Is calypso terminally ill? It’s Carnival season in a number of Caribbean locations as well as elsewhere. Trinidad and Tobago’s celebration is of course one of the more popular Caribbean versions of this annual rite. But how ironic that while some have paused to note that this year marks the 50th anniversary of rather memorable [...]
Mighty Arrow for Music Festival The return of the Mighty Arrow, Montserrat’s most famous soca son, is a feature of the 10th anniversary of the Music Festival this year. The calypsonian of international renown, appeared on the first Music Festival in 1996 and is now the latest in the line-up of quality acts signed this [...]
Keeping Score…..Gold & platinum discs among reggae artistes Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley’s recent gold certification by the Recording Association of America (RIAA) for his smash album Welcome to Jamrock has also helped the disc to further increase sales, following as it did on his double Grammy win. As it turns out, Jamaican artistes, including Damian’s [...]
Tessanne Chin – Ready to rock the music industry Tessanne Chin’s rock reggae music is a reflection of who she is, a window into her world. “My music is a nice fusion of rock, reggae and soul. A little bit of dancehall influence. It’s everything that describes me, it’s who I am,” said Tessanne who [...]
Let the play! What is it about live music that gets patrons to regularly flock to venues such as Red Bones Blues Café on Braemar Avenue and the JAVAA headquarters on Haining Road to hear it? The energetic ambidextrous antics of the drummer. The cool du-du-dum of the bass player; the eclectic twing of the [...]
Machel [Montano] thrills fans | Surprise act a no-show but… Walking out of Machel Montano’s Alternative Concept 4 concert yesterday morning, one couldn’t help but feel cheated. For starters, the advertised surprise act from the US never showed and the Global Village venue, on the western side of the Queen’s Park Savannah, was not big [...]
‘Where the music gone?’ Some veteran musicians within the local music fraternity are concerned that the formidable and often ubiquitous sound of contemporary Jamaican music is, for the most part, less musical than its predecessors. They say the “music is missing”. Accomplished musician, Ken Lazarus says that, while he is averse to judging the modern [...]
Ting-a-ling-a-ling: Shabba Ranks’ phone ring The name Shabba Ranks has an immediate, razor sharp edge to it. You would want to know right away who this person is without knowing why. It’s psychological: the name ‘Shabba’ is that of an African king, and ‘Ranks’ refers to a high position in dancehall. Deejay Shabba Ranks seemed [...]
Freddy, Yassus, Maxi heat up Music Fest Yassus Afari, Maxi Priest and Freddy McGregor, the three headline acts at the Cayman Music Festival held at the Lions Centre on 10 February did not disappoint their fans, neither did most of the local acts. The artistes had the crowd on their feet dancing and singing along [...]
Dance with Destra and Ramnarine It was during a performance at a Carnival show, that soca diva Destra Garcia fell in love with a hit made popular by crossover band Dil-e-Nadan. Some three years later, Garcia met band leader Raymond Ramnarine at another Carnival fete where she again expressed her liking for the tune. “Destra [...]