Michael Boothman tells the story of his early group, Family Tree 🌴. #calypso #80s #compilation #fy

Family Tree represented a new generation rediscovering Trinidadian folk music forms and giving them a contemporary treatment. They were also the first to experiment with the steel pan, fusing it with the standard instrumentation of the day. Family Tree consisted of the Boothman brothers, Michael on Guitar and David on the Keyboards, Wayne ‘Barney’ Bonaparte on bass, Dennis Thomas on drums, Earl ‘Biter’ Edwards on African drums, Allan Nightingale on percussion and Rawle Mitchell on steelpan. Rawle Mitchell was succeeded by Len ‘Boogsie’ Sharp, then a 16-year-old pan prodigy who went on to become one of Trinidad’s foremost steelpan players and composers. Andre Tanker, who plays the flute on ‘Tabu’, was another of the musicians who had made the transition from the more conservative mainstream pop music sound to embracing Trinidad’s folk forms, inspired by African, Indian and Indigenous antecedents. Vinyl LP + full Digital album out May 29th. Pre-order via the Soundway Records link in our bio 🔗 Footage courtesy Banyan, with special thanks. #calypso #trinidad #michaelboothman #70s #compilation