DESTRA CALLS FOR UNITY | Local News | trinidadexpress.com

“Forget the fighting and the politics and remember the one word that describes Trinidad and Tobago — unity.”

Those words from soca star Destra Garcia echoed through hearts and minds to bring a large feteing audience together at Sweet 100.1 FM’s Jazz — A Fusion of our Music and Culture. The showcase was held on Saturday evening at the Port of Spain International Waterfront, on Wrightson Road.

Destra indirectly addressed the “name-calling spat” between Opposition Leader Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Housing Minister Camille Robinson-Regis during her performance of her 2005 hit “Fly”.

On Thursday, Persad-Bissessar fired back at Robinson-Regis’s repeated references to her full name “Kamla Susheila Persad-Bissessar”, at a People’s National Movement public meeting the week before in Arima, saying she was proud of her name which she got from her ancestors, while Robinson-Regis’s name is that of a “slave master”.

Destra sang: “It’s all about unity, togetherness. Carnival time we love de jamming. All ah we, collectively. In de bacchanal time to start de fete. One thing about my country. Everywhere we go we love to party. Where’s my posse, get ready… wave yuh rag high, up in de sky, take yuh rag and fly.”

It was a performance that reminded everyone in earshot of the Laventille-born singer’s name, extensive catalogue and stellar musicianship.

“Allyuh remember meh name? Who it is allyuh seeing up here?” she asked playfully before cueing her backing Bakanal band into their Carnival 2009 title song to answer her own question.

In the middle of inspiring them to “make ah bacchanal on the Waterfront”, Destra warned that her time with them was limited as the show had long gone over its advertised 10 p.m. close by the time she danced on stage at 10.30.

Moved by their vociferous pleas for “more time to wine” she politely turned to a police inspector off stage to beg for additional time on stage.

“Mr Officer, please give meh a li’l more time, nah. Everybody get to come up here and sing and I was in the back waiting.

The people waiting whole night to see me. If the people say they want more time yuh will give me a li’l more time?” Destra, hands clasped, enquired.

Addressing the crowd, she continued: “Allyuh ask the officer for more time, please. If yuh find ah should get more time make say yeah.”

The deafening cheer clearly moved the police as Garcia continued uninterrupted into her hits “Lucy”, “Bonnie and Clyde” and “It’s Carnival”, much to the glee of the euphoric audience.

Soulful voices in the city

Earlier, thumping trumpets, soulful saxes and shrilling steel replaced blaring car horns and revving engines on the busy Wrightson Road and Independence Square junction.

Saxophonist Adrian Kong, flautist Pedro Lezama and pannist Joshua Regrello provided a teasing improvised soundtrack to the flowing sea of white-clad patrons pouring into the fenced Waterfront venue. Among them were Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Symon de Nobriga and Port of Spain Mayor Joel Martinez.

It was singer Moricia Cagan, however, who first inspired them to find their full collective voice.

The San Fernando-born songstress hit all the right notes on the late American R&B/soul legend Aretha Franklin’s “A Natural Woman” to draw howls of approval from the growing audience.

Kay Alleyne lifted their cheers a couple octaves higher to match her high key change on American soul icon Sam Cooke’s “A Change Gonna Come”.

Both ladies were backed by a flawless Carl “Beaver” Henderson band, conducted on stage by the award-winning maestro.

Kaiso and sokah climax

Moments later, Henderson’s charges demonstrated the full range of their musical acumen when they effortlessly changed tempo to calypso icon David Rudder’s 1993 classic “Calypso Music”.

Arms spread wide, Rudder embraced the now feteing crowd, responding gleefully to his gestures to come stage front.

Rudder showcased the many jewels of his calypso crown with danceable renditions of the gems “Hammer”, “Madness”, “Bacchanal Lady” and a rare performance of his 1996 hit “A Madman’s Rant”.

The Canada-based, Belmont-born bard, who moments before greeted Canadian High Commissioner Kumar Gupta backstage, brought his performance home with an emotional rendition of “Trini 2 de Bone” and “High Mas”.

Freetown Collective, Nailah Blackman and Patrice Roberts all had special moments on stage on Saturday. Muhammad Muwakil led the Belmont-based Freetown through an impressive set that included the pore-raising “Space of a Heart”, their afrobeats hit “Kassandra” and ended with their Carnival 2020 hit “Feel the Love”.

Blackman built anticipation perfectly with acoustic versions of her breakthrough Carnival 2016 hit collaboration with Kes (Kees Dieffenthaller) “Work Out” and “Say Less”, before cueing her Sokah band into a fete-shaking medley of her hits.

Patrice Roberts, defiantly dressed in black, wasted no time in ensuring pulses stayed racing when she followed with her own fete medley that included the hit “Old and Grey”,

Roberts invited her daughter Lily on stage, saying “she ask me to perform” and lovingly embraced the stage-shy five-year-old when she froze in the spotlight, drawing “ahhs” from the audience.

The Toco-born singer rewarded their unconditional support, running off the stage to jump with sections of the crowd during her climax performance of the Taste of Carnival 2022 hit “Drink Water”.