(Trinidad Express) The Birdie is back!
Make no mistake about it, Slinger Francisco, better known as The Mighty Sparrow, Calypso King of the World, has returned to the stage, if only for a few moments in Brooklyn, New York, USA,—and he is promising a return to Trinidad and Tobago for Carnival 2014, with plans to perform at Kaiso House and Mas Camp.
Indeed, to borrow of phrase from the late American writer Mark Twain, reports of Sparrow’s passing last September, which spread across the internet like wildfire, were greatly exaggerated.
While he indeed slipped into a coma lasting several weeks (brought about by a prolonged bout with diabetes), he has spent the last four months recovering at the Highland Health Care Center, in Jamaica, New York, and is now back on his feet and looking forward to future performances.
This past week, at an event organised by Calypso Rose and Derek Parsons of WACK Radio, Sparrow delivered a spirited 40-minute set at Melanie’s Sports Bar in Brooklyn.
His renditions of old favourites such as “Jean and Dinah”, “Drunk and Disorderly”, “Melda” and “Congo Man” brought down the house.
A video of the performance on Youtube reveals a leaner, yet fit-looking Sparrow, seated on a stool, with his voice strong and the same fire in his eyes that he first brought to the calypso scene in 1955.
In an interview with the Express this week, Sparrow said he will be returning to T&T in “mid-February” and that he will begin performing at Kaiso House shortly after his arrival. He says he is also slated to perform at Mas Camp for its annual Carnival Sunday brunch show.
“Tell my fans that I am back on track,” Sparrow said. “I’m fighting up, fighting up. I’ve got a bunch of very nice and talented doctors taking good care of me. These guys decided I’m going to be around a while longer.”
He said that “it felt great” performing in Brooklyn, and it was “nice to be back on the stage”, in spite of freezing temperatures in New York. “There’s icicles on every tree,” he chuckled.
Sparrow said he feels “blessed” by all of the good care he’s received and that he wants “no one feelin’ sorry for me”.
He joked that he is like “the Lazarus of calypso”.
He acknowledged reports on the Internet that his doctors have prohibited consumption of spirits as part of his recovery. “Is so,” he mused. “I’m missing my beer a little, but I am not going against doctors’ orders. They have been too good to me.”
Of his performances during Carnival 2014, Sparrow said, “I just want my fans to come on out and enjoy the show, have a good time. I want them to enjoy the performance.”
Last season he delivered a powerful rendition of his 1983 social commentary “Capitalism Gone Mad” during his Kaiso House sets. “I was moved to do so because of what I was observing in this country,” he affirmed. “I was making a statement.”
This year, he said, he’s open to singing what his fans want to hear. “Tell them to make a request,” he chuckled. “We’ll see what we can do.”
Award-winning writer and filmmaker Geoffrey Dunn is the co-producer/director of “Calypso Dreams”.