Carnival Vibes (Something Else! on Wtnr Radio.com for 9/1/2011)

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Hello folks!  Just returned from the \”madness\” that is called Notting Hill Carnival in London!  Frankly, I find that the maddest things are the numbers of people and the facial expressions of the police officers.  Naturally, because of the recent unrest in London sparked by a police shooting in Tottenham there were extra security measures put in place–as there should have been.  However, I would think that a more racially diverse police representation would be the order of the day given that: 1. there was a (perceived) racial element to the police incident 2. Notting Hill Carnival is mostly a celebration of West Indian (Caribbean) culture and many of the people in attendance are non-white.  I say \”more\” because I only saw 3 officers of color. I\’m sure there were more, but given how much I walked around to hear different soundsystems, I would have expected to encounter more than three.  That said, Carnival felt safe, fun and the only threat I felt was from the police themselves.  Passing through rows of police officers who could choose to search anyone without warning is a bit unnerving for someone who comes from a country where one of the rights guaranteed is freedom from \”unreasonable search and seizure (4th Amendment to the USA Constitution.)  OK, let\’s get to the music…

One of the lovely things about Carnival is the various types of music one can hear there.  One of the static soundsystems I heard was Latin Rave Street Jam  and they were playing music much like our opener, \”La Banda\”by The Spanish Harlem Orchestra.  One can also hear fusions of styles like the next few tunes in the show, \”Ay Y N\’ama (DJ Day Remix)\” by Mo\’ Horizons, \”Un D