Two members of the Alternative Quartet
Erykah Badu headlined the World Music Night on April 23 at the Heritage Park where she not only commanded the audience’s attention with her fantastic vocals, but also amused them with her laid-back, eclectic performance style. Though it was a long night and Badu took the stage after 1:00 a.m., fans held fast, hoping the soul singer would perform their favourite songs. She did not disappoint, treating the audience to hits like “On And On,” “Drama” and of course “Tyrone”. Rapso trio 3Canal also performed on Friday, along with the Cut+Clear Crew, and their vibe brought the audience to life. Chutney-soca band, Dil-E-Nadan maintained the energy level when they performed a mix of soca, chutney and reggae getting people dancing. They closed with a swing version of the 2010 Carnival Road March song “Palance,” originally written and performed by JW and Blaze. Trinidadian jazz vocalist, Mavis John paid tribute to the legendary Tobago-born soca /calypso artiste Mighty Shadow, singing jazz versions of his hits. She opened her performance with her own “Jazz In The Callaloo” accompanied by jazz ace, Michael “Ming” Low Chew Tung. The queen of soca Destra Garcia delivered her second major performance since having given birth to her daughter, Xaiya, when she performed at Pzazz at the Heritage Park on April 24. Presented by Pan Trinbago, the show featured several top solo pannists and steel orchestras from Trinidad and Tobago. Destra was joined by Ken “Professor” Philmore to perform songs for the steelpan they produced together. But Destra could not leave the stage without performing several of her Carnival favourites, sending her female fans wild with songs like “Tremble It,” “Fly,” “Bonnie And Clyde” and “Is Carnival.”
Jazz trumpeter Etienne Charles and saxophonist Jacques Schwarz-Bart get into a smooth groove
The jazz festival also included shows at Mount Irvine Beach Resort on during the afternoons of April 24 and 25 where hundreds gathered on the sands to take in Jazz on the Beach. Songbird Vaughnette Bigford shone here, accompanied by saxophonist Tony Woodruffe. Swimmers left the water just to hear Bigford do covers like “I Just Don’t Wanna Be lonely” and Miriam Makeba’s “Pata Pata.” Where there is good music, there is usually great food and the Tobago Jazz Experience was no exception. At the Heritage Park, patrons enjoyed a lavish spread which included traditional Tobagonian delights like curried crab and dumplings and ‘blue food’: stewed dasheen roots. Mouth watering yet? Don’t worry; if you did miss the 2010 run of the Tobago Jazz Experience, you can look forward to next year’s edition, which the Tobago Division of Tourism promises will be even bigger and more exciting.
Tobago Jazz
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