Lionel Belasco (1881-1967) was a pianist, composer and bandleader from Trinidad, best known for his calypso recordings. He traveled widely in the Caribbean and South America in his youth, absorbing a wide variety of musical influences. He was leading his own band by 1902. He made his first recordings in Trinidad in 1914 and soon after traveled to New York, where he made more recordings and set up a publishing business. He would continue to travel back and forth between New York and Trinidad for the rest of his life.
He was the first person to popularize calypso outside of Trinidad and he recorded more West Indian songs before World War II than any other performer. Some time ago Rounder records released a compilation of some of Belasco's recordings from 1914 - 1933 including some later private recordings from early 1960s.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lionel_Belasco
http://www.last.fm/music/Lionel+Belasco