Making Music in Saint Vincent and Antigua

The first chapter focuses on Frankie’s childhood and young adulthood growing up in Kingstown, St. Vincent. The story begins with his years of classical piano studies, follows his apprenticeship as pianist for his father’s calypso dance orchestra, the Melotones, and moves forward to his founding of the Frankie McIntosh Orchestra at the age of fourteen. In this rich musical environment, he became familiar with an array of Caribbean dance genres, from calypsos to tangos and boleros, as well as American jazz standards imported by records and written scores from the United States. After graduating from high school and a year’s teaching English literature in a local intermediate secondary school, Frankie relocated to Antigua in 1967 where he played piano for the popular Laviscount Combo that specialized in calypso as well as American R&B, funk, and pop tunes.