Competent and seamless musical accompaniment can enhance the quality of any singer's performance, as was made loud and clear at Up Close and Personal, staged at the Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook, last Friday night.Presented by Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation (Tuco) and Divas Calypso Cabaret International, the programme was another 79th birthday tribute to the Calypso King of the World, the Mighty Sparrow, Dr Slinger Francisco.
Providing musical accompaniment was four-man jazz ensemble Moyenne, made up of Chantal Esdelle on keyboard, Natasha Joseph on double seconds steelpan, Douglas Redon on bass guitar, and Darren Sheppard on drums. The quartet combined their individual playing styles to suit all the singers' needs, imbuing performances with tremendous vitality.
A patron seated next to me whispered how amazed he was to hear just four musicians generate so much melodious music. Indeed, the sentiment seemed to receive endorsement from Sparrow who, in complimenting them at the end of his set, described their accompaniment, to loud shouts of agreement from the audience, as "superb".
For more than 15 years, Moyenne has been creating and performing its brand of Caribbean jazz. The group's signature album New Hope incorporates elements of calypso, Cuban son, and bossa nova to create compositions that express what pannist Earl Rodney describes as the African experience in the Americas. The group was founded in 1998 by Esdelle and steelpan player Glenford "Kevin" Sobers. Esdelle is a graduate with a degree in jazz composition from Berklee College of Music.
Entertainers on the playbill included Kerice Pascall, Dilena Diamond, Karen Eccles, and Black Stalin , Dr Leroy Calliste. Pascall opened, doing a powerful rendition of Sparrow's Education, and was followed by Diamond's version Lying Excuses. We were then treated to two selections from Moyenne�Kaiso Kaiso (an original by the group) and a craftily creative interpretation of the Birdie's Slave.
Five-time national calypso monarch Stalin had ace trumpeter Clyde Mitchell join the aggregation for the presentation of his repertoire, which he opened with the timeless We Can Make It If We Try. He followed with Sufferers, Bun Dem, In Time, Turn Back Now and Feeling To Party. His offering of In Time, the song with which he won the monarch title in 1995, evoked great emotion from not only himself but the audience as well.
Following the well-received presentation of Eccles' moving tribute song, King Of The Universe, Sparrow went through the birthday cake-sticking routine with his grand-daughter Prizzie before occupying the stage for more than an hour delivering songs from his vast repertoire of varied music. Simply put, Sparrow rocked. Even at 79 years of age, he continues to demonstrate a knack to be able to please the rhythmic palate of an audience with ease.
Chatter about him among the fans was very supportive after the concert, including talk that described him as exceeding expectations, being vibrant, and still being an entertainer with incredible talent and unlimited skills.Show host duties were joyfully executed by Jillian Smith, MC at Divas Calypso Cabaret.