Indian-Trinidadian beats to rock Notting Hill Carnival Diamond Jubilee in London | Hindustan Times

London, As the Notting Hill Carnival marks its 60th anniversary this weekend, an award-winning band will bring Indian-Trinidadian beats onto the streets of London through costume, music and cultural storytelling.Soca Massive Fancy Sailors, a masquerade band, has been chosen in the official line-up of this year's bands, along with its dedicated Apache section celebrating the Indian influences on Trinidad and Tobago's national identity and carnival culture.Soca, which stands for Soul of Calypso, will be infused with Indian-Caribbean DJs playing "chutney" beats a crossover genre that blends traditional Indo-Caribbean music with Afro-Caribbean Soca."The Sailor is one of Trinidad and Tobago's oldest carnival characters and is not just a representation of someone at sea," explains Indian-Trini artist Ray Allan Mahabir, from Sunshine International Arts."The character becomes a traveller, a migrant, a witness, and a storyteller, carrying histories across oceans and generations. For Indian-Caribbean communities 'Sailor Mas' has particular resonance, reflecting migration from India to the Caribbean and, later, from the Caribbean to Britain," he added.Soca Massive Fancy Sailors was founded in 2006 and first appeared at London's historic Notting Hill Carnival in 2007. It is the only dedicated south London "Sailor Mas" band on the road participating in the carnival's Diamond Jubilee celebrations – taking place from Saturday until Monday.As one of Britain's leading carnival practitioners, Mahabir has designed many of Soca Massive Fancy Sailors' "Big Mas" pieces and award-winning costumes, as well as accessories for its carnival presentations.This year's chosen theme is "Simply Red" – bringing the 140-year-old tradition of Sailor Mas into conversation with migration and Caribbean life in Britain."Red represents sacrifice, courage and pride, while the wider presentation celebrates carnival as an expression of freedom, belonging and joyful resistance," the group explains.Chutney Soca emerged from Trinidad and Tobago's Indian-Caribbean communities, combining influences from Bhojpuri folk traditions and instruments such as tassa, dholak and dhantal with calypso, Soca and wider Caribbean rhythms.Its presence at Notting Hill reflects how the descendants of Indian indentured labourers preserved elements of their ancestral culture while creating new and distinctly Caribbean art forms.These communities did not only retain Indian traditions, they helped shape the music, food, language, festivals and national culture of modern Trinidad and Tobago.The Apache section also honours Apache, an Indian-Trinidadian founding masquerader of Soca Massive and a close friend of bandleader Michael "Soca Massive" Olton – the inspiration behind the band name.His name, contribution and place within the band's history will be carried onto the road by a new generation of masqueraders this weekend."Apache honours a man whose loyalty, labour and love helped build this band, while celebrating the Indian-Trinidadian heritage he carried onto the streets of Notting Hill," said Olton."Soca Massive has always reflected the different people and traditions that make up Trinidad and Tobago. Carnival's history is deeply rooted in African resistance, recognising the Indian-Trinidadian contribution expands the history; it does not replace or compete with its African foundations," he said.The British Trinidadian DJ, Mas practitioner and community figure has participated in Notting Hill Carnival for 43 years. Soca Massive Fancy Sailors grew from the music, cultural work and community he built under that name in the UK. Olton is also the son of Trinidadian cricketer Malcolm "Mike" Olton, who represented Trinidad before moving to Britain.Nadine Drummond, the band's Strategic and Communications Director, added: "Although I am Jamaican, Trinidad is one of the places where I feel most ethnically and culturally at home. I see people who look like me, and the Indian and African cultures practiced openly in the streets reflect the cultures that exist together in my own home."Indian-Caribbean people are not visitors to carnival culture, they are part of its living history. Their contribution can be heard in the music, seen in the Mas and found among the people designing, leading and carrying carnival traditions forward."This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.