In Memory of Kitch

In Memory of Kitch
Gary Cardinez, Trinidad Express, Monday, April 23, 2012 at 12:34 AM ECT
http://www.trinidadexpress.com/sunday-mix/In_Memory_of_Kitch-148468795.html

The memorial concert held for Lord Kitchener at the Nu Pub, French Street, Woodbrook on Wednesday night ended prematurely for most of the patrons as they walked out on "sweet soca man" Baron before he was finished singing.

Baron who was the final artiste in a night of tributes to the man who was dubbed "The Grandmaster" came onto the stage singing one of his own signature hits 'Doh Rock it So'. The audience then expected he would follow with one of Lord Kitchener's compositions in keeping with the format of the show. But it was not to be.

When Baron was finished with his first rendition, he told the audience he would not be singing any of Kitchener's songs. The concert organised by the Kalypso Revue tent which was founded by the late Grandmaster himself was held to celebrate what would have been his 90th birthday.

'I could only sing me, I never learn any other artiste song,' Baron told the sold out audience. He went on, 'I spent plenty years with Kitchener but I never learnt any of his songs, if you sing a verse maybe I could sing the chorus.'

Baron made things even worse when he declared if is anybody's song he could sing it would be Sparrow as he grew up idolizing Sparrow.

Almost in unison there was an exodus from the venue even though Baron continued with two more of his most popular hits 'Say Say' and 'Sweet Soca Man'.

Before the Baron encounter, the audience was treated to some very good performances Mavis John (The Carnival is Over and Calypso Rising), Relator and his drummer Lion with a slew of Kitchener's songs and Regeneration Now, the incomparable duo of calypso archivists.

Immaculately dressed, Sugar Aloes was very impressive, backed by Cummings and the Wailers he did songs like 'Miss Tourist', 'Iron Man', 'Love in the Cemetery' and 'Mystery Band'.

The melody, harmony and lyrics of Kitchener's music stood the test of time as several artistes tried to perform his songs; most with the help of the audience.

Pink Panther did 'Trouble In Arima' an acapella verse of 'Margie' and had the audience as his chorus in 'Sugar Bum Bum'.

Valerie Green (Kitch's wife) and his daughter Quienia Roberts were seated in the front row singing the lyrics to every song.

The Mighty Trini vocalized 'The Bull', 'Miss Tourist' and 'The Road' in his own style and had the audience singing chorus throughout. Skatie tried his best with 'Bees Melody' and 'Jericho'. Pannist Earl Brooks also made an appearance and played two songs.

The surprise guest of the night was Kitchener's son Kernal who immediately had the audience help him with singing 'Happy Birthday'. He then performed 'Toco Band' before introducing someone he said he met in Tobago recently.

Dressed in red suit and hat Curtis 'Tobago Kitch' John came on stage and performed '12 Bar Joan'. His was a very energetic performance with dance moves reminiscent of the Grandmaster. Kernal joined in the fun and in the end John received a standing ovation.

Several of the performers gave interesting stories of Kitchener during the time they shared with him. Most of which were very pleasant. The MCs for the evening were CG and Sprangalang. There was talk about a part two of the concert and one can only hope this time around there will be a stage manager and the band and singers put in some serious rehearsals.