Shanto is a form of

Guyanese music The music of Guyana encompasses a range of musical styles and genres that draw from various influences including: Indian, Latino-Hispanic, European, African, Chinese, and Amerindian music. Popular Guyanese performers include: Terry Gajraj, Eddy Gran ...

, related to both calypso and

mento Mento is a style of Music of Jamaica, Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It is a fusion of African rhythmic elements and European elements, which reached peak popularity in the 1940s and 1950s. ...

. It became a major part of early popular music through its use in Guyanese

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

shows; songs are topical and light-hearted, often accompanied by a

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

. The word "shanto" is a conflation of "shanty" - the term used in Guyana for

work song A work song is a piece of music closely connected to a form of work, either sung while conducting a task (usually to coordinate timing) or a song linked to a task which might be a connected narrative, description, or protest song. Definitions and ...

s - and "calypso". The style was developed and named in the 1920s by musician Bill Rogers (Augustus Hinds, 1906–1984), who described it as "an improvisation of words and music with an Afro-West Indian beat, with satirical comments on people, events and things...". In the 1930s, the "bargee" (or "bhajee") beat became synonymous with shanto. Rogers was the most versatile and popular practitioner of the shanto style; other popular figures included Joe Coggins, Zeda Martindale, and Ralph FitzScott. David Horn and John Shepherd (eds.), ''Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World, Volume 9: Caribbean and Latin America'', Bloomsbury Publishing, 2014, pp.768-769
/ref> Bill Rogers' son, Roger Hinds, has continued to perform and record shanto music as "Young Bill Rogers". Ruth Osman, "The ride of Young Bill Rogers", ''Caribbean Beat'' #94, November 2008
Retrieved 19 April 2019

References and notes

Calypso music Guyanese music {{music-genre-stub