The Rounds: Kes the Band members debut on the small screen

Good Evening Soca Lovers, I'm Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay's Rounds. First I want to wish a very happy mother's day to all the women out there influencing others to be their best. And to all the mommy's of the soca therapy family, we feel so blessed to have you in our lives.

Just one week to go until Soca or Die, and I know allyuh can't wait. All the soca crews are making sure to get plenty sleep this week, because next weekend is two nights of fete.

Sunday night headliners Bunji Garlin and Faye-Ann Lyons are in Germany this weekend for Berlin Carnival. There has been an active soca subculture in that city for years, but the 2006 World Cup of Football made true soca warriors out of everyone. Assylum Band is mashing up as I speak…next stop Toronto!

Nadia Batson is due to perform here next Sunday too, but she left Trinidad on Thursday with stops in New York and LA. It's a busy time for Nadia and her fellow band mates in Kees the Band. Digital sampling dude, Richard Balgobin is the new host of Synergy TV's Chutney Star. It just premiered on Thursday in T and T. Meanwhile Kees and Nadia are gearing up for the debut of The Reef. I first told you about it in February. These talented singers, will be showing off their acting chops in a brand new dramatic series to air on Channel Six in Trinidad.

Other Caribbean locales can take it in on MTV Tempo. And in the New York City Tristate area, look for it on CIN 73. Allyuh lucky! The rest of us will have to HOPE to eventually catch a glimpse on YouTube.

So the 27th annual International Reggae and World Music Awards went down last weekend at the Apollo. Machel was pretty popular that night, even though the show celebrates musical achievements in Reggae, Soca, Reggaeton, Soukous, Salsa and Compas. Machel won the coveted Bob Marley Entertainer of the year award plus two others, to make him the night's biggest winner.

Buju Banton won the award for Most Educational Entertainer last week. And Last NIGHT he had a sold out gig at Madison Square Garden with fellow reggae stars Super Cat and Barrington Levy. Upcoming groovy soca sweet boy Kevon Carter wooed the audience with the sweetest soca vibes. So, if you didn't know that name, you might want to get familiar. It won't be the last time.

I'm Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay's Rounds.

Check me out online at the Nurse Karen Etc blog at Mustard Seeds dot net. And get The Rounds to go, by downloading the podcast. Now, back to de docta.

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The Rounds: Soca stars hungry in New York

Good Evening Soca Lovers,

I'm Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay's Rounds. This weekend Jamaica kisses their 20th anniversary carnival season good-bye. Revellers took to the streets today, for a jump in the hot sun.

Closer to home in New York, it was all things Machel Montano at Madison Square Garden's WaMu theatre on Friday night. (Check we together in Toronto in December)

The HD camp and their international cast of friends entertained 16000 fans between the two sold out shows that evening. What fans saw from the audience was an energy packed performance of chart topping soca hits. Behind the scenes, your nurse discovered the conditions weren't the best for some of the performers. With one show at 8 pm and one show at midnight, it's a long day at work for the entertainers. Unfortunately, organizers failed to provide any food whatsoever for the "and Friends" portion of the cast, quietly waiting back stage. So don't study the vibrant energy and smiling faces you can now see all over YouTube, there were a lot of grumbling bellies balling out with every jump and wave.

One of the next big gigs on the Machel Montano docket will be Miami's longest running Memorial Day Long-Weekend Reggae Concert: Best of the Best. I know Machel is not a reggae artist but lately he's been covering Bob Marley's "Waiting in Vain" and he's still performing Dutty Wine in his set, even though most people stopped doing the dance in favour of keeping their insurance policies. So the big concert takes place on Sunday, May twenty five at Bicentennial Park. Mr. Slaughter will be there as a DJ. You know he alway UP IN DAT...here's a shot of the 2 o'we in the Tribe All-Inclusive in Trinidad last month.

...And this is Walshy from Black Chiney. He go be there spinning too. Miami is his home turf.

The reggae acts include Super Cat, Buju, Beenie, Sizzla, Junior Reid, Barrington Levy, Tarrus Riley…ok, lemme stop. Nuff reggae. Nuff said.

While we on that vibe, I thought I'd let you in on some big news in Britain. Reggae artist Maxi Priest just replaced Ali Campbell as the lead singer of the band UB40. They are best known for the 1983 remake of Neil Diamond's "Red, Red Wine" and now they are set to release a modern take on "I Shot the Sheriff" featuring Mr. Maxi Priest.

Soca shares influences with a variety of Caribbean art forms. One such ORAL tradition is that of Rapso, it's a poetic storytelling style that relies heavily on rhythm and rhyme. In Trinidad, and organization called the Rapso fraternity is getting ready to host the 19th annual Rapso festival in April. People who go, will get a chance to take workshops, and even perform! This year the focus is on education….and me being a poet, I decided to do my part by educating you. So there you have it.

I'm Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay's Rounds. Leave me a comment at the (Nurse) Karen (Etc) blog, online at triple w dot mustardseeds.net and don't forget to download the podcast. Now back to de docta!

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