The Rounds: How soca artists spent Easter...

Originally aired on Sunday, April 4, 2010 on "Soca Therapy" on Flow 93.5 FM, Toronto with Dr. Jay and Marxman.

In this edition:

- Destra's first post preggers performance in Toronto. (Trinidad / Canada)
- Toronto Fire Fete (Canada)
- Edwin at Virgin Gorda Carnival (Barbados / BVI)
- Oscar B returns to Jamaica (Tobago / Jamaica)
- Artists observing Easter (Barbados / Jamaica)
- Changes in store for Crop Over 2010 (Barbados)



Good Evening Soca Lovers, I’m nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay’s Rounds. It’s easter Sunday and it’s my hope that my voice finds you surrounded by family, friends and everlasting hope as you celebrate God’s promise of eternal life. If by chance you find yourself alone today. Think again. Dozens of soca artists are forced to be away from loved ones as they travel internationally to entertain fans.

I chose to spend last night with family, but the cast of Toronto Fire Fete spent a good chunk of the special weekend away from home. The show boasted Destra’s first show in T-Dot in almost two years. Not to mention, her first local appearance since she gave birth to little Xaiya!!! Yes gentlemen. She has her body back. And you know Destra, she’s definitely still thick in all the right places.

Destra back in all her glory on Saturday night (Photo by Soca Dread)

Patch created a gutter riddim Frenzy, selling pipe on Canadian soil. Terri Lyons, made her sweet voice known to Toronto. Trinidad’s Dynamic Duo JW and Blaze Palanced thru the city ...as is their custom. Skinny Fabulous let go the Vincy beast , etc, etc. My point is...Sometimes you gotta do what you got to do where you gotta do it, and if you find yourself away from the people you love this holiday. At least you have us ! (Awwww....)

JW and Blaze at another Toronto performance last month

Edwin Yearwood woke up today on the Island of Virgin Gorda after a well received performance at THEIR Easter Festival last night. There really is no place like home in Barbados, for him, but Management tells me that the seven thousand dollar a night villa they stayed in makes up for at least SOME of the inconvenience.

Tobagonian soca singer Oscar B left his fam in Tand T to returned to Jamaica for the first time in a long time. He lived and worked there as a singer in Byron Lee and the Dragonaires for eighteen years , having recorded such hits as Soca Tattie and Soca Butterfly. Beyond his excitement over taking to those familiar stages once again, Oscar says he’s looking forward to de bun and cheese!

If you’re not out painting the town red to the sounds of soca this weekend, trust me you’re not in the minority. Many artistes are deeply spiritual, and prefer to break their Lenten fasts with worship and thanksgiving in the traditional way. Dancehall/crossover icon Mr. Vegas wasn’t going to let anything keep him out of church this morning, and Bajan Party Monarch and Sweet Soca Monarch TC was heading to an Easter play when I chatted with her today.

Nurse Karen and TC at Trinidad Soca Monarch (Feb 2010)

Looks like she will be defending her crowns in a new venue this year, as the Those competitions will no longer be held at East Coast or Farley Hill National Park for that matter. The event will be rebranded “Soca Royale” , the wheres and whens of which are yet to be announced. Barbados Ministry of Culture just announced a slew of venue changes for the upcoming Crop Over season, including a new route for the Kadooment day parade.
I’ll be sure to get all the details on that for you in the upcoming weeks, but for now. Enjoy this blessed Easter, wherever you are, and whatever you’re doing. I’m Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay’s Rounds. For more info on the stories you heard today, visit me online at Nurse dash Karen dot com, or follow me, “Nursekaren” on Twitter. Now, back to de docta!

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The Rounds: Fay Ann is a no-show at Soca Monarch prize giving

Originally aired on Sunday, March 21, 2010 on Soca Therapy with Dr. Jay de Soca Prince (Flow 93.5 FM Toronto)

In this edition:
- International Reggae and World Music Awards Soca Nominees (USA)
- Tizzy goes to France (France / Antigua)
- International Soca Monarch prizes distributed (Trinidad)
- Shal Marshall rocks Mas Camp (Jamaica)
- Birthdays: Private 6 (St. Lucia) Harella (Dominica)


Good evening soca lovers. I’m Nurse Karen, and these are Dr. Jay’s Rounds.

The International Reggae and World Music Award nominations are out. 2010 makes it 29 years, and this time around several soca artists are among the nominees in six different categories. But the biggest award for the genre would “Best Calypso/Soca Entertainer which pits the likes of Alison Hinds, Machel Montano, Skinny Fabulous, Edwin Yearwood and Fay Ann Lyons against each other. No matter who wins, you can certainly count on great performances from Machel and Alison at the IRAWMA’s in Queens New York for May 2nd. Vote online at triple W dot I R A W M A dot com.

Nurse Karen shares a laugh with Skinny Fabulous (Trinidad, February 2010)

El A Kru’s Tizzy is enjoying the benefits of a blossoming career. Recently, the bouncy Antiguan lead singer returned to her sunny island from headlining the Caribbean Bounce Festival in Bordeaux France. Do you understand what I’m telling you here? A West Indian woman travels all the way to a town known for a certain grapety beverage to teach the people about wine. Kinda ironic don’t you think?

Trinidad’s Caribbean Prestige Foundation distributed the Soca Monarch prizes on Thursday at the Cascadia Hotel. JW and Blaze were there to collect their $600 Thousand TT and a Brand New Toyota Hilux. Shurwayne who earned top prize in Groovy Soca was in person to collect his winnings, but Fay-Ann Lyons did not show up even though she scored a second place in both categories.

 Nurse Karen with Fay Ann Lyons in Miami (October 2009)

During the festivities, Vice President Tony Lee announced that come 2011, the winner will alos receive the “William Munro Soca Monarch Challenge Trophy” along with the cash. The new trophy, named after the event’s co-founder has been created to continue to honour the contribution of William Munro long after he moves on from involvement with the organization. Although, no actual announcement indicating such a move was actually made.

The Friday Night fetes at Bacchanal Jamaica Mas Camp continued this week. It was Shal Marshall’s turn to mash up the session, following Alison Hind’s big show last week. The action continues until just after Easter.

Nurse Karen and Shal Marshall (Toronto, March 2010 - photo by Soca Dread)

Before  I hand it back to Dr. Jay we gotta wish a happy birthday to St. Lucia’s Private Six on Friday and Dominica’s Harella on Saturday.

And there you have it, I’m Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay’s Rounds. For more news from throughout the soca universe, check out the Nurse Karen Etc blog at nurse dash Karen dot com, or follow me “Nurse Karen” on Twitter. Now Back to De Docta.

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The Rounds: Trini carnival highs and lows...

Originally aired on Flow 93.5 FM's Soca Therapy with Dr Jay de Soca Prince, Sunday, 21st February at 6:45 pm.

Good evening soca lovers, I’m Nurse Karen and these are Dr. Jay’s Rounds. We’re baaa-aack! I know Dr. Jay told you that I wouldn’t be in Trinidad for Carnival. But what can I say? Things change. The carnival bug ketch me and I found myself front and centre in the middle of the action.

If you’ve never been to carnival in the Caribbean, it’s definitely something you should try to make happen. If you want to see the artistry, camaraderie, ingenuity and style of our culture come alive, Carnival is one of the best ways to experience it. While in Trinidad, I hit a couple of fetes, checked out the Soca Monarch Finals...and naturally...I just had to hit the beach too. One of the first parties I got to take in was the PNM fete. The People’s National Movement is one of Trinidad’s major political parties...no pun intended! Each year, they sponsor a big soca show that is actually attended by T&T Prime Minister, Patrick Manning. Hear me...That would be kinda like, Steven Harper inviting the public wine and get on to the top bands at 24 Sussex Drive. Only in the West Indies, I tell yuh.

That night, it became pretty clear that two song written and produced by Machel’s musical director, Kernal Roberts were about to rule the Carnival. I’m talking about Palance by JW and Blaze, and Police in de Session by Shal Marshall and Screws.

Shal Marshall performing at Soca Monarch

 The next night I went to Eyes Wide Shut. If you haven’t heard already...Jamaican dancehall phenomenon Serani was booked as a guest act. I’m sure the promoters thought it was a great idea, but when all of the soca acts had left the stage for the night, the crowd was far from impressed that a dancehall act would be scheduled to close out a major carnival week fete, especially one who had publicly criticized the soca genre in the media early last year. The result? A resounding...BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Poor Serani only asked the ladies to Make Some Noise.... but both men and ladies joined forces to shame the man off stage. Score one for soca. Score zero for international relations. Heh!

As for Soca Monarch! What a night. Personally, that’s my favourite event on the T&T Carnival Calendar...and just so happens to be the most important night of the year for soca. I was so close to the stage. I could literally feel the fireworks burning my nose hairs. Sad to say, Fay Ann Lyons lost her titles in both categories and had to settle for second place behind Shurwayne Winchester in Groovy and ahead of Rikki Jai and Patrice Roberts.

In the Power Category poor Fay-Fay took a silver medal there too. In fourth was Tallpree with Wicked Jab. Shal and Screw placed 3rd....and in first were none of other than JW and Blaze with Palance.

Utter Madness you should have seen the crowd get on for those fellas. Honorable mention goes to Toronto’s own Kerwin Du Bois whose Groovy performance of “Pavement” with Farmer Nappy was the first to send the crowd into a frenzy. It was like a rock concert in there.

Farmer Nappy getting as close as possible to the crowd

So much to tell, but precious time in short....the winning streak continued to till carnival Tuesday for Palance. That’s the new T&T Roadmarch, beating out “True Lies” and “No Behaviour” with more than 400 plays at judging points. So we are talking about a roadmarch win by the widest margin in Trinidad Carnival History.

Before I go, I have to tell you one more thing. I’m sure you rememeber me telling you that Machel would not be performing anywhere during the carnival season. And of course Destra just had a baby...so she was missing in action too. Well, great news...the hiatus is over. On Thursday, Machel Montano gave a live performance in Port of Spain alongside visiting R&B star, Beyonce Knowles. During his set, he surprised the crowd by performing 2003 hit, “It’s Carnival” with Destra Garcia in her first post pregnancy appearance. And when Beyonce hit the stage, imagine the shock when she burst into her own rendition of the 2010 Roadmarch, “Palance”. By all accounts the concert was money well spent...and it makes me feel happy to see that Miss B, paid a lil respect to the local scene.

I’m Nurse Karen and those were Dr. Jay’s Rounds for more detail on everything mentioned today, Check me out online on the Nurse Karen Etc blog at Nurse dash Karen dot com....or follow me on Twitter. Now...back to de docta!

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Booster Shot: JW and Blaze obliterate all competition for 2010 Trinidad Roadmarch

Let me waste no time.  I think the numbers speak for themselves. I feel sorry for the judges that had to listen to ONE song for the WHOLE day yesterday.  Congrats to JW and Blaze for totally dominating Carnival 2K10!

The numbers reflect how many times each song was played at the various judging points:

1	JW and Blaze	Palance	417
2	Faye Ann Lyons Alvarez	True Lies	40
3	Machel Montano	No Behavior	11

Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

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Eye Unit: JW & Blaze - 'Palance' Official Music Video

Now you have it folks!!! JW and Blaze with the brand new video for their mega hit....Palance!

I'm getting set to Palance all the way to Trinidad. At the air port now, headed to NY and then T&T. Watch the video and say a little prayer for my safe travels to carnival central!



Love and Soca,

Nurse Karen

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