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Jazz tribute to the Grand Master By Felix Paul, Trinidad Guardian, Monday, October 22nd, 2007 |
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RETURN Of The Hat—A tribute to Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts) might have been conceptualised by local jazz pianist Raf Robertson, but the medium employed Saturday night at Queen’s Hall in St Ann’s heralded another chapter in local art. Even if it were for just ten minutes out of a three-hour concert, the exploration of Kitchener’s break-up with his wife Margaret Roberts, and interpreted through the calypso Margie, could have certainly been considered a segment of a top-class musical. Saturday was the second night of the fifth annual T&T Steelpan Jazz Festival put on by Queen’s Royal College Foundation. The show continues until Friday. Several top Caribbean musicians graced a packed Queen’s Hall, dedicating all of the musical interpretations of Kitchener’s five-decade repertoire. It was the Laventille-born Aldwin Albino who kicked off the show, exacting from the piano classical notations and movements on every Kitchener number he delivered. Relator, a master performer renowned for his diction, captivated the appreciative audience with his impersonation of the Grand Master. And as if to prove there was no limit to his talents, as soon as he finished walking the fret board on his acoustic guitar, ensuring that not one note of the bass line was left out, Relator was to join with jazz pannist Andy Narell on the double second to outdo his earlier performance. Names like Frankie McIntosh on keyboards, Luther Francois on sax, Tony Voison on guitar and David Burnette on drums conjure up images of the top of Caribbean musicianship. And that was exactly what the audience got Saturday night. But the icing on the cake was the Grand Festival Orchestra—A collaboration between the T&T Police Band and Desperadoes. Add this to a Marilyn Williams mixture... sit back and enjoy. Jazz it was. Jazz they liked it. |