Cyril Diaz Orchestra

West African and Venezuelan inspired dancefloor single from Cyril Diaz, the 1950's Trinidadian bandleader playing the roots music of his Afro-Venezuelan parentage.

His father Gordon Diaz migrated to Trinidad sometime in the early 1900's. Throughout the 1950's Cyril Diaz and his big band calypso orchestra toured the Caribbean and South America recording culturally inspired hybrid calypsos with an African and Latin tinge.

Showcased here is his fascination with West African shango on "Mme Killio", who was a famous beauty contest in Africa, Diaz’s version being recorded by Emory Cook in November 1957.