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

The purpose of the Acoustic Sessions put on by the Indigenous Movement is to encourage spontaneous collaborations between local artists as well as expose interested audiences to a wide variety of local talent.

Organizer Sheldon Manoo encouraged the audience at the first installment on May 27 to support local artists by going to their concerts and calling radio stations to request their music.

The star attraction of the evening, Monique La Chapelle, best known for her hit song “Eviction Notice,” performed hit songs like Maroon 5’s “Sunday Morning,” Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me to the Moon” and Ed Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud.” Her smooth throaty delivery, similar to that of Adele, executed original compositions “Safe Haven,” written for couples, “Open Your Eyes,” and “Eviction Notice.” She said the public response to the song when it was released was very touching, as the song came from her personal experiences. She was backed by Emmanuel Pantin on guitar, Luke on bass guitar and Neil Raj-Kumar on drums.
Rapso artist Patricia “Pretty Pat” Niles-Dalrymple performed “The Mirror,” which spoke about how black people perceive themselves and in an encore performance, did “Silent Killer” about the abusers present in society and “Teach Them,” which beseeched parents to candidly speak to their children about sex, choices and consequences. Spoken Word poet Cheryl Griffith presented four pieces, “Speaking Out” about standing up for oneself, “Sign of the Times” about the times we’re living in, “Till Now” about finding love and “Skin,” on issues of racism in T&T.
Singer Vadelle, whose song “Hurricane” topped the IslandJammers charts when it was released, performed “Virtual Worlds,” about loving someone who doesn’t know you exist; “First Vision” about seeing her niece for the first time, and “Hurricane” about falling in love with someone who’s toxic for you. Other performers included John John, Trevor Burnett, Crystal Manoo and DJ Juliet Robin.
Garvin Luke, owner of website http://www.plentytalent.com, which highlights Caribbean talent, said his website could give artists another avenue to display the music. Robin said artists also have to support each other by attending each others concerts and promoting each other, so audiences will support them all.
The concert was a mixture of scheduled performances and impromptu performances by audience members. Most of the pieces performed were local, and some were improvised on the spot. There were impromptu jam sessions between Robin, Vadelle, La Chapelle’s band, Manoo and other audience members. The audience at the cozy outdoor Calypso Opera Cafe on Cipriani Boulevard was very appreciative of all the offerings and joined in where possible.
Manoo said all of the songs to be performed at future Acoustic Session are to be originals, except where musicians are licensed to perform covers of other songs. He also wants to introduce background music played on vinyl records, as he says it is a form of playback which has never gone away, but otherwise audiences will be encouraged to interact with each other and the artists between performances. Manoo said the plan is to also have Electric Sessions and to partner with Festivals such as New Fire, Borders and others. “We try to look at the music industry as a global market, yes we need local enabling but there is a global market and it’s not just the US.”
The songs on the IslandJammers Top Indigenous picks, compiled by the Indigenous Movement, can be heard daily on islandjammers.radiostream123.com. More information can be found in the Indigenous Facebook group.