"It's Later Than You Think" - Rebirth Brass Band

“It’s Later Than You Think” (PDF) from the Kermit Ruffins with Rebirth Brass Band album, Throwback

In 1957, as the New York City duo of Harry Belafonte and Lord Burgess introduced the world to calypso, the Jamaican folk guitarist Lord Flea was interviewed by the London publication Calypso Stars in which he reflected on the sudden popularity of Caribbean music:

In Jamaica, we call our music “mento” until very recently. Today, calypso is beginning to be used for all kinds of West Indian music. This is because it’s become so commercialized there. Some people like to think of West Indians as carefree natives who work and sing and play and laugh their lives away. But this isn't so. Most of the people there are hard working folks, and many of them are smart business men. If the tourists want "calypso", that's what we sell them.

Originally created as protest music in Trinidad and Tobago by kidnapped and enslaved musicians, calypso spread throughout the Caribbean as a result of 19th century colonialism and it influenced the music played at Congo Square in New Orleans. During the late-20th century preservation movement, New Orleans musicians also adopted the Lord Flea work ethic as tourism thrived in the city. As a result, rather than touring with Rebirth Brass Band in the 1990’s, Kermit Ruffins made the business decision to remain local and draw in tourists from around the world by selling them on a promise set to a calypso beat: “Don’t worry, be happy, it’s later than you think.”

Whereas the tourism industry in New Orleans has been devastated by the failed response to COVID-19, here is a YouTube video of how Kermit Ruffins was managing the pandemic… five months ago:

Recommended viewing: Never A Dull Moment: 20 Years of Rebirth Brass Band, music documentary.