'Under the Trees': Opens with a flourish
Posted: Monday, February 9, 2004
By Terry Joseph
THE CORE, a brand new band but comprising several members of (now defunct) Roots, generated immediate sparkle and set the tone for a night of scintillating performances, as the curtain raised on the 11th annual Carnival Under the Trees at Hotel Normandie.
Led by veteran guitarist Tony Voisin and featuring Wayne Guerra doubling as musical director and keyboardist, Winston Matthews on drums, Colin Stephens on congas, trombonist Edward Elliot, David Phillips on sax, bassist Mike N and Anselm Daniel on first trumpet, with chorus singers Natalie Yorke, Adrian Philbert and Kerwin Trotman; The Core flawlessly backed a stream of top-drawer calypsonians paying tribute to The Mighty Shadow.
The sold-out arena Under the Trees was that night also under a moon equal to the night's stellar cast and a host of celebrities present, including former Republic Bank MD Dunbar McIntyre, Scotiabank current equivalent Richard Yound, bpTT president Robert Riley, Tourism Minister Howard Chin Lee, former diplomat Reginald Dumas, former finance minister Selby Wilson, Zalayhar, wife of former president Noor Hassanali and multiple Grammy Award winner, Ralph MacDonald.
Yorke rendered the national anthem to signal an overture from The Core, who then struck up the modern version of Nelson's 1982 hit "Disco Daddy" to open the proceedings. First on the night's playbill was Baron, resplendent in white on white suit.
Former national calypso monarch Denyse Plummer whipped the audience into swaying made with "Caribbean Woman", then going down into the audience to select a balding man as a performance enhancer for her delivery of a slate of infectious but meaningful songs that won the crowd at every serving.
Opening the show's second half was Singing Sonia, appropriately dressed in all black for "A Tribute to Shadow", followed by Sanelle Dempster.
Up next was Roger Roberts, Stanton Kewley and Wendell Manwarren, the rapso group 3-canal, who did shadow's "The Problem" and their latest cut "Good News", notching the party component up with their spirited versions and conversational delivery of the lyric.
The man of the moment, Shadow was in fine fettle. Dressed in black suit with ghoulish iridescent skeleton imprint on the front, Shadow went straight for the jugular, opening with his 1974 road march, "Bassman", sending the crowd into sing-along mode; a few among them leaving their chairs for firm ground on which to dance.
Backing up with "Dingolay" pushed the party ever further, before he swung into his current bag of hits, starting that jam with his satirical anti-piracy protest "Sing, Boy, Sing", then taking a swipe at paunchy guys in "Come For Your Lunch", doing the witty-ditty "Horner Man Crying", following with "Musical Me" and closing on the infectious "Whop Cocoyea".
It was an impressive statement from Carnival Connection 2004 as this year's Carnival Under the Trees is branded.
Courtesy Trinidad Express
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