And Gents is being received with much gratitude and pleasure by aficionados of calypso and other late 19th to early 20th century Caribbean music. This is because it is the first, full-length CD exclusively dedicated to featuring some of the pioneering works by the legendary pianist, composer and bandleader, Lionel Belasco. Both his parents were musicians and Belasco himself was a child prodigy who played the piano and began composing at the age of 12. Although he was classically trained, Belasco revelled in Afro-Trinidadian musical traditions like calypso, kalinda, parang and bele that were popular especially among rural folk in Trinidad.
Trinidadian society is composed of descendants from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Belasco incorporated all of the rich and varied aspects of this cosmopolitan mix to create his rhythmic and delightfully lyrical compositions. Belasco also had strong familial ties to neighboring Venezuela. Due to his frequent visits there, along with the sizable Venezuelan presence in Trinidad, he developed a deep fondness for that South American country's folk music. He composed so prolificly in that genre, that today many of his waltzes and joropos are still performed by Venezuelan artists and symphony orchestras. As an extremely successful bandleader and soloist, Belasco toured and recorded extensively throughout the Caribbean, North and South America and Europe.