Lancelot Layne (died 28 July 1990) was a

rapso Rapso is a form of Trinidadian music that grew out of the social unrest of the 1970s. Black Power and unions grew in the 1970s, and rapso grew along with them. The first recording was ''Blow Away'' by Lancelot Layne in 1970. Six years later ...

artist from

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...

Biography

Lancelot Layne was born to a Ms. Ethel Strawn (''née'' Serrano) and raised in Gonzales,

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, a village near

Port of Spain Port of Spain (Spanish: ''Puerto España''), officially the City of Port of Spain (also stylized Port-of-Spain), is the capital of Trinidad and Tobago and the third largest municipality, after Chaguanas and San Fernando. The city has a municip ...

. He had a start in many local singing shows and showcase forums in and about Trinidad. During his career, he travelled around the world giving lectures and shows at many music institutions and universities, and was one of the first artists to bring the

music of Trinidad and Tobago The music of Trinidad and Tobago is best known for its calypso music, soca music, chutney music, and steelpan. Calypso's internationally noted performances in the 1950s from native artists such as Lord Melody, Lord Kitchener and Mighty Sparrow. ...

to the rest of the world. Layne took many trips to

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

, after studying

African history The history of Africa begins with the emergence of hominids, archaic humans and — around 300–250,000 years ago—anatomically modern humans (''Homo sapiens''), in East Africa, and continues unbroken into the present as a patchwork of dive ...

. A 1998

United Nations Radio United Nations Radio was created on 13 February 1946. In 2017, United Nations Radio and the UN News Centre merged to form UN News, producing daily news and multimedia content in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Swahili, Portuguese, Russian, Sp ...

programme described the links between calypso and

highlife Highlife is a music genre that started in present-day Ghana in the 19th century, during its Gold Coast (British colony), history as a colony of the British Empire and through its trade routes in coastal areas. It describes multiple local fusions ...

music, focusing on an exchange of visits between Layne and high life musician

Koo Nimo Koo Nimo (born Kwabena Boa-Amponsem on 3 October 1934), baptized Daniel Amponsah is a leading folk musician of Palm wine music or Highlife music from Ghana. Biography Born in the village of Foase, in the Atwima District of the Ashanti Region i ...

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. In later years, Layne joined the

Orisa Orishas (singular: orisha) are spirits that play a key role in the Yoruba religion of West Africa and several religions of the African diaspora that derive from it, such as Cuban, Dominican and Puerto Rican Santería and Brazilian Candomblé. Th ...

faith. He had a son, Brian Llenwyn Layne, and

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of TwinLast Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two em ...

daughters, Niasha and Anuska, who are accomplished

pannist The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. Descriptio ...

s. He is often described as being the founder of rapso; his 1970 song "Blow Away" was the first rapso recording, although the term was not coined until 1980. Many of his most remembered songs were not recorded, including the song "Strike Squad", which he composed for his local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team. "Get Off The Radio" was a protest song about the imbalance of

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmit ...

airplay Airplay is how frequently a song is being played through broadcasting on radio stations. A song which is being played several times every day (spins) would have a significant amount of airplay. Music which became very popular on jukeboxes, in n ...

between local and foreign works. In 2016 German reissue company

Cree Records The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations. In Canada, over 350,000 people are Cree or ...

Bear Family Records Bear Family Records is a Germany-based independent record label, that specializes in reissues of archival material, ranging from country music to 1950s rock and roll to old German movie soundtracks. History The label has been in existence since ...

released a comprehensive compilation album of Lancelot Layne's work. The artwork for the album was done by

based Painter

Peter Doig Peter Doig ( ; born 17 April 1959) is a Scottish painter. One of the most renowned living figurative painters, he has settled in Trinidad since 2002. In 2007, his painting ''White Canoe'' sold at Sotheby's for $11.3 million, then an auction rec ...

Discography

*1971 ''Afro'dadian/Blow'way Antillana'' *1972 ''Carnival Calypso Hits'' (LP) *1974 ''Neo Calypso'' (LP) *1975 ''Endless Vibrations/Soul Train'' *1975 ''Dat is Horrors/Kaiso For Mout'' *1975 ''Who Could Help Me/Make Life Easy On Me'' *1976 ''Yo Tink It Sorf/Chant'' *1976 ''Doh Dig No Blues'' *1977 ''These Boots Are Made For Walking/If I Were You'' *1980 ''Dis Pan Is For You'' (LP) *1982 ''Get Off The Radio'' *2016 ''Blow'Way'' (2LP/2CD, Cree Records)

External links

Lancelot Layne compilation by Cree Records
by his daughter, Niasha Layne.

from the Calypso Archives.
Origin of Rapso
from the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

website.
The Carnival Story - Calypso Revolution
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Layne, Lancelot 20th-century Trinidad and Tobago male singers Rapso 1990 deaths Year of birth missing