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June 26, 2009
Machel Montano Morns the King of Pop
 Machel Montano in his own words: Condolences to the King's family, friends and
fans as we all mourn together! Michael Jackson will be missed but never forgotten. Even
in death he was able to unite people of all creeds and colors
and make them happy; he is the greatest entertainer that
ever lived.
I and so many others owe our careers
to MJ - he encouraged my dream. So much of what I have done has been inspired and informed by him. His standards have set
the stage for my goals and in this way he has touched so many.
It is also very important
to note that he chose to use his influence for the greater good of mankind in the messages he delivered through songs like
"We Are The World," "Heal The World," "Man In The Mirror," "Black Or White," "I
Believe I Can Fly," and so many more.
MJ was more than a man - he was a "moment
in time," and like Bob Marley, this moment will never end. Long live the King!
Michael Jackson - August 29,
1958 - June 25, 2009 - R.I.P.
June 20, 2009
Gretta Taylor Marks 35 Years of Excellence Heading the Marionettes
 On June 3, the Marionettes Chorale's two founding directors, Jocelyn Pierre and June Williams-Thorne, were among the artists who were given awards for their outstanding
contribution to culture during the Queen's Hall 50th Anniversary Awards Gala, along with Gretta Taylor, who took the helm
in 1974 and has led the group ever since. It was a fitting moment as the choir celebrated with Queen's Hall, the place that
has been the venue for virtually all of the Marionettes' season productions over its 45-year history.
Indeed,
the choir returns to Queen's Hall this July 10-12 with the support of bpTT- the choir's sponsor for 37 years - for a memorable
programme of popular classics, calypso, opera, Broadway and more.
Gretta Taylor (Artistic Director and Conductor),
Susan Dore (Assistant Musical Director), and Joanne Mendes (Secretary and Production Manager), this year also celebrate 35
years at the managerial helm. Joanne is a founder member of the choir, while Gretta and Susan joined soon after the its formation
in 1964. With the unstinting support of long-time sponsors bpTT, the three now direct the choir with the help of a multi-generational
organising committee.
For Taylor, directing the Marionettes came as something of a shock. "I never had a solo
voice and was always happy being a backline singer. Really, the directorship was thrust on me. I did not seek it." She came from
a household that celebrated music of all kinds, from classics to calypso: each member of the family sang, played an instrument,
or both. Taylor remembers: "On the one hand I loved the Brandenburg concertos, yet on the other, Lord Melody was my hero!"
Decades later, she can still give her unique rendition of Lord Melo's classic, "Mama, Look a Boo Boo" without missing
a beat. She has performed and composed many a prize-winning calypso, a side of her of which few are aware.
Gretta's
father, the late Dr. A.G. Francis (Chaconia Medal Gold), was a legendary diagnostician, sportsman and social worker, who devoted
his life to serving the community. Like him, Gretta has spent her entire musical and professional career in the public service,
despite having been pegged by her music instructors at the University of Toronto as a professional concert pianist. She excelled
for years in the piano classes at the Trinidad & Tobago Music Festival, winning the Norah Grant Trophy and Trinidad Guardian
Cup on several occasions (some with long-time friend and Marionettes colleague, Susan Dore). After their successes, she and
Dore retired from the Music Festival competitions. Four years later, in 1980, she withdrew the Marionettes, unbeaten, from
festival competition and turned her sights to international tours, bringing home four prizes in the 1980s and 1990s.
A University of Toronto graduate with a postgraduate degree in Languages and a Diploma in Education, Taylor taught languages
from forms one to six at St. Joseph's Convent in Port of Spain for almost 30 years before retiring in 1994. There she
also directed the school's senior, intermediate and junior choirs for 13 years, during which time the senior choir and its
members consistently won top prizes at the Music Festival for solo, ensemble and choral singing, including the Prime Minister's
Trophy for the Most Outstanding Junior Choir of the festival. She also led the choir, combined with St. Mary's College, to
the Youth Choral & Dance Festival in Vienna. In 2005, she was inducted into the St. Joseph's Convent's Hall of Excellence.
Beyond her work with St. Joseph's Convent and the Marionettes, Taylor has judged the National Calypso Monarch Finals
(both junior and senior), the T&T Music Festival mini preliminaries, and the popular Teen Talent and Twelve & Under
TV contests, as well as many other youth achievement competitions. After her retirement she directed the Maria Regina choir
from 1994 to 2004, and later assisted the successful Sacred Heart Girls choir in is its preparation for the Music Festival.
Since assuming the leadership of the Marionettes in 1974, Taylor has produced and directed at least two full-scale
musical productions a year, each running for up to six nights, as well as many other concert appearances and fundraisers,
and has taken the chorale on five memorable overseas tours to Great Britain, Costa Rica, and the United States. In 1990, Taylor
was awarded the Humming Bird Medal Gold for her outstanding services to music and culture.
Taylor has developed
and extended the Marionettes' range and repertoire substantially in her 35 years as musical director. They have tackled with
great success major choral works never before performed in the Caribbean, often in a contemporary idiom unfamiliar to Caribbean
audiences, and despite the absence of a conventional orchestra. Though for the choir's 45th anniversary concert July 10-12
at Queen's Hall, it will be joined by an orchestra which includes international string players, as well as the regular
steel pans, percussion, brass and woodwinds.
Taylor's rigorous choral training and high professional standards
have made the Marionettes one of the most respected performing groups in the Caribbean. "We are extremely proud of our
calypso and steelband traditions, and regularly adapt them for the choir," she says. "We also want to show both
local and international audiences the vast range of talents and traditions that we have in the Caribbean. We want to move
audiences with western choral music as well as with our own traditional music, and do both equally well in the same programme."
In 1995, the Marionettes Youth Chorale was formed in response to calls from parents and former students
for a creative outlet for young people. Taylor has since trained the younger choir to share the stage with their adult counterparts,
and to host and perform with international touring choirs and to produce their own full-length concerts. Many former Youth
Chorale members are now singing in the adult choir (some perform with both choirs). The members range from scholarship winners
to those who have never seen a musical score.
Taylor has the reputation of being an exacting vocal, choral and
languages teacher who draws the very best from her students and choristers. She constantly reminds her students, particularly
those with exceptional talent, that "from those to whom much is given, much is expected". She teaches that music
is not just about performing: it is about giving, to each other and to local and international communities. Taylor has never
taken a day's pay for her demanding role as Artistic Director. Her reward, she says, comes in seeing the spiritual benefits
that artistic and creative outlets bring.
Ever the student and striving for perfection, Taylor has completed
musical and conducting courses at the Hereford Summer School of Music (1986) and the Talbot Lampson School for Choral Conductors
& Accompanists in London (1986 & 1987), where she won a special award. She is a member of the North American Choral
Directors' Association, and regularly attends their biennial conventions, searching for new ways of improving the choirs'
performance and repertoire.
"Our top priority is to do good music of every kind, and to do it as well as we
possibly can," she says, "because we believe in it, and because good music can speak to us all in a profound way
if we take the trouble to listen. It has the power to teach, and to heal."
The Marionettes' 45th Anniversary
performance runs this July 10-12 at Queen's Hall. Tickets go on sale on June 22 at the Queen's Hall from 12-6pm (tel: 624-1284),
from members, and online at http://wwwCaribbeanBoxOffice.Net.
(all photos courtesy the Marionettes Chorale
unless otherwise stated):
ABOUT THE MARIONETTES
Founded in 1964, incorporated as a nonprofit
organisation in 2005, and sponsored by bpTT since 1972, the Marionettes Chorale is one of the Caribbean's most celebrated
choirs, both at home and abroad. In 1995, the Youth Chorale was formed, comprised of boys and girls from over thirty
schools throughout Trinidad & Tobago who regularly share the stage with their senior counterparts. Led since 1974 by conductor
Gretta Taylor, assistant musical director Susan Dore and secretary and founder member Joanne Mendes, the choirs mount two
major productions a year, showcasing a repertoire ranging from European Renaissance to Caribbean Folk and Calypso.
• Official website: http://www.marionetteschorale.com• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Marionettes-Chorale/9237400923• MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/themarionetteschorale• Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marionettes• YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/marionetteschorale• iLike: http://www.ilike.com/artist/the+marionettes+chorale• ReverbNation: http://www.reverbnation.com/themarionetteschorale• Free e-newsletter: http://marionetteschorale.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=953ac471999877b701514f443&id=a23e9fa313• CDs and MP3s on Sale: http://cdbaby.com/all/marionettes
June 5, 2009
Radio City Welcomes Soca King Machel Montano HD
 NEW YORK, NY - Internationally acclaimed soca king Machel Montano continues his quest of channeling Caribbean music worldwide when he hits the stage at the
prestigious New York City landmark venue, Radio City Music Hall. Billed as MACHEL MONTANO LIVE IN CONCERT - RAW &
UNCUT, the highly-anticipated event will feature special guests from the HD
family, including Patrice Roberts, Farmer
Nappy, Zan, Umi Marcano and the HD Band, and takes place on Saturday, June 13, 2009.
This
stop at Radio City is a follow-up to his critically acclaimed Machel
Montano & Friends concerts at Madison Square Garden in 2008 and 2007. Montano's new production of RAW & UNCUT at Radio City will again break new
ground for soca music and the culture of Trinidad & Tobago, as he takes full aim
at capturing an even broader section of the North American market.
In
addition to his own unparalleled live stage performances and featured appearances from members of the HD family including
(Patrice Roberts, Farmer Nappy, Zan, Umi Marcano Montano will once again include a stellar cast of music superstars to participate in the show, among them is Red
Hot Flames featuring Oungku from Antigua.
Radio City Music Hall boasts the largest indoor theatre in the world and has played host
to everyone from Michael Jackson to the MTV Music Awards.
It is the ultimate destination for the best and brightest in the entertainment business, and the thousands of Machel Montano
massive trekking to the show will now become part of its rich history.
Montano's lifelong work embodies his commitment as a Trinidadian artist,
as he continues to tirelessly to promote Trinidad & Tobago's Carnival, and the
culture and people of the entire Caribbean. With a stellar cast and live band concert in the famed venue, RAW & UNCUT is already guaranteed to go down in history. Tickets are now available at
all Ticketmaster locations.
June 1, 2009
Major Riddim is the Freshest Caribbean Riddim
 New York, NY – The vibrant, new Caribbean music riddim has been unleashed to music fans globally, displaying the talents
of dynamic artistes representing different islands in the region.
The producer of the riddim is Tony "The
Mad Architect" Brown of Mad Architect Music who although currently based in New York, has strong Caribbean roots
due to his upbringing in Trinidad. He states that the genesis of the riddim’s name was his casually playing keyboard
notes in the Key of C Major, hence the name Major Riddim. This created the basis for this groundbreaking instrumental which
uniquely combines elements of Soca and Dancehall music.
The
award winning DJ, producer, engineer and radio personality also notes that upon completion, early listeners, artistes and
critics alike were drawn to the Major Riddim but due to its fusion sound they could not decipher whether it was Reggae or
Soca. This ambiguity motivated several artistes of both genres to lyrically jump onboard the riddim in a virtual music battle,
thereby inspiring a Soca vs. Reggae theme.
Although being touted under the Soca vs. Reggae moniker, the Major Riddim
instead exhibits true Caribbean unity bringing together the unique styles of Jamaica, St. Vincent, Trinidad, Antigua and even
Puerto Rico under one musical roof, making these bona fide crowd pleasers appealing to a wide Caribbean audience.
Tracks on the Major Riddim include lead hit single, "Gotta Be Mine" (performed by Catalyst Records artiste, Trinity)
which has already infiltrated nightclubs within the Caribbean and Caribbean Diaspora; “Ms. Independent” by Jamaican
born BMWA; “Golden Touch” by Trinidad’s own Bumper Soprano known by fans for his hit track “Ella”
as well as “Don’t be Afraid” by Blackroots from St. Vincent, a man known for being a songwriter and manager
for numerous artistes, including Jamsey P and Harella.
Track listing
Trinity - Gotta Be Mine (Trinidad)
Jelani - Hail (Antigua)
Blackroots - Don't Be Afraid (St. Vincent)
BMWA - Ms. Independent (Jamaica)
Bumper
Soprano - Golden Touch (Trinidad)
Scorpian King feat. Dan Tan - I Love The Girls (Edit) (Jamaica and Puerto Rico)
Smurfy D feat. G-Law - Jamacia (Jamaica)
Zeego Zaro - Hustler's Anthem (Edit) (Jamaica)
GoldTeeth - Wine Up Pon It (Jamaica)
“The Major Riddim” is currently available online for
legal purchase at several internet CD stores including I-tunes, Cdbaby.com, Rhapsody.com and TrinidadTunes.com and the music
itself is set to blaze across the global music platform. Having already received positive reviews, the various tracks are
sure to gain numerous requests and heavy rotation and be a “Major” force to be reckoned with in the various dancehalls
and Carnival celebrations to come.
To obtain more information on Tony "The Mad Architect" Brown or The
Major Riddim Log onto http://www.madarchitectmusic.com or http://facebook.dj/themadarchitect/OREmail: themadarchitect@gmail.com
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