Frankie McIntosh is recognized internationally as one of the architects of the popular West Indian soca style that emerged in the late 1970s. A pianist and music arranger, he served as music director for Brooklyn-based Straker’s Records for three decades. During that time, he composed musical arrangements and oversaw the recordings of close to a thousand calypso/soca albums for Straker and other Brooklyn-based calypso labels. He recently was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West Indies. Ray Allen is professor of music and American studies emeritus at Brooklyn College, CUNY and worked as a senior research associate at the Hitchcock Institute for the Study of American Music. His books include Singing in the Spirit: African-American Sacred Quartets in New York City; Gone to the Country: The New Lost City Ramblers and the Urban Folk Music Revival; Island Sounds in the Global City: Caribbean Popular Music and Identity in New York, coedited with Lois Wilcken; and Jump Up! Caribbean Carnival Music in New York City.

Frankie McIntosh is recognized internationally as one of the architects of the popular West Indian soca style that emerged in the late 1970s. A pianist and music arranger, he served as music director for Brooklyn-based Straker’s Records for three decades. During that time, he composed musical arrangements and oversaw the recordings of close to a thousand calypso/soca albums for Straker and other Brooklyn-based calypso labels. He recently was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of the West Indies. Ray Allen is professor of music and American studies emeritus at Brooklyn College, CUNY and worked as a senior research associate at the Hitchcock Institute for the Study of American Music. His books include Singing in the Spirit: African-American Sacred Quartets in New York City; Gone to the Country: The New Lost City Ramblers and the Urban Folk Music Revival; Island Sounds in the Global City: Caribbean Popular Music and Identity in New York, coedited with Lois Wilcken; and Jump Up! Caribbean Carnival Music in New York City.