Last Sunday evening, the announcement of Dave Martins’ passing at home in Guyana spread across the modern day ‘Guyanese grapevine’ like a forest fire raging out of control. As the news began to hit home, Caribbean people, Caymanians and Guyanese all over the world, paused to remember Dave – as he wished everyone to call him. As we reflect on the immeasurable body of work this son of our soil has created the magnitude of the loss resonates even louder.
Dave was a trailblazer, fashioning a path entirely of his own making. Migrating to Canada in December 1955, he initially pursued various avenues of employment before delving into a musical career. In 1966, in Toronto, he formed The Tradewinds band, along with two Trinidadians, intent on focusing on West Indian music. Blessed with sharp observation skills and the rare gift of songwriting, Dave’s creations quickly propelled The Tradewinds into a household name in the Caribbean. The band was soon among the very few overseas bands to feature on the annual endurance-challenging Trinidad Carnival fete circuit, becoming a regular fixture from 1968 to 1981.
During this period, the Tradewinds made biannual trips to the Caribbean, usually in July / August to promote their latest vinyl album. Whilst the band toured the region extensively, Dave made notes of life and culture across the islands of the Caribbean, laying the groundwork for the songs which have become the soundtrack of our lives. It is a tapestry of who we are as a people, an unveiling of our souls and idiosyncrasies, quite often with a witty twist. Great songwriters like Dave, in addition to penning the lyrics, also scored the music of their creations. However, what really separated Dave from the pack was his unique ability to write music across several genres. In his large repertoire, one will find songs written in formats ranging from calypso to kadans to ballads to soca to reggae to spouge to zouk to soul.
This extensive selection allows everyone to have an entirely different playlist of their ten favourite Tradewinds songs. Most likely the selections will include some of Dave’s classics: “Honeymooning Couple,” [their first hit] “Wong Ping,” “Copycats,” “Boyhood Days,” “It’s Traditional,” “In Guyana,” “West Indian Suitcase,” “Civilisation,” “West Indian Alphabet,” “Mr. Rooster,” and “Cricket in the Jungle.” Of course, his tour de force, “Not a Blade of Grass,” our unofficial second national anthem, a song which he stated wrote itself in about an hour, makes the cut on everyone’ list.
In 1982, The Tradewinds shifted their base to the Cayman Islands, where Dave and the band continued to perform and create music. There, Dave also made significant contributions to Caymanian society, by assisting in the production of their famous annual Pirate’s Week celebrations, and the initiation of their “Gimistory”, an international storytelling festival that brings together performers from Cayman, the Caribbean and North America. It was during his time on this tiny archipelago that the advocacy of computer driven piracy brought his immense musical output to a frustrating halt. The band’s 22 vinyl albums, six compact discs (CDs) and numerous 45 vinyl records are a treasure trove of Caribbean folklore.
Dave led The Tradewinds to the peak of the hardest mountain to climb, crossing the generation gap, a feat which is virtually impossible to achieve. Their legacy is actually much more than that since their unique style of capturing of an epoch in Caribbean life will serve for generations to come. Those fortunate enough to have enjoyed one or more of the estimated 5,000-odd performances given by Dave and the band still retain fond memories of those occasions.
Fulfilling the wish of his 1968 ballad, “Beneath Your Sky” in which he describes an emigrant longing for home, Dave returned to Guyana where he spent the balance of his life. Among his contributions – Dave was never one to sit still and idle the time away – was a weekly Sunday column, ‘So It Go’ in this publication. He explored a myriad of topics ranging from travel to music to current topics to thoughtful reminiscences of what life was like growing up in British Guiana in the 1940s and the 1950s.
Dave was much more than a songwriter. In addition to storytelling, he was a stand-up comedian with an excellent sense of timing, and also a playwright. He penned two musicals. The first, “Raise Up”, was commissioned by the Guyana Commemoration Commission to celebrate the 150th anniversary of full emancipation, and another on the Cayman Islands. In 2017 – 18, Dave served as the Artist in Residence at the University of Guyana. In December, 2022, at the 56th University of Guyana Convocation Ceremony where he gave the keynote address, Dave was conferred with an Honorary Doctorate of Letters, an accolade which was long overdue. In 1982, he was the recipient of a National Award, the Golden Arrow of Achievement.
Dave, the humblest of men, often introduced himself at local concerts and fetes as, “ I is a country boy from over the river [accompanied with a wild wave of the hand], Hague, West Coast Demerara.” In his 1982 classic, “Where are your Heroes?” Dave questioned our lack of appreciation for our own history, a grave shortcoming which we continue to overlook. Dave’s legacy in Caribbean culture ranks up there with the likes of the Mighty Sparrow, and Lord Kitchener, whilst locally, he takes his rightful place alongside the three pillars, Martin Carter, Denis Williams and Edgar Mittelholzer. It is of the utmost importance, that we recognise their contributions to our society in a permanent manner.
It is easy to envision Dave, living up to the ‘country boy’ tag, in the conclusion of his classic song “Copycats”, despite having rubbed shoulders with heads of states and the creme de la creme of the Caribbean Arts world.
“…. I grow up on cassava and green plantain,
And even when the maker calls,
I will be this way,
Ah gon walk into heaven,
Put down me roti,
And say, “Wha happenin’ dey.”
Thank you for the music and the memories,
Dave.
David Anthony Martins, 1935 – 2024.
Rest in Peace.
