The Rounds - October 28, 2007

Good Evening Soca Lovers, I’m Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay’s Rounds. It’s time for your weekly dose of the latest soca scoop, and what a week it has been.
The music is coming fast and furious for Trinidad carnival, and from all accounts 2008 will be another big year for Traffik’s frontline vocalist Shurwayne Winchester. He’s got 2 big releases steadily rotating their way to the top, and he just made it three. It was Mommie Winchester’s birthday Saturday, and her famous son gave her the gift of music. The new song is called “Whole Day” and it made it’s debut on Trini airwaves yesterday.
If you find yourself asking whas-goin-on with Kevin Lyttle, ask no more. Currently the Vincy artiste is hob-nobbing south of the border. Now based in New York, Kevin has been busy in studio preparing for the release of a second album. The sophomore effort was slated to hit store shelves in August of this year, but fans will have to wait till 2008. He’s keeping busy anyway. On Wednesday Kevin Lyttle joined Busta Rhymes and Trick Daddy to perform at Michael Madd’s all-red all-star birthday bash on South Beach. The exclusive event was MC’d by Doug-E-Fresh and hosted a variety of celebrity guests including, Christina Milian, JT money and Cool and Dre. Apparently, the party broke club Santo’s record for most bottles of champagne sold in one night! Something like all the Vincy posse celebrating independence day last night!
Another Party you’ve got to see to believe is none other than T&T carnival. BET J finally aired their 2007 coverage yesterday, the half-hour special featured interviews with soca artists and pan men, plus sights and sounds from the road parades and parties. Repeat broadcasts will air on November 10th and December 15th.
The carnival is over for the family of the late Great Grand master, Aldwyn “Lord Kitchener” Roberts. On Friday, a high court judge ruled that Kitch’s wife and kids have to hand over their Diego Martin home to Daddy’s mistress. Miss Sugar Bum Bum…she-self. The woman who inspired the lyrics of Trinidad’s 1978 roadmarch…is literally home-wrecking years after both hers and her lover’s death.
Kitch got married the Flag woman, Valerie Green in the 70’s. She bought them a house and named it Rainorama, after the 1973 roadmarch. And the house wasn’t all she gave. Working as his back up dancer, and selling his records, Green gave birth to four children including Xtatik’s award-winning songwriter and musical director, Kernal Roberts. In 88, she transferred ownership of the home to her husband for unspecified “business purposes”.
Darling, I don't want to lose you
Honey, like you give me voodoo
Give way me land, give way me car
But let no man touch my sugar
Little did she know that her husband would soon offer the house as a gift to his lover, causing the wife and kids to be evicted one year later.
The woman known wordwide as “Audrey” died 1998…and the family moved back in, where they have lived ever since. Sadly, the mistress willed “Rainorama” to HER family…and Valerie , Kernal and de rest of de gyang have to find somewhere ELSE to live by December 31st.
I’m Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay’s Rounds. Please text your comments to 9-3-5-9-3-5. Now…back to de doctor.

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The Rounds - October 21, 2007

Good Evening Soca Lovers, I’m nurse Karen and these are Doctor Jay’s Rounds. It’s another hot Sunday in Toronto, and to mark the occasion, I’ve brought you some equally hot news.
Guyana’s ministry of culture, youth and sport has decided to bring back the Guyana Music Festival that was first started in 1952. Next year, Guyana will play host to the Caribbean’s ideas expo, Carifesta Ten...and the government is praying for a cultural renaissance. The initiative aims to provide more support for the nation’s music industry, and better training for its next generation of entertainers.
St. Lucia’s 2007 groovy soca monarch is not just Goin Down de Road, he’s been jet setting over to gay Paree. Teddyson John and his pan-caribbean performance band, BlueMango just took their act to the 2007 Cibrations Caraibe Jazz festival in Paris France. The band whose members come from Barbados, Martinique, French Guiana and Saint Lucie, received rave reviews after opening for John Legend at the Internationally renowned St. Lucia Jazz festival earlier this year. And now it’s paying off. The group got to take their sound to a festival featuring Caribbean jazz expressions, in Euro’s afro-music mecca!
Another soca artist who’s NO stranger to having his business all over the world, was just invited to speak at Washington D.C.’s historical Howard University. Machel Montano was booked to provide the keynote address at a program called Soca 101, organized by the school’s Caribbean Students’ Organization. Invited, but de big star mussee catch a little stage fright. The educational event went on with no Machel to be seen. He sent his regrets, and I’m told he made an appearance on campus the next day to sign autographs.
When I think of Machel Montano, the last thing that comes to mind is SHYness! Whether he on stage sending a mampie flying in the air, or if he’s just proving dat he’s a real winer man, dat boy oozes confidence. On Friday, Machel and de HD family proved THAT to be true at the ever popular Zen night club, when a couple of bullet proof vested trini cops threatened to shut down de session. Why, you ask? LEWD CONDUCT! Everybody knows, is a regular day in the life of a roadmarch king when the artist gets on stage only to have the girls in the front row INSPECT THE QUALITY OF HIS FAMILY JEWELS. Machel tell de police to lock him up if they want to, but is not he fault de gyal dem getting on scandalous. In the end, the incident produced nothing but hearty laughter from all in attendance…and earned Mr. Montano Nurse Karen’s 2007 award for the King of Commess. Machel, I love you bad jed. You make my job so much easier.
Look out for him in 2008 with a brand new roadmarch contender called Unconditional Love, and a groovy follow up to One More Time that he previewed for the giggling crowd at Zen.
I’m Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay’s Rounds. Please text your comments to 9-3-5-9-3-5, now back to de doctor.

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The Rounds - October 14, 2007

Good Evening Soca Lovers,
I’m nurse Karen and these are Doctor Jay’s Rounds. I hope allyuh had a safe and happy thanksgiving with family and friends. So, now are you ready for Christmas? I realize it’s a bit early to ask that question, but we had a few nights this week when I could have sworn that Santa Claus was on his way!
Mastamind Productions is getting ready for the holidays early as well. Tomorrow their brand new “Mastamind Christmas” CD drops. I’m talking about 15 tracks featuring songs by Leon Coldero, De Postman, Third Bass and others. Soca Parang, Classical Parang, and good old fashioned Christmas Carols too.
For Zan, Friday last was feeling more like Halloween. It must have been like a horror scene when the 26 year old soca singer, missed his long overdue court appearance, because - he slept in! If you remember, Zan was one of the soca rat pack who got mixed up in that Zen night club fracas back in April. Zan’s attorney told the magistrate that his client had worked until 6 a.m. that morning and was to go home, just to change his clothes for court. Apparently, Einstein took a little nap while he was there and missed the whole thing.
So, HERE’s the latest. Machel, Kernal and Benjai were there, and they all plead NOT GUILTY to the assault charges. Miss Magistrate seemed to share my festive mood, deciding to wait until sometime AFTER the carnival season to revisit the matter.
When thinking of yearly celebrations, there’s one that comes to mind, that FOR ME is way more exciting than all the others. MY BIRTHDAY! I’m a soca Scorpio and that means I will be celebrating life on November 3rd with about 35 hundred of my closest friends; Dr. Jay, Marxman, Umba d Shepherd and YOU. We going to KoolHaus on November 3rd for Soca or Die 7. And we feting till morning with Nadia Batson, Problem Child, Tizzy, Adrian Dutchin and more. Get your tickets before they sell out! Ah cyan wait!
MTV Tempo is celebrating a birthday in November TOO! Yes, the Caribbean music channel will be ringing in its second anniversary on November 6th.
If you’ve ever seen MTV Tempo, they’re on to a good thing. Little by little they are helping the music of the Caribbean cross the seas to audiences in all the islands. Lately, Shurwayne Winchester hooked up with a producer from another land thanks to TEMPO. Shurwayne and Alton Bertie teamed up on a song called “Carnival Please Stay”. Bertie is from the Virgin Islands. The duo met up at the Air Port in Puerto Rico on their ways home from the Rock the Tempo concert in St. Thomas.
The anniversary party features another all-start line up of hit makers in soca and reggae. If you can find a way to catch that broadcast, you can expect performances from Beres Hammond, Ziggy Ranking and Krosfyah (who coincidentally will be bringing the live accompaniment at Soca or Die).
I’m nurse Karen and those are Doctor Jay’s Rounds. If you feel like celebrating something, text your comments to 9-3-5-9-3-5, now back to the doctor! Now, back to de Docta!

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