Yazmn Ross & Luciano Capelli: Passion For The Caribbean

True Passion Shines Through

     Webster defines passion as "a strong liking or devotion to some activity, object or concept". But after reading "Passion for the Caribbean", Webster's definition seems a little tame. If you really want to witness an unbridled zeal for a place, its people and its culture, check out this book, a collaboration by Yazmin Ross and Luciano Capelli: it exudes passion.

     The book opens with a look at the "discovery" of the Americas by Cristofo Colombo, concentrating on his fourth expedition, which led him into the Caribbean and Costa Rica. But it journeys much farther than that, exploring the variety of legends and facts surrounding this explorer. The book then takes the next bold step into the plausability of previous explorers, including Africans and Egytians, who may have beaten Columbus to the punch by several centuries. From here, the transition to the ancient stories of the indigenous peoples here is a natural one, then continues to present-day events. The material is meticulously researched by Ross and the story is truly woven poetically like a tapestry to present a more clear and comprehensive, complete history of the cultural fabric that is the Caribbean.

     "Our goal," Yazmin told me, "was to complete a fragmented story", since there really doesn't exist an original, entire history of Costa Rica or any other Central American country, let alone the Caribbean coast, which is really its own entity, as this book beautifully depicts. More than anywhere else in the Americas, this area was a true melting pot, a convergence of people and their cultures. The churches, music, foods and fashions, languages and dialects all support this fact. And this is part of what makes the area enchanting and yes, passionate. And I think that it is the passion of the author and photographer that really make this book such a unique project. Luciano Capelli's photos are bold and distinct, with a great mixture of scenery, flora and fauna, and the people, the personality of the area. These, mixed with historic maps, emblems and photos make an excellent collage that works hand in hand with the text to create the complete impact of the book.

     Yazmin and Luciano first worked together on a bilingual documentary, "The Promised Ship", about the Black Star Line, the first cruise ship owned and operated exclusively by black people. Ultiimately, it was a four year project that also resulted in Yazmin's first novel, La Flota Negra. It also resulted in their marraige and you really can't get more passionate than that. The magnetism they both sensed in the Caribbean while making their documentary spawned their idea for this book, and they found themselves returning to San Juan del Norte and Old Greytown in Nicaragua, Tortuguero, Cahiuta, Limon and Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica and Bocas del Toro in Panama more than once for more photos and interviews. "When you ask the right questions, you find the right answers, the living story," explains Ross, whose interviewed many locals with nearly a century of stories each and are included in the book.

     A history of an entire half-millenium is captured here, from pirates to train moguls, explorers and missionaries, tropical fruit kings, and the story of immigration, which Yazmin sees as being key to the many-layered Caribbean history. "The Latin history is only one part of the story, one root of the history" she told me.

     And Passion for the Caribbean reveals the true depth of history as no other book has succeeded in doing.

     A real bonus comes at the end of the book: a CD entitled "La Pasion por el Calypso". It is a collection of thirteen songs by legendary calypsonians, a compilation that simply cannot be found anywhere else. The recording artists include the band New Revelation from Limon, whose members include Julio Medina and Herberth Glinton "Lenky", who was born in 1933 and is a self-taught musician. They deliver great renditions of  "Pompaper" and "Mama"; Charro Limonense, who gets his knickname from singing mariachi songs. His strong voice is legendary and he participated in famous festivals in Cancun with such singers as Ruben Blades and Willie Colon. An incredible version of "Black Man" on this disc, as well as "True Born Costa Rican"; Cahuita Calypso, a pioneer ensemble from Calypso and the first group to sing the calypso songs of the legendary Walter Ferguson outside that town. The band was integrated by Reinaldo Johnson, Alfonso Goldburn "Gianty" and Soraya, the only female calypsonian from Costa Rica. On this CD, they cover Ferguson's "Caroline" and their own version of "Fire"; Emilio Alvarez "Junny" checks in with his classics "Paquiria" and "La Confiancia". Junny claims to have "twenty-four children and more or less the same number of calypso songs"; Reynaldo Kenton "Shanty", born in 1938, sings his "Jamaica Farewell"; and finally, the master, Walter "Gavitt" Ferguson, Dr. Bombadee, closes the album with an early rendition of his classic "Cabin in the Water".

     The album is a discovered "lost" classic, unearthed largely due to Luciano Capelli, a music afeccianado, and Nano Fernandez, who was key in recording this album, the "Simbiosis" album with Manuel Obregon, "Babylon", the first Waler Ferguson CD, and instrumental in getting Obregon, Capelli and Ross together for what would ultimately result in Papaya Music. But that is another story of passion, for another column, another time.

     Signed copies of "Passion for the Caribbean" are available exclusively at Jaime Peligro Book Store in Playa Tamarindo, where the customers can also view the book and sample the music. All comments concerning this article are welcome.