McIntosh...A woman with a vision for mas

A little cut here and a little snip there, that’s how Ronnie and Caro’s Caroline McIntosh started to redesign her costumes as a teenager, playing mas in the now defunct Carnival bands Poison and Barbarossa. Caro, as she’s affectionately called, wanted to look different from her fellow masqueraders, even though they were in the same band. Little did she suspect then, that was the beginning of a fulfilling career in costume designing. “When my friends saw my costume, every year, they would want me to design their costumes too,” she says, with a laugh. With an eye for detail and a mind focused on perfecting her craft, the 36-year-old, who started playing mas at the tender age of eight with Peter Minshall’s Jungle Fever, has positively contributed to the local Carnival industry and she’s not about to take her foot off the gas.


Hat-trick
Fresh from celebrating a hat-trick in the Medium Band of the Year category, Caroline, along with husband and partner in mas, veteran soca artiste Ronnie McIntosh, wowed the judges on Carnival Monday and Tuesday with their presentation titled Tribute, in which they paid homage to legendary masmen, including George Bailey, Stephen Lee Heung, Wayne Berkeley, Edmund and Lil Hart and Peter Minshall. The band, which won the prestigious titles in 2008 and again in 2009, with their portrayals, De Gulf and Bakkanal, respectively, also captured this year’s Male Individual of the Year title, with the beautiful costume, D Head Hunter, portrayed by Keith Tinto. Caroline, who says she was “speechless and overwhelmed” by the win, is hoping that the three-year-old band, which she says provides its revellers with quality service and an excellent time on the road, will continue its winning streak next year and go for its forth consecutive Survivors

Already gearing up for that win, the woman with a vision for mas is forging ahead with the preparations for her C2K11 presentation, which she says will be called Survivors. She explains: “On Ash Wednesday, Ronnie, my mom and myself were sitting in the gallery, just reminiscing on Carnival 2009 and 2010 and all the things that we survived, such as the earthquake in Haiti, and I came up with the theme Survivor. “And we were all like, yeah, that’s it!”

Bikini and beads

Noting that she imports some of her materials from New York, as the “variety is not as wide here,” she defends what some have termed “bikini and beads mas,” saying, it’s all about what the people want. “We do try to do both kinds of costumes. We tried to put in the long skirts with no feathers for one of our sections but you know what happened? The masqueraders cut off all the fabric,” she says, laughing. “Ninety per cent of our masqueraders go for the bikini and beads and feathers. That’s what they call for, that’s our market, so we cater to them.” With no plans to enter the large band category in the future, as the band’s masqueraders are “content” with its more intimate size, Ronnie and Caro is indeed proving to be a force to be reckoned with for Carnival—and Ronald and Caroline McIntosh would have it no other way.


LEFT: Male Individual of the Year 2010, Keith Tinto, portrays D Head Hunter - Tribute to George Bailey, from Ronnie and Caro’s Tribute, on the Queen’s Park Savannah stage.
Editor’s note: Carline McIntosh is the first female Carnival designer/band leader to score a hat-trick in the Band of the Year competition..

Guardian

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Know your Culture...

IS MODERN MAS SERIOUS OR SOLEMN?

I was watching and listening to this lecture by designer Paula Scher, and after as I do, applied what she said to what I love, Mas. Is modern Mas, Serious, or Solemn?

What do you think?

What do you think it should be?

Or does this not apply to the modern Mas designer?

Listen to her, look at this year’s crop of costumes, or costume design in the past ten years, is the modern costume designer solemn or serious?

                    http://www.ted.com/talks/paula_scher_gets_serious.html

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Whose Carnival is it? by Mark Lyndersay

There was a moment, on Carnival Tuesday night, while I was being jostled by young men carrying a rope, being bellowed at by a bandleader’s henchman and being eyed sternly by a red-shirted NCC stage official that I considered the curiosity of all these people claiming ownership of the two feet of public asphalt I happened to be standing on.
There are a lot of claims on Carnival these days, not disassociated, it seems, from the realisation that there is quite a bit of money to be made from participating in it as a producer or service provider and the intensity of the rush to stake out turf in the festival is only likely to intensify.

On Carnival Tuesday, Gayelle the Channel’s Errol Fabien recorded and posted a barely controlled rant about CNMG, which had served the station with legal notice that they were infringing on their “copyright” of the Carnival street parade.
Gayelle was interviewing people and taking in the passing muddle of bands as they approached Victoria Square on Ariapita Avenue and streaming back to their headquarters using a web connection. It’s a spot they have used for at least two years now, and it isn’t even a particularly good vantage point.

In a right and just world, CNMG would, in turn, be buried in retaliatory legal correspondence for breach of contract for their failure to provide the streamed Panorama feed they advertised for days as the Soca Monarch finals, charged US$20 to access, and ended up being unable to deliver in any consistent way.
These incidents aren’t really the problem, though. While Government has spent billions on Carnival, it has invested very little in the festival.

What we have to show for decades of money showered on Carnival is a collection of horrid booths strewn around the boundaries of the Savannah, a crude structure standing opposite the Performing Arts Centre and a collection of girders, wood and galvanise that gets bolted together every year to form various bleachers and the orange hued ghost of the Grandstand.

Compare this spending with, oh, say, Tribe, who allowed me to observe their operations in 2008. Tribe owns its corporate headquarters, an elaborate system of organisation that distributes materiel and collects costumes from their network of mas makers, an enviable computer system that tracks customers and their money and a collection of purpose built service trailers.
Perhaps the Government views its Carnival spending as an investment in votes, but voters are as fragile a vehicle for investment as a jewelry shop in Despers’ panyard. Put one little flag in a stadium and they forget everything else.

With stakeholders looking out for the interests of panmen, bandleaders and calypsonians, who is looking out the people who might want to view and understand something about Carnival?
That would seem to be the job of the NCC, but that institution is clearly just an arm of the policy decisions of the Government, which has articulated no policy on cultural development or any process of determined consultation by which one might arise.

The tragedy of Carnival is that it seems to be doing so well that we don’t see just how bad things are.

• Fifteen calypsonians must appear in the Dimanche Gras show, at least six of whom shouldn’t have made any sensible cut for a final, because nobody has heard their work before then.
• Carnival Monday after J’Ouvert is a wasteland and there is no plan to make use of an entire day’s worth of Carnival that offers nothing to its diminishing audience.
• The congestion at the Savannah for bands resumes because that’s where the cameras are, and even bikini bands have masqueraders who want to be seen on the stage, even if it’s just a roadway.

This particular story doesn’t have to have a tragic ending, but turning things around is going to mean seeing Carnival from the point of view of its audience and acknowledging that the structures and systems supporting for Carnival haven’t evolved along with the festival itself.
In the haste to harvest Carnival’s potential, nobody seems to have noticed that the eggs this goose is laying are trending toward brown, not gold.
Of course, we can just keep blundering along, raping this bird of bounty, but soon, all that will be left are feathers and a carcass that nobody wants to see.

Source BitDepth 719 - February 23

Bunji Garlin - BRAVE (Official Music Video)

I love the Bunji Garlin style he mixes Soca and Social Commentry like no other...here is BRAVE.

Bunji Garlin - BRAVE (Official Music Video) from ForceFed Blog on Vimeo.

J'Ouvert band Chocolate City : '4fore-play'

Mark Lyndersay posted a photoessay about the J'Ouvert band Chocolate City on his website   there's also a downloadable PDF  of the essay for those of you that wish to download it for study etc enjoy it.

                                              SEE MORE IN THE LOCAL LIVES GALLERIES

Carnival 2010 all over the world

So while Carnival 2010 was according to reports one of the best ones yet (as it always is) it was also Carnival  in other countries around the world so here are some photos of other 'Greatest shows on Earth'.

To see the rest of world at Carnival 2010 touch this LINK

Palance is a rhythm

If you think 2010 road march, Palance, is some new kind of soca, you’re wrong. It’s very traditional, says former UWI professor of literature and calypso researcher, Dr Gordon Rohlehr. Palance writer, Kernal Roberts simply took the trumpet line from a brass section and put a word to it, Rohlehr said. “The word palance doesn’t mean anything. It’s really a rhythm.” Colin Lucas did the same thing in Dollar Wine, as well as several other artistes, Rohlehr said. “Traditions have become almost subliminal. You are constantly listening to it without really realising that it’s in a new package.” Road march traditions go as far back as the 18th and 19th centuries, Rohlehr said. “Slaves brought from West Africa the call and response Kalinda stickfighting songs. Road marches have this basic call and response chorus.” If some feel that Machel Montano is trying something new by incorporating rap, dance hall and disco into his music, they are wrong, too. That has been going on for decades, Rohlehr said. “Ever hear about calypso twist, calypso mamba and soul train? Calypso has always absorbed whatver music was available. “Artistes are trying to cater to our cosmopolitan society and different markets. “So what looks like a new breakthrough is really a struggle for survival,” Rohlehr said.

Traditional calypso dying
Traditional calypso may be dying in the tents but it is growing nationally, historian, The Mighty Chalkdust (Hollis Liverpool) said. “When I began to sing calypso in the 1960s, they used to have six finalists in the Calypso Monarch competition. Now they have 15. “When I started, they had 18 semifinalists. Now they have 35. “When I began in calypso, you could only count 50 calypsonians. Now, there are about 4,000,” Chalkie said, proving his point that calypso is not dying but, in fact, growing. Continuing, he added: “When I started there was no calypso in schools. Now there is a primary schools’ competition. Many institutions and corporations have calypso competitions every year. “It can’t be that it’s dying.”

Where calypso is dying is in the tents, Chalkie said. “There are a number of reasons, the chief of which is crime. You need a car to go to the tents and if you come with your car, they are breaking into it.” Another reason, is that fete promoters have pulled a large section of tent goers away, Chalkie said. “At one time, people came to the tents to hear the jump-up calypsoes. But you get those in fetes now.” A third reason for dying calypso tents is the type of calypsoes being composed. “A lot of what you hear in the tents are not calypsoes, they are the writings of journalism,” Chalkie said. The art of writing a calypso involves the use of satire, metaphors and figures of speech, he noted. “A lot of calypsoes now are like normal conversation. When I talk, they get angry with me.”

Emphasis on rhythm 
A road march calypso in the 1940s was called a “leggo” calypso. Ras Shorty I introduced soca in the 1970s and, till then, the music was still slow, Chalkdust said. “But by the eighties, the pace changed. Soca artistes began sampling the music of other countries like rap and reggae. “They began to carry the music faster and faster,” Chalkie noted, tracing the evolution of the road march. “While experimenting with other types of music has been going on a long time, the difference between past and present road marches is the lyrical content, Chalkie said. “You could have understood the lyrics of past road marches, even while dancing. “Artistes today go for the hookline, like ‘palance.’ If you ask the average man to sing a Kitchener or Sparrow road march, they could sing a whole verse. “If you ask them to sing a verse from Palance, they can’t. Worse yet, last year’s road march. “The emphasis now is on rhythm and few lyrics.” Chalkie said even steelbands are having a hard time with today’s road marches. “They can’t sit down and arrange one because the melody is all over the place.”

Judges need training

Chalkdust on results of Calypso Monarch:
Placing sixth in last Sunday’s Calypso Monarch competition did not cause eight-time winner, The Mighty Chalkdust (Hollis Liverpool) any worry, but he had a problem with the judging. Chalkie made the comment while responding to questions about how he felt about the results. “Placing sixth was no worry for me, but calypso is very difficult to judge. There are judges who have no training and would put you all over the place.” Noting that he didn’t know who the judges were in the competition, he added: “…but I know that judges today need training.” Chalkie said he had offered himself as a calypso judge but was not accepted. The judges made no mistake about winner, Kurt Allen, who took home $1/2 million, for he has talent and skill, Chalkie said. “If I lose one competition, it doesn’t matter.”


SOURCE

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Leaders no longer fear calypsonians

Face-to-Face

Monarch Kurt Allen:

Kurt Allen is a thinking calypsonian and, quite possibly, the most socially-conscious monarch in recent times, apart from Chalkdust and Gypsy. Allen’s size and demeanour belie the fact that he has been a calypsonian for 28 years. He was also a journalist and does some playwriting, in addition to other activist pursuits. Allen sat down for an exclusive Sunday Guardian interview.

Q: The lyrics of your winning calypso, Too Bright, point to frustration with our national leaders. What prompted those strong lyrics?
A: The sentiments being expressed by the man in the street is what prompted the lyrics. The lyrics basically reflect what we see manifesting in the society.

A poet once said the people were ahead of their leaders. Is that the case in Trinidad and Tobago?
If the people are ahead of their leaders, then why do they continuously choose leaders with whom they are dissatisfied? If that was the case, then the people should be held responsible and accountable for creating a vision to treat with the social challenges facing the nation and not blame or rely upon the politicians for their salvation.

As a calypsonian, playwright and former journalist, what do you think about the state of governance in Trinidad and Tobago?
There is definite room for improvement and public education, given our political system. I believe we can seek to raise political awareness among young people by educating them about the role and function of government and, by extension, good governance. Young people who are educated about their civic responsibility meaningfully participate in debates that relate to good governance.

Does the calypsonian still have the historic responsibility of championing the national issues of the day? 
Yes; most definitely. But I am not completely convinced that the calypsonian is fully aware of this responsibility and is ready and prepared to take up the challenge to continue the legacy of Lion, Atilla and Tiger.

Many people have commented on the number of socially-conscious calypsos this year. Is the political calypso enjoying a renaissance?
I see that more and more calypsonians are slowly venturing to tell it like it is. I remember the days when Watchman, Cro Cro, Chalkdust and Sugar Aloes used political commentary to attack and shake up both the government and the opposition. Political commentaries now are not as biting and stinging, but we are seeing a movement toward that direction.

How much was the art form hurt by certain calypsonians being blatantly politically partisan and caustic against certain ethnic groups?
Once you are dealing with people, you are dealing with emotions and feelings. Whenever feelings are hurt, you can expect a backlash, as the natural law of karma—cause and effect—takes shape. Whether or not the particular artiste maliciously intended to offend any particular person, based on political affiliation or ethnicity, there is no doubt that this dark cloud over our art form placed some strain on its forward movement.

What, essentially, has been your core message in calypso? 
My core message is that we, the people, must take responsibility for the choices we make in life. The country, and by extension, our Caribbean civilisation, is for us to make and we have the power to create a vision for our future.

Do you think our leaders listen to and are guided by the wisdom of our calypsonians?
I believe they listen on some level or the other. I also believe they no longer respect and fear the calypsonian, as they once did. It is easy to recognise that the calypsonian has softened over the years and has compromised his integrity, in many instances. The leaders themselves have been able to use the calypsonian conveniently and then spit them out without protest. Additionally, I think the composers can increase their chances of success by paying greater focus on information literacy. We will then be taken seriously and given the respect we deserve.

Which artiste has impacted on your career the most?
The calypsonians who have had the most impact on my career are Sparrow, Cro Cro, Stalin, and Chalkdust.

Is calypso in safe hands?
The people who have calypso in their hands must take personal responsibility for its safety and sustainable development.

What does being Calypso Monarch mean to you?
It means that I am now officially mandated by the people to demonstrate the true and intended role and responsibility of the calypsonian. I intend to take up this challenge with both hands and pump a refreshed breath of air into the bowels of the art form.

What are your other major accomplishments during your 28-year career?
They are Stars of Tomorrow, 1992, Young King, 1993. Soca Monarch, 1999.

You won those titles?
Yes, I did.

What are your calypso ambitions?
To be consistent; always aim for congruence and spark greater interest of participation in the art form from the youth.

What other professional activities are currently engaging your attention?
I am the director of Caribbean Vizion, an organisation that lobbies for economic and cultural co-operation among Caricom member states. We work closely with the Caricom Secretariat, UNESCO UNAids and government agencies in developing programmes to create awareness on SCME, HIV/AIDS, and risky behaviour among young people. My daughter, Choc’late Allen, is the CEO, and spearheads all of our projects.

Do you inspire Choc’late, or does she inspire you?
We both inspire each other, on different issues. We are a family and depend upon each other. Also, my wife, Fabienne, has been a great source of strength to me. We have known each other since we were 13 and 14 years old. She is a classic example of “behind every successful man is a woman.” I strongly believe in family values. The family structure is important to me. It has given me a sense of balance.

Why do you describe yourself as “the last badjohn of calypso”?
In the early 1990s, Pretender and Terror insisted that I adopt a sobriquet. But that was the time when artistes like David Rudder and Machel Montano were going without sobriquets. I called myself “the last badjohn of calypso,” because that is what I am. I am a diehard; I give 100 percent to calypso. I am the voice of social consciousness.

Who have been some of your prime supporters through the years?
Garnet Henry, John Phillip and Elson Nelson have helped me greatly. And Alvin Daniell has been my greatest supporter of all. He has been there throughout my career.

source

Chairman of the National Carnival Commission Howard Chin Lee says bandleaders should concentrate more on “the injection of culture over financial gain.” He spoke in a telephone interview yesterday shortly after hosting a news conference to announce winners of this year’s Carnival at a press briefing at the Queen’s Park Savannah, Port-of-Spain. Brian Mac Farlane’s Resurrection—The Mas, copped the George Bailey Band of the Year in the large category. The band also copped this year’s Band of the Year (large) in Downtown Port-of-Spain.

Second place Downtown went to Trini Revellers with its production of Festivals of the World, while Spice with its production, The Spice Route, was third. These results of the Downtown Band of the Year Competition (large) were announced by Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown during a news conference late yesterday at the mayor’s office. It was Mac Farlane’s fourth victory—starting with India (2007) Earth—Cries of Despair; Wings of Hope (2008) and Africa (2009). He was followed by Trini Revellers (Festivals of the World) and Legacy (Masala) in the George Bailey Band of the Year Competition. Mac Farlane got the judges’ nod with his fully-clothed presentation of traditional mas characters which included Blue Devils, Pierrot Grenades and Dame Lorraines.

Chin Lee said: “I am hoping the proprietors would concentrate more on the injection of culture rather than financial gain.
“It ought to be the priority. I am hoping Mac Farlane can inspire many of the new bandleaders and proprietors of large bands to become more creative and more traditional in their approach to Carnival.” Mac Farlane also co-ordinated a cultural presentation for the Fifth Summit of the Americas and the Commonwealth Heads of Government Conference. “Mac Farlane certainly made us proud with his presentation. He enacted the glory days of Carnival and made us reminisce on Carnival of yesteryear. He made us proud to be Trinbagonians,” Chin Lee said. He had launched the band in the azure waters of Buccoo Reef, Tobago.

Chin Lee also was optimistic fellow bandleaders would take a leaf from Mac Farlane’s book. He said: “I hope it is a turning point in our presentation of mas for all bandleaders.
“Resurrection was an excellent portrayal of ‘ole time mas’ and Mac Farlane resurrected the mas.” Chin Lee said he was “pleased with the final outcome of Carnival 2010.”

Savannah results

George Bailey Band of the Year (large)
1. Resurrection: The Mas—Mac Farlane
2. Festivals of the World—Trini Revellers
3. Masala—Legacy
4. Matrix—Showtime Trinidad
5. The Spice Route—Spice Carnival Band

Harold Saldenah Band of the Year (medium):
1. Tribute—Ronnie and Caro—The Mas Band
2. The Journey—Rosalind Gabriel and Village Production
3. Call Dat George—D Midas T&T
4. Salvaje—D Krewe
5. Fire and Ice—Trevor Wallace and Associates

Lil Hart Band of the Year (small):
1. Inner Circle of the Pow Pow—Tribal Connection
2. Music—De BOSS
3. Pirates and Plunderers—The Belmont Jewels
4. Cobo Town—Cat In Bag Production
5. A Traditional Fiesta—The Original Jab Jab

Mack Copeland Band of the Year (mini):
1. Hatching Blue Devil—Rhapsody In Blue
2. Path Finder—Henry Ramdin and Associates
3. The “Premonts” Over and Beyond the Horizon—Something’s Out There
4. Apache Land—Village People
5. Ah Playing Wicked Jab Jab—2001 Jab Malassie

Individual of the Year—male:
1. D’ Head Hunter—Keith Tinto
2. King Clown Clowning Around—Albert Lewis
3. The Prince of Babtunde—Jackie Cumberbatch
4. Moon Over Venice—Mark Peno
5. Ceremonial Drummer—Aldalcio Lewis

Individual of the Year—female:
1. Dry Savannah—Elizabeth Thomas
2. Mother of Bambara—Alendra Bailey
3. Hit Me With Music—Michelle Waldron
4. Chyan Princess —Lorraine Farrell
5. Turaga-Vakama Keeper Of The Gates To The Beyond—Nakisha Mc Gillivery

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4th South Mas crown for Kalicharan

FOR THE fourth consecutive year, veteran Carnival mas man Ivan Kalicharan has copped the South Carnival Band of the Year title with his 2010 presentation ‘Outta D’ Rain Forest’. He has now won the South competition a total of 17 times. As San Fernando Mayor Kenneth Ferguson announced the winners at the City Corporation yesterday, Kalicharan said the win had already been predicted by spectators on Carnival Monday and Tuesday.

WINNER: South mas man Ivan Kalicharan...


Smiling, Kalicharan gave tips on how to be a winner. “The key is presenting your mas properly and we had the most beautiful route. People on the streets told us we were the best band that paraded. We will continue next year with the aim to win,” said Kalicharan, who has competed for the past 25 years.
Queen of Carnival and South Queen of the Band Rosemarie Kuru-Jagessar notched up another win, as Masquerader of the Year (female) for the 13th time with her portrayal of “Waka Nisha The Sacred Water Bearer”. The devout Hindu attributed her success to Lord Shiva.
Commenting on statements made recently by National Carnival Committee chairman Howard Chin Lee that bandleaders should concentrate more on the culture than financial gains, Jagessar dismissed this as foolishness.
“If he was following the Carnival he would have known we have been doing it for the love. We are getting old and we are still here. We have to spend plenty money on costumes and of course we will want to get back some,” Jagessar said.
By LAUREL V WILLIAMS

BOYCOTT! Fed-up MacFarlane: No more competition for me

CELEBRATION ALL AROUND: Bandleader Brian MacFarlane, centre, celebrates with his team members yesterday at their Rosalino Street, Woodbrook, mas camp after capturing their fourth straight Band of the Year title with Resurrection-The Mas.-Photo: CURTIS CHASE



Brian MacFarlane, four-time winner of the George Bailey Large Band of the Year title for his 2010 presentation, Resurrection-the Mas, will not compete for the coveted title next year.



Though the mas man insisted he will still create and present mas in 2011, he said the five hours’ waiting to cross the final Queen’s Park Savannah judging point on Carnival Tuesday night helped him make the decision.

’We had people here and ready from 5 a.m., in those costumes and make-up since then, and we don’t get to cross the stage till 8.30 p.m. That was too much,’ he said during a victory celebration at his Rosalino Street, Woodbrook, mas camp.






Though MacFarlane was pleased with the victory and described the feeling as ’wonderful’, he was still disgusted by the band’s long wait to cross the main stage. MacFarlane said Carnival has become too corporate and too focused on making money and not about the historical significance of the mas.

’Sometimes I feel like giving up. Like I am fighting a losing battle when I see where mas has gotten to,’ he said.

MacFarlane said the lack of a proper display area hindered the public from really seeing and understanding his presentation.



Though hesitant to offend the authorities, MacFarlane said he spoke with Minister of Community Development, Culture and Gender Affairs Marlene McDonald and pleaded his case about the state of Carnival, but to no avail. He said he was out-voted at the last meeting of stakeholders when he proposed changing the Queen’s Park Savannah judging point.


’I’m not going down that route again. I will speak to the other bandleaders and corporate sponsors to get their support to get this right,’ he said, adding that the money incentive did help to offset the cost of production, since MacFarlane’s was not a money-making band.

’Thankfully, I have a design studio that help buffer the cost of presenting the mas. Anyone can look at our costumes and know we don’t make a set of money,’ he said.

’But someone has to make a stand,’ he said.

MacFarlane even criticised the staging area for the Kings and Queens competition at the Savannah. He described it as an animal ’pen’.

The veteran mas man said there was ’no energy, no vibe’ for the contestants. He said if the National Carnival Commission kept the format of the Dimanche Gras show, with the contestants vying for the Calypso Monarch crown going after the parade of Kings and Queens of Bands, the masqueraders would be at the mercy of the Paramin winds.

MacFarlane’s King, ’The Dragon Can Dance’, paraded by Gerard Weekes, fell during the final after high winds caused severe damage. MacFarlane said he will not put his costumes on wheels to cater for the wind factor. ’If they have to fall, let them fall,’ he said.

’Carnival is dying and there are people trying to kill it. Why must everything be in a cage and for financial gain? Yes, it came from the street, but we should evolve from there,’ he said.

The still-energetic mas man even took a jab at Telecommunications Services of Trinidad and Tobago (TSTT), the corporate sponsor behind today’s Beyonce I Am... concert at the Savannah. ’I was going to walk with a can of spray paint and leave a message on that billboard, telling them to respect our culture first,’ he laughed.

’That same money could have been spent on promoting our local culture,’ he said.

source

'Palance' creates history

Still Palancing: Jason Williams (JW), right, and Ancil Isaac Jr (Blaze) celebrate yesterday on Jerningham Avenue, Belmont, following the Road March results which declared that their hit song "Palance" was played a total of 417 times on Carnival Monday and Tuesday at the Queen's Park Savannah's main Carnival judging point. The radio personalities have created double history by being the first disc jockeys to win both the International Soca Monarch and Road March titles. See Page 5. -Photo: Jermaine cruickshank

 

Dynamic radio personalities Jason ’JW’ Williams and Ancil ’Blaze’ Isaac have created double history by being the first disc jockeys to win both the International Soca Monarch and Road March titles.

JW and Blaze’s 2010 hit ’Palance’ was played a total of 417 times on Carnival Monday and Tuesday at the Queen’s Park Savannah’s main judging point, according to a tally conducted by the National Carnival Commission yesterday.

It was the song of choice for many other roadside disc jockeys sending masqueraders and non-masqueraders into a frenzy all over the country.
The DJs dethroned 2009 Road March winner Fay-Ann Lyons-Alvarez, whose song ’True Lies’ was played 40 times. Machel Montano’s ’No Behaviour’ came in third being played only 11 times.
’Hard work really pays off,’ said an excited Williams yesterday.
’That has been my motto in life and our win goes to show what you can achieve.’
His colleague and singing partner Blaze was also excited by the win.
’It’s definitely a surreal moment. When we started off with the song we knew it would be a hit but we never thought it would have escalated into something like this. I don’t think there are words to describe how we are feeling right now, it is just been unbelievable.’


Blaze condemned reports that being radio personalities gave them an unfair advantage over others.
’At the end of the day being DJs does not matter,’ said Blaze.
Last year, we recorded ’Work’, in 2008 ’Bam-C-Ology’ and in 2007 ’Eat Ah Food’. We never got any work off those songs and they were never rotated on the airwaves. ’Eat Ah Food’ made it to the Soca Monarch finals but we did not place high.


’A good song is a good song. How come the advantage was not there last year when we recorded ’Work’ but it is here this year? The song was not played by our station alone, every single radio station played Palance’.
The duo, who has already been booked for internationals shows throughout 2010, will have to juggle hosting the Red Hot Morning Show Red at 96.7 FM from 6-9 a.m. and their performing careers.
Blaze said they had no intentions of leaving their jobs. He added: ’It’s fulfilling and it gives us joy when we go out in the morning. That’s our heart. Why should we leave our foundation?’
Last Friday, JW and Blaze dethroned Lyons-Alvarez to take the International Soca Monarch title. The men scored 81 points with their jubilant performance of Palance, which had a large portion of the 20,000 plus audience jumping, moving left to right and singing along as they frolicked on stage.
Throughout the Carnival season the duo took the spotlight at all-inclusives and fetes with their highly-energetic and entertaining performance.
sourceTrinidad Express

NCC HAS POSTED THE CARNIVAL 2010 RESULTS...

Large band of the year.

1	Mac Farlene	Resurrection the Mas
2	Trini Revellers	Festivals of the Worls
3	Lecacy	Massala

Medium band of the Year.

1	Tribute		Ronnie & Caro
2	The Journey		Rosalind Gabriel
3	Call that George		The Midas Associates

Small Band of the Year.

1	Tribal Connection	Inner Circle of the Pow-Wow
2	The Boss	Music
3	Pirates and Plunderers	Belmont Jewels

Road March

1	JW and Blaze	Palance	417
2	Faye Ann Lyons Alvarez	True Lies	40
3	Machel Montano	No Behavior	11