Kobo Town | |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Toronto,Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Caribbean music |
| Years active | 2004 (2004)–present |
| Members | Drew Gonsalves Derek Thorne Cesco Emmanuel Robert Milicevic Linsey Wellman Don Stewart Jan Morgan PK Giunta Terence Woode |
Kobo Town is a Juno-winningCanadianCaribbean music group, led byTrinidadian Canadian singer and songwriter Drew Gonsalves.[1] Based inToronto,Ontario, the band blendscalypso music with a diverse mix of Caribbean and other musical influences, includingska,reggae,dub,rapso,zouk, andhip hop.[2]
Other band members include percussionist Derek Thorne, guitarists Cesco Emmanuel and Patrick Giunta, drummer Robert Milicevic, saxophone and flute player Linsey Wellman, bassist Don Stewart, trombonist Terence Woode, and trumpeter Jan Morgan.[2]
Gonsalves was born and raised inDiego Martin,Trinidad and Tobago to a Trinidadian father and a Québécois mother.[3] When he was 13, his parents' marriage ended and his mother left and returned to Canada with her children, settling inOttawa,Ontario.[3] As a teenager, Gonsalves turned to music and poetry as a way to deal with his sense of dislocation and exile.[2] He later studied history and political science atCarleton University before moving toToronto in the early 2000s and forming the band in 2004.[2]
Since its founding, the group has toured extensively throughout Europe and North America, and have appeared at festivals in the Caribbean, Asia, and Latin America.
The band released its debut albumIndependence in 2007.[2] The album was nominated for an Indie and a CFMA award.
The band's second albumJumbie in the Jukebox, released in 2013, was recorded predominantly inBelize.[4] The album was named a longlisted nominee for the2013 Polaris Music Prize on June 13, 2013.[5] The album was also nominated for a JUNO Award in 2014.
After releasingJumbie in the Jukebox, Gonsalves collaborated on the writing and production ofCalypso Rose's platinum-selling album Far From Home. The album, which features several songs penned by Gonsalves as well as performances by other Kobo Town members, won a Victoire de la Musique award in France in February 2017.[6]
Kobo Town's third releaseWhere the Galleon Sank was released in Canada in February 2017 and won aCanadian Folk Music Award for World Group of the Year at the 13th annual CFMA.[7] The album was named World Music Album of the Year at the 2018 Juno Awards.[8]
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