Winchester’s mix of moods

Shurwayne Winchester’s boast that he’s not a soca artiste, but rather an all-round entertainer has been proven  again. He illustrated this  at the weekly installment of Unplugged Tuesdays held at Woodford Café, located at the Fiesta Plaza, MovieTowne, on November 29. Undoubtedly the star on the evening’s playbill, the former International Power (Soca) Monarch and Play Whe Groovy Soca Monarch delivered a well-crafted musical set that transformed the texture of the regular Tuesday production, following the lifting of the curfew which formed part of Government’s declaration of a state of emergency.

Since the resumption of the regular entertainment feature, acts on the playbill have been designing their musical sets around Carnival 2012 soca releases now in heavy rotation on the nation’s radio frequencies. But daring to be different, Winchester opted to inject the spirit of the season in his musical mix of moods and easily had patrons in chorus. Dressed in national colours, he dipped into the musical treasure chest of the Baron (Timothy Watkins) and rendered Come Go, before turning to the song-book of soca parang king Scrunter (Irwin Reyes Johnson) and sealed it with Drink Ah Rum, taken from the vault of the late Grand Master of calypso, Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts). Clearly, these choice season ditties resonated well with the large audience, as illustrated by the fervent reactions.

The fantastic opportunity to engage Unplugged Tuesday fans in a sing-a-long was truly a gift. And why not? It’s Christmas! The celebrated entertainer who has been jet-setting across the Caribbean, recording hit after hit and working on what is said to be heavy hitting collaborations (with international entertainers, who for now will remain unnamed) opted to show his range by delivering pop and dancehall numbers, too. With DJ Kamau at the serato, Winchester served up We Found Love from Rihanna, Sand Storm from DJ Darude, Dynamite from Taio Cruz, Pon De Floor Major Blazer’s and Party Rock Anthem from LMFAO.

Then, for good measure, Winchester had three curvaceous women battle for audience affection by demonstrating their wicked gyrating styles to the song Jiggle It. With that, things only got better, but naughty, too, with his rendering of Wining Addiction, before completing the exhilarating set with the champion sound of Look De Band Comin’ to a delighted audience.