After five days of rain and flooding Mother Nature smiled on the National Trust of T&T last Saturday evening for its annual De Rain or Shine Retro Kaiso Cruise to Nelson Island.
The Gulf of Paria, basking in sunshine, upon placid seas the water taxi, aptly named Calypso Spirit, transported some 300 landlubbers to the small island, once a US military outpost and detention centre for labour and Black Power militants.
Headed by CEO Valerie Taylor, the National Trust was well prepared for Saturday’s voyage, the island prepped with local cuisine, beverages and delicacies. First to be devoured were the breadfruit pholourie, followed by the breadfruit kurma and ice cream. The coconut bake and buljhol, paymee, guava cheese and tamarind balls didn’t last too long either.
Making the ten-minute trip and enjoying the evening’s live entertainment were Costa Rican ambassador Lilly Edgerton, Miss Universe 1977 Janelle Penny Commissiong, calypso musicologist Ray Funk, TUCO official Annmarie Parks- Kojo (Twiggy), local fashion icon Jacqui Koon How and representatives of sponsors NLCB and First Citizens.
Aside from the cuisine, vintage kaiso was the other reason people braved the elements to make the trip and they were richly rewarded as the evening’s cast included artistes like Bro Superior—who received the DLitt honorary degree from UWI—Relator, Abebele, GB, Lady Adana and Poser.
With the show announced open by National Trust Outreach and Education Officer Joseph Bertrand and patrons welcomed by Taylor, GB presented the cast musically accompanied by a sextet comprising Patrick Price (keyboards); Ronnie Joseph and Superior (guitars); Michael Germaine (bass); and, Tony Woodroffe (sax).
GB was up first and sang his own Calypso Rising, Shadow’s My Belief and Lying Excuses, a ditty he co-wrote with Sparrow.
Sans the sextet, Abebele accompanied himself on guitar to perform Portrait of Trinidad, Land of Calypso, My Alphabet and Black Stalin’s In Times.
Possessing a beautiful voice and with much stage presence, lone female on the cast Lady Adana opened her set with Ras Shorty I’s Watch Out My Children, followed by Louis Armstrong’s iconic Wonderful World, Singing Francine’s Mr Carnival and Merchant’s Caribbean Connection.
Also accompanying himself, Relator was outstanding as he sang stanzas of Let’s Be Friends, Gavaskar and Christmas is Yours. Displaying his versatility, Relator flipped the evening’s script, mixing the present with the past by doing his interpretation of the late Lord Popo singing the 2017 Road March, MX Prime’s Full Extreme. This threw patrons into uncontrollable laughter.
Always the complete entertainer, pride of Sangre Grande Poser offered Bus Conductor, Party Tonight and Find a Party.
Dapper and looking nowhere near the 80th birthday he is celebrating on November 30, Bro Superior opened with January Girls, originally sang by the late Lord Kitchener, a calypsonian whose music Superior confessed he “lived off” when he migrated to Britain. Superior also sang his 2018 Panorama composition titled Pan on the Road, San Fernando Carnival, Trinidad Carnival and Long Live Calypso, bringing the curtain down on a most enjoyable evening of kaiso at 6.45 pm.
The Unit Trust’s next event to be held at the Nelson Island Heritage Site is Ponche de Creme & Parang on December 2. This cruise/show will be headlined by Alicia Jaggassar and Los Alumnos de San Juan.