Successful September I wish you! Where does the time go? Well if you are busy enjoying the summer by attending several CropOver and Spicemas events, and by seeing your grandaughter frolic on the beach it goes quickly, and nicely!
It was another year of sweet tunes with some of my favourite Crop Over soca: "Soca You" by Adrian Clarke; "I Am Alive" by Red Plastic Bag; "Breakfast In Bed" by Lil Rick; "Feting Family" by Mikey; and "Jiggle Jiggle" by King Bubba! Some of my fave calypsoes were " Conversation With Bussa by Smokey Burke; "Kaiso Ain' Afraid by Structure; Sexual Harassment by Mr. Blood; Prayer for De Children by Donella, and Great Again by Jude Clarke. After a few tent nights, Soca Royale at Bushy Park, and the Calypso Finals at the Oval, and a Kadooment Day where I missed the live bands, especially a steelband on the road, I headed to Grenada for Spicemas!
There I enjoyed the Groovy Soca competition at the packed National Stadium but could not stay awake to even the middle of the Power Soca performances which ended after four in the morning! Chipping behind Flow Commancheros Steelband to their sweet renditions of Trouble in the Morning by Vaughn, Tombstone by Mandela Linkz, Pum-Pum by Scholar, and Get in Yuh Section by Little Natty and Thunda a.k.a. Wuss Ways was the highlight of Spicemas for me! Another highlight of my visit to Grenada was the Friday night after the finale Pretty Mas on Tuesday when I saw Kidnap Love, a well-crafted comedy written, directed and presented by Richardo Keens-Douglas! This slightly over 90-minute play was well received by an audience of around seven hundred at the Trade Centre as the six actors gave excellent performances. I heard it was repeated two weekends later to another appreciative audience of about four hundred and fifty patrons. It is certainly a drama that can be repeated internationally!
Now I am working on presenting a first for Canada: An Intimate Evening with Red Plastic Bag! It is a concert in a Toronto theatre where RPB will take us on a celebration of his forty year music journey! He will play his guitar while singing his classic hits, and he will be accompanied by Neu Jenarashun, an outstanding nine-piece band with three talented horn players! This special show takes place on Friday, October 26 at 8:30 p.m. at the Armenian Youth Centre Theatre, 50 Hallcrown Place in Toronto. For those who like sweet music, you will not want to miss it! Please contact me at alexbajan2018@gmail.com for more information.
In the meantime, I will leave you with a list of some of the best songs, in no particular order, of Crop-Over and Spicemas:
1. SOCA YOU - AC
2. BREAKFAST IN BED - LIL RICK
3. TROUBLE IN THE MORNING - VAUGHN
4. I AM ALIVE - RED PLASTIC BAG
5. FETING FAMILY - MIKEY
6. CONVERSATIONS WITH BUSSA - SMOKEY BURKE
7. KAISO AIN'T AFRAID/WE HAVE TO WORK - STRUCTURE
8. TOMBSTONE - MANDELA LINKZ
9. PUM PUM - SCHOLAR
10. RAIN - BOBO
11.BEST IN ME - IWEB
12.GIFTED - DASH
13. THE CCJ - ROOTSMAN KELLY
14. GREAT AGAIN - JUDE CLARKE
15. SEXUAL HARASSMENT - MR. BLOOD
16. PRAYER FOR DE CHILDREN - DONELLA
17. COME OVER/AH COMING OUT - BARACKA
18. DEAR FATHER - COLIN SPENCER
19. ADARA - IWEB
20. JIGGLE JIGGLE - KING BUBBA
21. PIECE AH DE ROCK - CHRYSTAL CUMMINS-BECKLES
22. MUDDA SALLY/TRUE STORY - LIL RICK
23. COUNTRY - BIGGIE IRIE
24. FEELING GOOD -SHELDON DOUGLAS
25. FUNKY BUSINESS - FIMBA (VincyMas)
26. FETE LOAN - SANCTUARY
27. AT LARGE - MARVAY
28. BOLD AND BRAVE - MR. DALE
29. GET IN YUH SECTION - WUSS WAYS a.k.a. Lil Natty & Thunda
30. THANK GOD FOR SOCA - PAPPY-BOI
31. TICK TOCK - STATEMENT
32. UP IN IT - BOYZIE
33. LOYAL SIDEMAN - BLAKA DAN
34. BILLBOARD - SEX CHANGE
35. CHANT OF THE SUMMER - SHORTPREE
Peace out!
aw
No comments:
Post a Comment