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March 21, 2009
Featuring Soca Artist: Scrappy
 Scrappy's passion for music is astounding, particularly his love for soca. It is the same passion that is his driving
force for working towards goals and reaching milestones in his life & musical career including the release of successful
and promising solo soca albums. The title of 'Montserrat Soca Monarch and Road March title 2005-2006' was one of his
major achievements on his debut year in the international soca scene in 2005.
At age 5 is when Scrappy began exploring his musical talent by always singing along with his mother as she listened
to her favourite artists ranging from Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Sparrow, Gypsy, Baron, Dennis Brown and the list goes on. All
of these artists have influenced his musical style and talent. After travelling for the first 5 years of his life Scrappy
settled in the lovely island of Montserrat where he took part in local talent shows exposing this young act to the public
in which he became a household name. He then went on to enter the Junior Calypso Monarch and won after entering the first
time and being the first Junior Calypso Monarch. Scrappy
is currently becoming a household name for Soca music in a lot of territories including the European market especially after
being nominated for awards in both the UK's highly prestige Soca Music Awards (U.K) and The Calabash Awards (U.K) in which
strengthend his recognition in the U.K.
Scrappy has so far shared the stage with the likes of Edwin Yearwood & Krosfyah, Iwer George, Fyahman Hooper,
El A Kru, Nadia Batson and the list goes on. Look out for this artist in your area as he will be sure to be passing through.
For more information about this artist please visit
www.myspace.com/scrappyonline1
or email info@scrappyonline.com
March 16, 2009
U.S. Premier of Calypso Dreams Documentary
MIAMI, FL – Florida International University’s Latin
American and Caribbean Center (LACC); University of Miami’s Center for Latin American Studies (CLAS); Abeng Arts; and
the Consulate General of the Republic of Trinidad & Tobago are pleased to premiere the documentary film Calypso
Dreams at 7:00 p.m. Thursday, April 2, 2009 at the University of Miami Cosford Cinema, 1111 Memorial Drive,
Coral Gables, FL 33124. The screening will be followed by a discussion with the filmmaker, Dr. Geoffrey Dunn, legendary Calypsonian
Lord Superior, and producer Alvin Daniell.
The film premiere is preceded by a panel discussion entitled Music, Resistance, and the Caribbean’s
Calypso Legacy, on Wednesday, April 1, 2009, at 2:00 p. m. at Florida International University, Graham Center
140, University Park Campus, 11200 S.W. 8th Street, Miami, Florida 33199. The panel will feature outtakes of Calypso
Dreams with the filmmaker Dr. Geoffrey Dunn. He will be joined by Lord Superior (Andrew Marcano)
and Alvin Daniell in what promises to be a lively discussion on the vibrant social and political forum Calypso has provided
historically and in contemporary Trinidad & Tobago.
The filmmaker, Dunn, began work on the film nearly a decade ago,
but now clearly represents a “critical document of Trinidad and Tobago’s cultural history…many of the stalwarts
we chronicled in the film have since passed," Dunn has noted. "Kitch, Preddie, Blakie, Terror, Zandolie, Mystic
Prowler, Ras Shorty I, and now Duke. And many of the locations are gone now, too-like the People's Mall and the Pelican
Hotel and several buildings on Frederick Street."
The feature-length documentary film Calypso
Dreams chronicles the spirit and traditions of Calypso music in the island country of Trinidad and Tobago, dating
back to its complex Afro-Caribbean roots in the 18th and 19th centuries. With narrative commentary by the popular Caribbean
musician David Rudder, the film captures riveting, contemporary performances by a host of legendary Calypso performers with
colorful "sobriquets," including the Mighty Sparrow, Calypso Rose, Lord Superior, Black Stalin, Mighty Bomber, Lord
Blakie, Singing Sandra and Mighty Terror, and pays homage to recently deceased Calypsonians, including Lord Kitchener and
Lord Pretender. The film also includes a rare and exclusive interview with Harry Belafonte on the issue of his early involvement
with Calypso and his complex relationship with Lord Melody in the 1950s and early '60s. Using a rich array of archival
footage and photographs, Calypso Dreams illustrates how the music was corrupted and homogenized
by the American music industry in the 1940s and 1950s, only to survive and, ultimately, thrive in international anonymity.
(1:21)
About the Artists
Geoffrey Dunn has produced and directed
more than a dozen documentary films, three of which have qualified for Academy Award nominations—Miss or Myth?,
Mi Vida, and Dollar a Day, Ten Cents a Dance—with the latter receiving special recognition from
the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. His films have shown at the most prestigious film festivals around the world,
including those at Sundance, Berlin, Cannes, Toronto, Los Angeles (Filmex), London, Chicago, Mill Valley, Venice, New York
and Montreal. They have been distributed internationally in theaters and broadcast over Bravo, PBS, and the BBC. He also wrote
the screenplay for the feature film Maddalena Z. A Rhodes Scholar nominee, Dunn was the recipient of a John L. Senior
Fellowship at Cornell University and holds a Ph.D. in sociology. He currently serves as a lecturer in both Film and Digital
Media and Community Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is the author of the award-winning book, Santa
Cruz Is in the Heart, and served as editor and principal author for Chinatown Dreams: The Life and Photographs of
George Lee, which was the recipient of an East-West Book Award. Dunn recently received a prestigious Gail Rich Award
for his contributions to the arts and culture in Northern California.
Lord Superior
burst onto the Calypso scene in Trinidad and Tobago in 1954, at the age of 16, with his first hit, “Coconut.”
During the 1960s and 1970s he challenged for the Calypso Monarch title on several occasions, the most memorable being in 1974,
when he won the South Crown in San Fernando and placed fourth on Dimanche Gras behind Sparrow, Shadow and Lord Kitchener.
Superior also engaged in a 25-year-battle for a calypso radio station in T&T, and eventually won a court decision. Superior
was honored by UNESCO in 2004 for both his 50 years in calypso and for being named one of the Top 50 Calypsonians of all time.
He served as a co-producer of Calypso Dreams and is a featured on-air performer and commentator in the film.
Alvin
Daniell is one of the great cultural figures in Trinidad and Tobago. He is a composer, television presenter on cultural
events, and has served as an adjudicator for Calypso Competitions, Pan Competitions, National and Caribbean Song Festivals
and various other cultural competitions in Trinidad and throughout the Caribbean. He has conducted workshops on Calypso and
Pan in Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Lucia, Antigua and Miami. In the 1980s he teamed up with Len "Boogsie"
Sharpe to produce a number of hits including "Rags to Riches" and "Carnival is Bacchanal." Daniell has
also served as chairman of the Copyright Organization of Trinidad and Tobago from 1995 to 1999 and currently he is the President
of his own publishing company, Major and Minor Productions, Ltd. MAJOR & minor PRODUCTIONS LTD. Earlier this year
he was appointed Chairmen of a new State enterprise company, Trinidad and Tobago Entertainment Company (T&T Ent). He was
recognized for his contribution to Culture by the Government of Trinidad and Tobago when he received the Hummingbird Medal,
a National Award, in 1995. He also served as a co-producer of Calypso Dreams.
These
events are presented in association with Abeng Arts, a pending 501(c) 3 organization dedicated to celebrating the heritage
and spirit of Caribbean and Latin American artistic expression through the development and presentation of the Performing
Arts.
For further information, please contact Halcyon at 786-287-8977 or abengarts@yahoo.com
March 14, 2009
Featuring Trini Artist: Shazelle
Shazelle Discovered by Music Executive Ivan Berry (tanjola / ib Entertainment / Sony BMG / Ole / BeatFactory), this young Trinidadian
beauty released her single, video and remixes of her 1st recording entitled "Elevator". The track was written by
Shazelle, Rupert Gayle and Derek Brin, with production by "EKUE" (Rupert Gayle and Derek Brin), and additional production
by Justin Forsely. Remizes were done by Alex Greggs (South Rakkas), and superstar Trinidad artist Shurwayne Winchester, blessed one of the remixes with his stunning vocal performance. Ivan Berry, with his global partners, is on a
mission to discover and develop Caribbean artists into International recording stars and Shazelle will be the focus and
priority for the team. Shazelle's singing career started in Trinidad where she sang and wrote songs locally.
Now, she's travelled the globe working with some of the world's best producers, songwriters and artists, to complete
her album. She has already worked with superstar producers, songwriters, remizers and artists, which include: Alex Greggs (South Rakkas) - Produced, written and Remixed for International superstars like N'Sync, Brandy, Michael
Jackson, Britney Spears, Ricky Martin, Chris Brown, Shakira, Pink, Julio Iglesias, any many others. Shurwayne Winchester
- International superstar artist living in Trinidad, where in 2008 he captured the Groovy Soca Monarch with "Carnival
Please Stay". In 2007, he won the Soca Monarch's people's choice Award. In 2006, he won the Soca Monarch for
"Can't Wait" and Groovy Soca Monarch for "Don't Stop". In 2005 he won Road March for "Dead
or Alive". In 2004, he also won Road March for "The Band Coming". Rupert Gayle - Written for International
superstars like Keshia Chante, Lenou Mouskouri, Shawn Desman, Jamila, Dru, In Essence, Rex Goudie, George, Kalan Porter, Ryan
Malcolm, Melissa O'Neil, Brian Melo and many others. Derek Brin - Produced, rewritten and remixed for International
superstars like Jaheim, Robyn, Kelli Price, Kenne Bless, Olivia Waithe, Trinidad's Precious, Dru, In Essence, Kalan Porter,
Keisha Chante and many others. Official MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/shazelleofficial
March 11, 2009
2009 Trinidad Carnival Tuesday video on de Road with Tribe
Wed, March 11, 2009 | link
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