Trinidad & Tobago: in search of... Calypso

It's the music that powers carnival in Trinidad. And when your eardrums need a rest, says Kate Simon, chill out in Tobago

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What have Harry Belafonte and Louis Farrakhan got in common? Not a lot, you reckon. You'd be wrong. They've both sung calypso professionally. Yes, it's true. Back in the Fifties, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, trod the boards under the unlikely name of The Charmer. You may think calypso is a pleasant but meaningless style of music all about letting dogs out and yellow birds in banana trees, but it is more often a forum for acerbic social comment and salacious gossip. No subject is taboo, no public figure is safe. And it all started in Trinidad and Tobago.

Why Trinidad and Tobago?

Well, that's a subject of much debate. But it's probably thanks to the French – or rather the African slaves they brought with them to these islands at the southern end of the Caribbean chain. The slaves told each other stories and ridiculed their masters through songs, which were based on the worksong, or "gayup", used in the fields, and led by a "chantwell", often credited as the predecessor of the calypso singer – or calypsonian as they are called.

Add to these African influences Spanish melodies, French patois and the English language – as well as later immigrants, particularly from India, and you have calypso and its many offshoots, from rapso to chutney soca.

Feeling hot, hot, hot...

Yes, all right, it's a calypso. It may sound like the world's happiest music, but I promise there's a lot of conscious lyrics to be had – and a lot of sexual innuendo, too. Eating breakfast under the Caribbean sun, I was quite put off my cinnamon bread by a song on the radio musing on the need for contraception in these days of Aids. Some say the new generation is turning out too much party music, but the big issues – from the relationship between men and women to politics – are still there.

OK, enough of the history lesson. So where can I hear some?

Where can't you hear it? But to see calypsonians in performance you really need to visit the islands after New Year, when competitions are held in the run-up to Carnival. You can usually spot a calypsonian by his or her stage name. Past giants have included the Mighty Sparrow, Lord Kitchener, Roaring Lion and Calypso Rose, and today's favourites include the Mighty Shadow and Chalkdust. But there is a trend towards calypsonians keeping their own names such as Denyse Plummer, the current Calypso Monarch, and David Rudder.

Trinidad is the best place to hear calypso. In the capital, Port of Spain, you can see up to 20 singers in a night. Try SWWUT Hall on Wrighton Road and De Luxe Cinema on Keate Street. A third important venue, Spektakula, which used to be held on Henry Street, is currently looking for a new home.

While Tobago holds early competitions at Shaw Park Cultural Centre, Mike Baker's venue at the Golden Star near Crown Point is the only other place you might catch a performance. Try the Scouting For Talent contest on Friday nights. On the evening we visited, Black Stalin, four times Calypso Monarch, was to top the bill. Sadly, he was nowhere to be seen. Instead, we had to make do with a man who balanced a garden fork on his chin. That's entertainment.

So when is Carnival? I feel like a party

Well, everyone's welcome. It's held on the two days before Ash Wednesday – 11 and 12 February next year. It opens in the early hours of the morning, after the crowning of the Calypso Monarch on Dimanche Gras in Queen's Park, Savannah. Revellers then take over the streets and everyone dances to the Carnival hits pumping out of the sound systems. The next two days are one hell of a street party. Hundreds of masqueraders take part in the Parade of the Bands and the calypso played the most wins the prestigious Road March title.

I'm exhausted. Let's get away from it all

On Ash Wednesday, revellers chill out on Maracas Bay. But, while there's nowhere better for the Carnival experience than Trinidad, this rumbustious, industrial island doesn't do limin' (chilling out, to you and me) quite like its sister, Tobago.

Pigeon Point is the island's pride and joy: white sands, shallow turquoise waters and a thatched-roof jetty made famous in a thousand brochures. When you've had enough of lazing on the beach you can take a glass-bottomed boat across the coral reef which fringes the island to take a dip in the lagoon called the Nylon Pool (bizarrely and rather disappointingly named after Princess Margaret's stockings, so they say).

There's woodland and gardens and sugar plantations to explore and when it's time for lunch tuck into some fried chicken and okra in the treehouse at Jemma's Sea View Kitchen.

How can I get there?

I travelled to Tobago courtesy of Caribtours (020-7751 0660; www.caribtours.co.uk), staying at the Kariwak Village and Coco Reef resorts. A week at the Kariwak costs £797 per person, rising to £921 during Carnival, including return flights, transfers and room-only accommodation. A week at the Coco Reef costs £995 per person, rising to £1,143 during Carnival, including return flights, transfers and b&b accommodation. For guided tours of the island contact Classic Tours (001 868 639 9891; www.classictoursltd.com). Daily flights from Tobago to Trinidad take 30 minutes and are available with Liat (020-8571 7553; www.liatairline.com) from £60 return. Many thanks to historian Attiba Baraka.