you immediately get a very authentic Cahuita feeling. Pura vida!

Watch French version here

Watch German version here

Buen viaje maestro!

Mon, 27 Feb 2023 17:57:00 +0000

Walter Gavitt Ferguson (1919-2023)

At the age of 103 Costa Ricas most prominent Calypsonian Walter Gavitt Ferguson Byfield has died this saturday 25/02/2023 in his home in Cahuita, surrounded by his family. His death came just three days after he was declared honorary citizen by the Asamblea Legislativa of Costa Rica.

The funeral was held on monday 27th. With hundreds of people attending and with many heartfelt homages from neighbours, friends, fans and musicians, Don Walter's cheerful and humble personality was once more revived and his inspirational musical work and his cultural legacy were once more celebrated. An impromptu all-star band played some of his Calypsos at the service.

As long time friend and fellow musician Manuel Monestel said:

«A griot has died, a king of song, a calypsonian like few, a special human being, a friend, father and mentor that has changed my life and my vision of music.»

Also Jorge Drexler, latin grammy winner from Uruguay expressed his respect:

A unique musical treasure, from Costa Rica to the entire world, left us yesterday at its wonderful 103 years. The Great Walter Ferguson of Lemon. The Calypsonian. Look for his album “Dr. Bombodee” and you will understand why it seems to me one of the musical pillars of these times.

Don Walter & Tape Hunt covered by in-flight mag of United Airlines

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 19:53:00 +0000

Ready for take off? Hemispheres, the in-flight magazine of United Airlines has covered Don Walter's story in their November issue,

The article, researched and written by Victoria De Silverio, has been released on November 3rd 2022 (print and online version). It is accompanied by vivid illustrations stemming from the hands of brazilian artist Fabrizio Lenci, who has treated us with a detailed picture of Don Walter recording himself on his battered cassette recorder.

Illustration by Fabrizio Lenci.

Though the depicted recording session stems from the artists imagination, it is rare that we get a quite realistic glimpse at one of the many recording sessions that were held by Mr. Gavitt, the master Calypsonian and King of home recording, during his productive years. A scene that - sadly - has actually never been captured on film or photo in reality. In this short film about the life of Mr. Gavitt, an actor playing Don Walter is seen recording on a similar cassette recorder.

The article itself makes a good read, musicologist Michael Williams was interviewed as well as Don Walter's children Peck, Doreen and Luis. It is quite accurate, with the exception of a detail in Don Walter's discography: Apart from one track, the mentioned "Golden edition Vol.1" album does not feature tape hunt recordings, but is a compilation of songs from the Papaya label, and it was issued by Theo Symes Campbell together with the Ferguson family.

Check out the article here

As always we are thankful for the publicity and hope to spread the word of the Tape Hunt even further with this article. And with a bit of luck, we might find more tapes this way - fingers crossed and stay tuned.

Text by Victoria De Silverio.

Illustrations by Fabrizio Lenci.

RAW PLEASURES - Straight from the Legendary Tapes 1980-1995

Wed, 31 Aug 2022 08:22:00 +0000

Today 31st of August – Dia de la Persona Negra in Costa Rica – we share a selection of raw tunes, taken straight from Don Walter's self-recorded tapes.

RAW PLEASURES features 18 previously unreleased, lost & found compositions by the now 103 year old afrocostarican artist Walter Gavitt Ferguson, the costarican Master of Calypso and King of low-fi home recording.

The selection is an outtake from the vast tape collection of Manuel Monestel. This collection was the biggest catch for our Tape Hunt project so far (45 audio cassettes from Don Walter, containing over 50 hours of his trademark home made recordings). After a successful fundraiser campaign the collection was unearthed and digitally preserved in 2020, and Don Walter was reunited with his old compositions the same year. When he heared his old songs again after decades, he was in for a big surprise (see footage of his first listening session here). And finally, in June 2022 a digital copy of Don Manuel's tape collection was handed over to the Biblioteca Nacional Costa Rica in order to make these culturally and historically significant recordings availabe to all the nation's citizens.

Years ago, when we started the project, we could only dream of finding such legendary songs as Ungreatful Susan, Retribution, Bong And The Dead Man or Happy Time in Cahuita. Now you are only a click away...

LISTEN ON MIXCLOUD

FREE DOWNLOAD HERE

All songs performed and recorded by Walter Gavitt Ferguson ca. 1980 - 1995 in Cahuita.

Many thanks to Peck Ferguson, Walter Gavitt Ferguson and the whole Ferguson family.

Massive thanks to all Tape Hunters and supporters - without you we wouldn't have achieved a thing!

The Tape Hunt continues – WIMBA

Walter Ferguson's musical legacy donated to the Biblioteca Nacional

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 21:10:00 +0000

On June 24th 2022, roughly 50 hours of original cassette recordings digitalized by the Walter Gavitt Ferguson Tape Hunt from the personal archive of Manuel Monestel were handed over to the National Library of Costa Rica. The material encompasses most of the musical work of Walter Ferguson known today and is now accessible to researchers and the people of Costa Rica.

The material handed over to the Library of Costa Rica today is an invaluable part of the nation's cultural heritage, yet it fits on a simple USB-stick. The stick contains roughly 50 hours of recordings stemming from 45 audio cassettes that Don Walter had recorded between 1980 and 1995. The original tapes belong to the collection of Manuel Monestel, researcher, musician and long time friend of Don Walter. They were digitalized in 2020 by the Tape Hunt project, following a successful crowdfunding campaign to enable professional sound engineering. Due to their age and the inevitable deterioration of the magnetic tape, the preservation of these cassettes was an urgent task that was also covered by the national newspaper La Nacion. And - in addition to rescueing this sonic treasure - the 103-year old artist could finally be re-united with many of his lost & found musical creations (read & see more about this here).

The 45 digitalized cassette recordings donated to the Biblioteca Nacional comprise a substantial part of the Tape Hunt project's archive and feature a wealth of Don Walter's unreleased compositions. They are excellent examples of the possibly hundreds of one-off self-recorded cassettes that Don Walter has sold to travellers and music lovers visiting his home town Cahuita between 1975 and 2000 - without ever keeping a copy for himself. Starting in early 2017, the ongoing international search for surviving cassette recordings was supported - amongst others - by the BBC Radio and The Guardian, and has since found 82 tapes worldwide, from which a total of 62 previously unreleased compositions by Walter Ferguson could be saved from getting lost forever.

Held by the Benemérita Biblioteca Nacional and the Cátedra de Estudios de África y el Caribe de la Universidad de Costa Rica, the symbolic act was celebrated today in a live presentation by leading experts on afrocaribbean cultural research, Mr. Donald Allen Duncan, Mr. Guillermo Navarro Alvarado, Mr. Manuel Monestel Ramirez, as well as Mr. Ronald Soto and Director Mrs. Laura Ramirez from the National Library. All speakers agreed that making Don Walter's musical legacy available to researchers and the people of Costa Rica was a big achievement for the democratization of national heritage, for the valorization of afrocaribbean culture in Costa Rica and for the trajectory of one of the country's greates musical artists and composers of all time.

Mr. Theodoro Symes Campbell attended on behalf of the Ferguson family and was given a personal copy for the family's archive.

Radio show in Buenos Aires celebrates Don Walter

Tue, 24 May 2022 10:08:00 +0000

Don Walter Ferguson and the Tape Hunt are featured on an Argentinian radio show devoted to old vinyl, audio cassettes and VHS.

The radio show "Segunda Mano", devoted to old vinyl, audio cassettes and VHS, recently aired an episode about travelling and especially about all the kinds of musical trouvailles you can find while strolling through markets and back alley shops in foreign countries. The episode also makes a stop over in Costa Rica, where the radio hosts tell us the story of Don Walter's travelling cassettes and celebrate the calypsonian's music.

Check out the whole episode on Spotify:

On Don Walter's 103rd birthday we share a rare version of "Callaloo"

Sat, 07 May 2022 09:06:00 +0000

HAPPY 103rd BIRTHDAY to Don Walter Gavitt Ferguson and happy Costa Rican CALYPSO DAY! 🌴🌴🌴❤️💛💚🌴🌴🌴

To celebrate the occasion, we share a previously unknown version of "Callaloo" featuring a second voice and percussion. The overdubbed cassette recording dates back to the early 1980s and was unearthed in 2020 with the help of Manuel Monestel and the Tape Hunt community. Wimba!

The technical limitations of his simple cassette recorder encouraged Don Walter to come up with ingenious solutions, such as his very charming but noisy LO-FI OVERDUBS, employing a second recorder for playback and a second cassette for recording. He once described the meticulous procedure in an interview: "I have two cassettes, I sing on one and when I'm done I copy it back and put another one in the recorder, so when I sing behind that, you hear two voices." He sometimes added other instruments, too, like percussion mouth organ or a second guitar line. According to the 103 year old Calypsonian, he has tried to lay down more harmonies and instruments, continuing the procedure with second and third overdubs, but was not pleased with the increasingly noisy results.

Today, the song CALLALOO is one of the most famous compositions of Don Walter, along with "Cabin in the Wata". He had composed it long before it was recorded in the well known version for his album "Babylon" in 2003. It is about a stew-like dish called named Callaloo (or "Calalú), typical for the Caribbean kitchen in the Limón region of Costa Rica, where its main ingredient is the leaves of the tropical pokeweed. Although the dish and its name can be traced back to Western Africa, it is cooked with different plants and ingredients in other parts of the Caribbean. Enjoy! #dianacionaldelcalipso #WalterFerguson #afrocaribbean #costarica

New tape found in the US - thanks to rerun of BBC-show

Tue, 07 Sep 2021 11:21:00 +0000

The BBC Radio Show about the Walter Ferguson Tape Hunt was aired again this monday and helped to unearth another original cassette recording from Don Walter's long career of home recording.

A few weeks ago journalist Clayton Conn gave us a hint that the BBC World Service with an estimated 60 million listeners worldwide weekly was going to rerun their Tape Hunt episode ("The hunt for a calypso king's lost music") that he had co-produced back in 2019.

The airing was scheduled for this monday, and in the US, Cihan Bilginsoy, a professor of Economics at the University of Utah an his wife were tuning in by chance. A few minutes into the show they recognized the artist's name and the music - it was the artist from an obscure cassette they had bought 20 years ago in Costa Rica. Cihan and his wife learned about our project to track down and "repatriate" Don Walter's musical legacy, hopped on the internet and got in touch with us.

University of Utah professor and tape owner Cihan Bilginsoy is specailzed in dynamics of economic crashes.

(Pictures: Mario Chacon (left), Salt Lake City Weekly (right))

"in February 2002 we purchased the tape in a restaurant in Puerto Viejo. I remember it was a small restaurant run by a woman, serving fish, beans and rice. We asked about the music that was playing in the background while we had our meal and she came back with that cassette and sold it to us. I do not know if she had a stack but she brought out only one cassette., The tracklist was handwritten on the J-card and I recall it was the same handwriting I saw on your website today. Unfortunately, I cannot locate the cassette after some 20 years. But I had recorded the music on a CD. I still have the CD. I am happy to share it and it gives me great pleasure to know that Don Walter and his family will be listening to this lost & found tape soon!"

The recordings from Cihan's tape sound real fresh. Don Walter's voice is in excellent shape. If it was recorded around 2002, it might be one of the last recording sessions from Don Walter's home recording career - spanning 25 plus years - because around 2002 Don Walter stopped to record and sell his one-off tapes, because by the close of the year his first professional CD ("Babylon") was in production and cassettes were not in demand anymore. Argueably one of the last tapes that Don Walter ever sold to his fans personally was that of Mario Chacon, though Cihan's recording might be of the same period. To top it off, Cihan's tape contains a version of the rare song "No Bother To Cry" - when we first found that composition on a tape from Marcyn's Canadian Tapes, nobody in the Ferguson family could even remember it, including Don Walter. A real treat and another sound recording that will be "repatriated" to the grandfather of Costa Rican Calypso.

Wimba!

Happy 102nd Birthday to the King of Home Recording

Fri, 07 May 2021 10:10:00 +0000

To celebrate we share THIS LOST & FOUND CALYPSO of Mr. Gavitt, recorded on a unique cassette in the 1980s with his trademark lo-fi overdubs (adding a second voice and drumming). This gem is coming from the legendary tapes we've recovered last year courtesy of Don Manuel Monestel.

Cheers! And a joyful CALYPSO DAY in Costa Rica and beyond️

Here's the perfect soundtrack to celebrate the occasion:

"Me never expect those songs still alive"

Thu, 31 Dec 2020 09:00:00 +0000

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...