Mr Muzik

Trinidad and To­ba­go song-writ­ing ma­chine Christophe Grant has brought out a lim­it­ed edi­tion ten-song com­pi­la­tion called Tri­ni Till Ah Dead. The man who is famed for com­pos­ing the un­of­fi­cial na­tion­al an­them Nah Leav­ing, has pro­duced what he calls "ten clas­sic pa­tri­ot­ic ca­lyp­soes," drop­ping them in the heat of the coun­try's ju­bilee cel­e­bra­tions. The com­pi­la­tion fea­tures top-class singers: Kizzie Ruiz, Karene As­che, Singing San­dra, Alana Sinette, Ti­gress, Michelle Hen­ry and broad­cast­er/ca­lyp­son­ian An­dre Williams. This ca­lyp­so pack­age is tru­ly a col­lec­tors' item, and shows the ver­sa­til­i­ty of com­pos­er Grant who fo­cus­es on things lo­cal.

Three songs that made it to the fi­nal of the Lord Bryn­ner In­de­pen­dence Ca­lyp­so Com­pe­ti­tion are on this CD. They are Cas­cadu, Red, White and Black and Our Na­tion­al Watch­words. Kizzie Ruiz opens with T&T For­ev­er af­firm­ing her al­le­giance to the land of her birth. Karene As­che sings Gold, Cas­cadu and Fifty Years And More; while Singing San­dra is fea­tured on the songs Red, White And Black and On Reach­ing Fifty. Michelle Hen­ry does the ho­n­ours on Our Na­tion­al Watch­words, and Ti­gress sings Cross­roads.

Alana Sinette sings My Haven My Home, while An­dre Williams (Full Cir­cle) puts the lid on the com­pi­la­tion which em­ploys the ar­ranging­ing tal­ents of Je­van Ochoa, Julio Nel­son, Ju­nior "Ibo" Joseph and Sir Frankie Mc In­tosh. This com­pi­la­tion is the per­fect elixir when na­tion­al spir­it is flag­ging and pa­tri­o­tism needs a boost. It has come at a time when the coun­try cel­e­brates 50 years of na­tion­hood. Go out and buy a copy, on sale at all record shops.