Calypso Rose: Far from Home review – the calypso queen dazzles

At 76, Trinidad and Tobago’s reigning queen of calypso should be on cruise control. Instead, she dazzlingly updates the genre she has dominated for a half a century while restating her sassy, feminist persona. The key to the transformation is a collaborative trio of producer Ivan Duran, Toronto’s Drew Gonsalves (plus his band Kobo Town) and the ever mercurial Manu Chao, who between them penned most of what Rose delivers with such relish. The rhythms slip between carnival jump-up (Zoom Zoom Zoom, reggae (Far from Home) and skipping Chaoesque pieces such as Love Me or Leave Me. Kobo Town’s rippling brass section blows beautifully, Rose sings pan-cultural calls for justice, while an old hit reminds us that, as ever, Woman Smarter.