Paula Lindo – Our histories, stories, present, future.

For over 60 years, Mavis John has graced the stages of T&T. Now, as she prepares to perform at the North Coast Jazz Festival: Blanchissuese 2017 and celebrates her 71st birthday, she looks back and reflects on her life thus far. John said if she knew what kept her going, she would bottle it. She said she does work as it comes and sometimes she finds joy in it, as when she works on productions with Eintou Springer, and sometimes it’s a learning and performing experience, as with Dr. Efebo Wilkinson for Bitter Cassava, both of which she did in 2016. John said she thanks the Creator that she is always fortunate to have good people to work with. “Whoever I’ve worked with, they’ve turned out to be nice people, because I think if I’m working with somebody and it’s not compatible, I would disappear.”

John has performed all over the world, including London and New York, the St Vincent and The Grenadines’ Blues Festival with performers such as the Manhattans and Third World, and St Kitts Music Festival where she shared the stage with Shaggy, Jeffrey Osborne, The Temptations and Percy Sledge. At the first two Tobago Jazz Festivals, she shared the stage with Stevie Wonder and India Arie, and performed at Jazz on the Hill (San Fernando) with Hugh Masakela and many others.
John said “There have been some great opportunities to work in and out of Trinidad and having people tell you that in some way you’ve made a difference in their life or you’ve brought some happiness to their being, and then you’re very appreciative when you go to certain places, especially outside of the West Indian diaspora and you can see people really appreciate what you do.”
She also had words of advice for performing artists who want to stay in the business. “If you want to get into the Arts, you have to be serious about it. I normally say to do some aspect of music, learn as much as you can, because there is not only the music, you have to know about lights, sound, stage management, you have to have a broad idea about everything associated with the Arts.”
John said her reputation for being humble comes from remembering who she is and where she comes from. “You can’t fake humility. I’m not one to get too heady as I’m very aware that if the head gets too big, it could burst at any time. Many of us who are singing don’t realize we are just being the instrument, there is one who is bigger than us who is showing us the way and many times we do not sit and listen to that voice. If I’m humble it’s because I come from humble beginnings and that is what I am, I do not have great admiration for show-off people, so why should I want to be showy?”
“Whenever the music comes to you and you do it, if you do it in honesty, it will be pure and it will make a difference. If you’re going on stage and you are going to be conceited and stupid, people could see through that, so just be honest in what you do.”
The North Coast Jazz Festival features a lineup of local stars, including John, Vaughnette Bigford, Nailah Blackman, Adan Hagley and Band, Adana Roberts, Ray Holman and Gyerlini Clarke. North Coast Jazz Festival Chairman, Louis Lee Sing said the Festival is an opportunity for local talent to shine. “Trinidad has got to start to look after its own. My own feeling is that when people have talent and they are given the opportunity to constantly re-engineer and re-invent themselves, their craft will only grow and become better.”
Lee Sing said the event is the first step towards creating sustainable opportunities for employment in the community. “It is an opportunity to create a Bed and Breakfast industry where people who have a spare room in their homes would make it available in a nice way for visitors. We are starting off with visitors from Trinidad for the Jazz and other events we will schedule, and it is hoped ultimately that the word will get around to people in Europe and other places and they would want to come to Blanchissuese. As visitors increase, more people will no doubt make rooms available to the public and then a whole tourism industry will kick off, with restaurants, tours, nature trails, fishing trips, a whole range of activities will begin to come to life and it will be owned and operated by and for the people of Blanchisuesse.”
Tickets for the event on May 27 cost $300. For more information, find North Coast Jazz on Facebook, call 681-1516 or 683-9066.