The Rounds - February 5, 2006

Dr. Jay’s Rounds
Karen Richardson
February 5, 2006
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Good Evening Soca lovers. I’m Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay’s Rounds.
It’s February now and there’s no shortage of things to celebrate. Black History Month, Super Sunday, Mas Domnik, Trinidad Carnival…It’s no wonder valentines falls this month…cuz I think I’m in love.

Last week Dr. Jay really raised some eyebrows when he premiered a soca remix of Secrets by Ginuwine. What, you didn’t hear? Ginuwine has a soca tune featuring Bunji Garlin and 2 Intrigue…and if you want to hear it live…you can catch him on stage at GLOW for Trinidad Carnival. No my sweets…the slick R&B crooner will not be riding pony, and not quite doing the donkey dance either. But still…dat is a serious soca debut. The Glow fete has been an international favourite for the last six years. The party features some of the best soca artistes and tours to Carnivals in Barbados, Grenada, St Vincent, Jamaica, London, Miami, New York, Washington DC and even here in Toronto. But it doesn’t stop there, artists featured at Glow also get featured on an annual compilation CD. So music crossover goes both ways…and these days soca is where it’s at.

Musical mastermind Machel Montano has experimented with different sounds and styles throughout his career. For 2006, he’s already collaborated with Mr. Vegas, a crowd pleaser in the world of Jamaican Dancehall. But he’s keeping it local too. Yet again Machel is trying his hand at Chutney Soca. Montano has joined forces with fellow Trini Andy Singh to create a little ditty called “Sundar Larki”. They say it means Beautiful Women…of course if they had just named it after me they wouldn’t have to explain.

The semi finals of the TSTT International Soca Monarch Competition went off last week at Soca Broadway. The crowd had a whale of a time, but local residents of Woodbook were not having sot much fun. Apparently, the carnival events kicking off at Hasley Crawford Stadium are breaking the law. Too much noise pollution! Now, I’m not saying the monarch contenders sound like a set of pots and pans….but, they sure are loud. The top scorers were Mr. Vybe’s hit “The Thing” and “We Reach” by Iwer George. For those of you who were rooting for the Grenadian artiste vying for top honours. Sorry to say, soca sweet boy Sheldon Douglas is the only one who got through. Papers in T&T report that Baby Killa’s stage show simply could not compare to the backflips he came with last year. Tallpree left didn’t turn heads AT TALL. And this one’s my favourite…but only because I’m a nurse. Newcomer Nnika had trouble pulling it together after her vomiting spell backstage. IS OK baby…probably just some bad curry ar sumting.

I’m nurse Karen and those are Doctor Jay’s Rounds. Send your comments to Soca at FLOW 935 DOT COM. Now back to de docta!