In­nis Fran­cis

in­nis_fran­cis@ya­hoo.com

Not of­ten do we say thanks, but en­ter­tain­er Keino Swamber ac­knowl­edg­ment of turn­ing 50 years old af­ford­ed him the chimes of ap­pre­ci­a­tion.

Swamber host­ed an evening of songs from his child­hood up­bring­ing in a three-hour show along­side sul­try women of song in Bren­da But­ler and Mori­cia Ca­gan. The show al­so fea­tured sax­o­phon­ist Jassiem Williams and reg­gae so­ca croon­er Zig­gy Rankin at the Na­pari­ma Bowl, San Fer­nan­do re­cent­ly.

Swamber said he cel­e­brat­ed his 50th birth­day in Feb­ru­ary and it has been Gold­en—the show’s theme. He said life has giv­en him an op­por­tu­ni­ty with many favourable ex­pe­ri­ences de­spite the set­backs of the COVID-19 pan­dem­ic.

Swamber said through his jour­ney he met many per­sons who have made an im­pec­ca­ble mark in his life and the show Gold­en is a re­flec­tion of such.

Re­flect­ing to the trou­bles of youth in to­day’s so­ci­ety, Swamber said his heart bleeds for the chil­dren to­day, with so much hap­pen­ing and al­though he does not have chil­dren of his own, there is a lot more we can do to save the chil­dren so that they can al­so live to cel­e­brate 50 years and old­er.

In­side of the show and sup­port­ed by Or­der The Band, Swamber per­formed clas­sics he grew up lis­ten­ing to like My Day, How Can I Love Again, Say a Prayer for the Chil­dren, Price Tag, My Lov­ing Arms, Rap­ture, and Lord Nel­son’s Meh Lover.

Opal Murrell raises the roof during her pan solo segment.

Innis Francis

He per­formed a sen­sa­tion­al duet with But­ler to Ste­vie Won­der’s Love in Need of Love To­day, which set the mood as she claimed the stage with an eclec­tic ren­di­tion of Bob Mar­ley’s Wait­ing in Vain.

Ca­gan al­so sang Vice Ver­sa Love and had the au­di­ence singing along with her to Whit­ney Hous­ton’s Where Do Bro­ken Hearts Go be­fore she ex­it­ed the stage.

Williams left the au­di­ence want­i­ng more as he played a re­fresh­ing ver­sion of Tay Lay Lay and prompt­ed an en­core.

Rankin set the tone near­ing the end of the show with a heat­ed per­for­mance as he sang Why Not, Wine For Your Lover.

Brenda Butler serenades at Golden.

INNIS FRANCIS

Ziggy Rankin brings a heated performance with his song Wine For Your Lover.

INNIS FRANCIS

Keino Swamber and Brenda Butler sing Stevie Wonder’s Love in Need of Love Today.

innis francis