3canal: Press

The poolside area of the Carlton Savannah Hotel was transformed into the Queen's Park Savannah stage of old last Emancipation Sunday evening, as Rapso favourites, 3Canal hosted their annual Freedom.com concert event and almost initiated a mid-year Jouvert celebration without mud.

Scores of faithful 3Canal fans arrived on time for the 7.30 p.m. start and were well-dressed and well-behaved for the first half of the show. Ataklan opened with a few of his hit selections and was well received, before Wendell, Stanton and Roger took the stage and led their Cut+Clear Crew through an initial set comprised of more recent 3Canal material.

Humidity was high after a day filled with downpours, but the masses braved the heat, the high-end hotel bar prices and the adventurous upper deck built over the pool. MC Rawkus hosted the proceedings in the vein of an ongoing radio program as Kin Sibling Rivalry delivered an exciting set of Caribbean rock music, before making way for Sheldon Holder and a scaled-down version of 12 The Band.

Drawing inspiration from the newly-elected political administration and their stated intentions to diversify our economy, 3Canal has reignited a call for legislation advocating 50 per cent local content across the broadcast media spectrum. Labelled as the Music Liberation Front, or MLF, this initiative was clearly illustrated in the format of Freedom.com, which ensured that 100 per cent local music was played and performed on the night.

"The Music Liberation Front is a vehicle and a platform for the promotion and proliferation of our indigenous musical expression," said Manwarren. "The call for quotas is over ten years old and still remains unanswered and I think we have suffered enough as a nation because we do not see and hear enough of ourselves. So, we are taking up the cry once again and trying to spread the message and keep it in the minds of the people as much as possible because we think the time is ripe for a positive change in this direction. No matter what anybody says, nothing bad can come of this initiative and acceptance of ourselves and in fact, we have plenty of evidence of different societies around the world that have benefited from it, so why haven't we even tried it yet?"

Returning to the stage for a second set of older favourites, 3Canal turned the energy levels up high and soon enough the upper deck and patrons all around the venue were swaying fluidly with the motion of unbridled revelry. As the set progressed with classics like "Blue", "Salt" and "Talk Yuh Talk", even the hotel staff became infected with the sweet melodies and contagious harmonies of the accomplished ensemble. All pretentious behaviour evaporated into the balmy atmosphere as the rhythm took root within the bodies present and complete joy and merriment took over the gathering. Ataklan returned to perform "Shadow" and "Soca Girl" with extensive backgrounds from 3Canal and the "Free Three" 'soul sisters' present, namely: Jamilla Hypolite, Dionne Mc Nichol-Stephenson and Jeanelle Archer before 3Canal closed with their epic, "All Around The World".

The concert was then officially over, but the party had only just begun as Rawkus and DJ Rhythm International continued to ignite the dance-floor with hits from the Kisskadee Karavan and other popular local acts over time. Manwarren expressed tremendous gratitude to all patrons who braved the rainy evening and came out to support the MLF, as well as various sponsors and the management of the Carlton Savannah Hotel.

"Aside from pushing the MLF and call for quotas," he revealed, "we're gonna be hitting the studio hard from all now. I think we were still mourning the loss of $hel$hok after the fact last year and our music suffered because we went to the studio very late and didn't have his usual quota of magic. So, we're going to hit it early this year and crank out music until we feel we have enough to make an impact on the season and the music scene in general."

 

For more information on 3Canal or the MLF, please log on to www.3canal.com or visit their fan page on facebook.com.

ARTISTES CALL FOR EQUAL RADIO TIME
Roughly a decade ago artistes, musicians, music producers and lovers of local music marched through Port of Spain calling for greater radio airplay for local music. Rapso artiste Wendell Manwarren of the group 3Canal observes today, that many things have changed since.

"Andre Tanker who was forefront in the march has since passed away and calypsonian Winston "Gypsy" Peters who was also part of the movement for fairer airplay for our local music is now the Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism. Many things have changed, yet we are still waiting for more airplay," Manwarren said.

Manwarren with 3Canal and the Cut+Clear Crew will today, Emancipation Day, make a vibrant call for better a quota for local music through their show titled Freedom.com: Free the Music – Free Yourself. This is the fifth edition of the annual concert that is usually held close to the Emancipation holiday. It takes place at the poolside of the Carlton Savannah Hotel, Cascade from 6 p.m.

The concert will be presented in a radio station format where the music acts will be punctuated by brief explorations of where local music stands today. Manwarren said this idea was initiated some time aback in the days of D'Yard, which was the name given the home of the Rituals recording studio, which produced music from rapso artistes and other local acts.

"We had a little project called MLF meaning Music Liberation Front in which we asked ourselves what would we sound like if we had our own radio station and if we did, what would the quotas be like. The problem with airplay is a perennial thing that needs to be addressed because this is all about identifying who we are," Manwarren said.

Manwarren pointed out that during a recent symposium on entertainment one of the panelists suggested that Carnival may be detrimental to the entire cultural landscape because everything seems to be locked into the season. Manwarren said he can understand such concerns because, "We fixate on Carnival and forget we have an entire year to engage. We used to hear a lot of new music playing during the August holidays, but not these days. We did not stop making music, we just stopped playing it."

Freedom.com: Free the Music – Free Yourself will feature performances by 3Canal as well as rapso artiste Ataklan. Also in the line-up is 12 the Band and Kin Sibling Rivalry, which performs what they define as Caribbean rock. The event is being described as a festival of music towards the libration of the music as 3Canal and the other artistes involved again call for a quota of at least 50/50 on radio.

"The People is the music and the music is the people. If radio will not play local music we have the podcasts and will just go viral on the internet and iPhones," Manwarren said. Tickets can be purchased today at the Carlton Savannah hotel.

3CANAL TAKES LION'S SHARE

Rapso group 3 Canal walked away with the lion’s share of awards, including the prize for Most Outstanding Production—The 3-Canal JAM-IT! Show—at Tuesday’s Cacique Awards 2009. The 21st Annual Awards Ceremony, produced by the National Drama Association of T&T (NDATT) was held at Queen’s Hall, St Ann’s, and was attended to by scores of local arts and entertainment enthusiasts.

The popular music outfit also copped the awards for Most Outstanding Sound Design, Most Outstanding Director and Most Outstanding Original Script, which front-line vocalist Wendell Manwarren dedicated to his late friend — actress, comedienne and radio personality Mairoon Ali. Ali, 55, died on December 20, of hypertensive heart disease. Manwarren remained in winner’s row, capturing the evening’s special awards— Outstanding Achievement in Writing (Original Script) and Outstanding Musical Director.

Meanwhile, designer Margaret Sheppard won the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award. Newcomer Tramaine Lamy beat out veteran actresses Penelope Spencer and Debra Boucaud-Mason for Most Outstanding Actress, for her role as Belle in Disney’s Beauty and The Beast. Marlon de Bisque managed a similar feat, copping the award for Most Outstanding Actor over his more seasoned counterparts Errol Fabien and Richard Ragoobarsingh. The Most Outstanding Dramatic Production, meanwhile, went to the Department of Creative and Festival Arts for Fragments: Celebrating the Works of Derek Walcott, while RS Productions received the award for Most Outstanding Comedic Production.

Titled Nurture The Future, the event also provided an opportunity for young aspiring actors to display their talents in the art form. The audience was treated to performances by the Bishop Anstey Choir, The Lilliput Theatre, Trinidad Theatre Workshop and Dale Huggins. NDATT president Louris Lee-Sing said the theatre community continued to face “many challenges,” including the escalating cost of venues and advertising and dwindling audience members due to rising crime and “recent economic crises.”

She said: “It is obviously in our nature to be optimistic, to keep going and become innovative when faced with adversity, because I see the producers, actors and technical professionals exploring new opportunities in our fledgling film industry...In short, I see evolution.” Lee-Sing said it was the responsibility of the NDATT to adapt to the changing paradigms and innovate ways to benefit and service its membership.

Marlon de Bisque managed a similar feat, copping the award for Most Outstanding Actor over his more seasoned counterparts Errol Fabien and Richard Ragoobarsingh. The Most Outstanding Dramatic Production, meanwhile, went to the Department of Creative and Festival Arts for Fragments: Celebrating the Works of Derek Walcott, while RS Productions received the award for Most Outstanding Comedic Production.

Titled Nurture The Future, the event also provided an opportunity for young aspiring actors to display their talents in the art form. The audience was treated to performances by the Bishop Anstey Choir, The Lilliput Theatre, Trinidad Theatre Workshop and Dale Huggins. NDATT president Louris Lee-Sing said the theatre community continued to face “many challenges,” including the escalating cost of venues and advertising and dwindling audience members due to rising crime and “recent economic crises.”

She said: “It is obviously in our nature to be optimistic, to keep going and become innovative when faced with adversity, because I see the producers, actors and technical professionals exploring new opportunities in our fledgling film industry...In short, I see evolution.” Lee-Sing said it was the responsibility of the NDATT to adapt to the changing paradigms and innovate ways to benefit and service its membership.

3CANAL GRABS MOST CACIQUE NOMINATIONS

Rapso trio 3Canal secured nominations in 11 of the 13 categories for this year's Cacique Awards scheduled for August 3 at Queen's Hall, St Ann's on July 12 at the National Library, St Vincent St, Port of Spain.

The group earned the nominations for its Carnival 2010 production titled, The 3Canal Show: Jam-It at Queen's Hall.

This show featured 3Canal and its band, Cut+Clear in concert and was supported by drama, dance, poetry and other performance elements. Jam It was nominated for Most Outstanding Set Design, Most Outstanding Light Design, Most Outstanding Original Script and Wendell Manwarren was nominated for Most Outstanding Director.

Cecelia Salazar announced the categories and nominees before members of the theatre fraternity including several of the nominees and members of the media.

President of the National Drama Association of Trinidad and Tobago (NDATT), Louris Lee Sing said although it is financially challenging to present the Cacique Awards ceremony, NDATT continues to because the hard work of the people in the fraternity must be recognised and rewarded.

Lee Sing also called for more corporate support for the event.

The Vanguard Award will this year be presented to the Little Carib Theatre, which ironically is closed for major restoration work that has been moving very slowly for the past months.

The Little Carib was established by Beryl McBurnie in 1948 and served as the nurturing ground for many actors, dancers and musicians over the past 60 years.

The Lifetime Achievement Award will be presented to Margaret Sheppard, a wardrobe and costume designer who has worked in the theatre arena for more than 20 years.

Sheppard has worked with the Baggasse Company, Marionettes Chorale, Godfrey Seale and the Trinidad Theatre Workshop and others. She is also an accomplished artist.

The Catholic priest spoke of the 91-year old woman at her funeral service as coming from a different time and from circumstances not comparable to those of the late 20th and early 21st centuries It was a time when the lower and middle social and economic classes had little by way of material possessions, that is in the manner that we today count value. But it was a time when we reached beyond our base nature and valued the non-material.

It was a time when people paid attention to something called “good manners”, which meant they said “morning neighbour.” It was a time, contrary to the times of today, when as 3Canal observes, we have drifted far away from simple but fundamental tenets of humanity: Click Link for more...

A night to remember with 3Canal

The names roll off your tongue, Bacchanal Show, Shine, Joy and Fire, and now Jam-it. Ten years after fellow band member, John Isaacs passed away, the 3Canal band came out with a production called Jam-It, for 2010.

Audience members said it was aptly suited name for a Carnival season which followed a year of true controversy, and well, general scandal.

This year’s show began with the regular segment for opening acts where young artists get a chance to flex their muscles before a crowd known to clap-on even the newest of stage takers.

At about 8.30 p.m. the main cast takes the stage and starts the show, with another aptly titled item, the song ’Start It.’

The crowd, most of whom are anything but virgins to the 3Canal experience are given their first view of the cast. The cast, most of whom are no strangers to the local theatre fraternity or Queen’s Hall are given their first view of their adoring crowd.

Mainstays like limbo queen Natalie Joseph Settle, renowned actress Penelope Spencer, and performance artists Dion McNicol and Kamal Rashad Durant are all sighted.

The theme of the first half of the show is revealed. The audience sees slave warriors, all shapes and sizes ready to fight the constabulary for their rights to beat their drums, sing their songs, and dance their dances. The Canboulay riots have begun.

Michael Cherrie, another regular at 3Canal concerts assumes the role of a police officer, ready to ban ’the people’s festival.’ He wants to stop ’they Carnival.’

Second track begins, and the crowd is treated to the jam, J’ouvert Warrior. This flows into Ah Love it.

This time the crowd, at the gala night event sings along, ’Oh ah love it, ah love, ah love meh Carnival.’ Before this, anybody observing from the outside would have described the persons gathered at the grande dame of local theatre spaces, Queen’s Hall to take in the Jam-It show, as ’stoosh.’ ’Stoosh’ means unnecessarily posh or uppity. But the crowd wasn’t ’stoosh.’

By the time Run, Come began to play, a few folks were wining in their seats. Pumping fists supported the casts while they performed to the tracks Boom Up History and Freedom Jam. 3Canal’s message of respecting those who fought for freedom, emancipation and change should have been evident to even the most disconnected concert attendee by then.

During the intermission one patron described the first half of Jam-It as ’angry.’

’But it was good anger. The kind we need to shake stuff up,’ he told the Express.

While the message of the first half was evident, the second half was parody central. Satire was the name of the game, and the Jam-It cast was playing it. And from the audience laughs and nods, it appeared they were playing it well.

The target of the satire was not so uncommon and had found himself the brunt of many a jokes within the last year.

Michael Cherrie’s speech began, ’My brothers and sisters.’ The audience laughed. He continued talking about his love for ’Echoes Divine’ and disdain for ’wajangs.’ The target of his derision, oh so obvious.

Asked if they felt uncomfortable with the show’s apparent mocking of the country’s Prime Minister, most said no.

’We vote for you, we could laugh at you. Art imitates life.’

Using a strong cocktail of militant irony, double entendre and the juxtaposition of character traits, the theatrical piece continued to highlight what citizens have termed ’the folly of our leaders.’

But the Government shouldn’t feel super special, the mocking wasn’t confined to them. The concert’s script also poked fun at what was supposed to be the concert event to top all concert events, the Michael Jackson This Is It, concert, which was cancelled due to circumstances beyond the organiser’s control. Jackson died.

Penelope Spencer even took a jeer at 3Canal themselves. The band members, Wendell Manwarren, Stanton Kewley and Roger Roberts are known for wearing the pants notoriously low. Some would say their pants are worn around their buttocks and not their waists.

When Spencer who plays the head worker at the ’Emperor’s Palace,’ (hint hint) hears that 3Canal is the band coming to play at her boss’s ’big, big ball’, she damn near faints and says, ’Oh God tell them to pull up dey pants.’

The audience bursts into back shaking chuckles.

’That was funny, very funny.’

Veteran actress, Cecelia Salazar was cast as Queen Elizabeth 11, on her recent visit to Trinidad and Tobago.

One audience member stated that Salazar was a good ’caricature’ of the royal lady. One must wonder whether or not the term ’good caricature’ was meant as a praise or critique. The statement seems paradoxical.

Either way most agreed the show was funny.

Some ’strong’ language flew around on the stage also. As such sincerely ’stoosh’ people should have probably left ’dey pickney’ home with the ’sitter.

Maybe the piece wasn’t as funny as Charlie Chaplin’s satirical film The Dictator , based on the rise of Adolf Hitler, but the resemblances were there.

But it is possible, despite the public’s pleasure, the PNM camp may not have found the play that funny. However ousted Minister of Trade Keith Rowley was in attendance at the show on its gala night. The Express didn’t get a chance to ask him what he thought of the play however.

Despite the absence of the Diego Martin West MP’s feedback, all other comments make it safe to conclude that the 3Canal Show has once again emerged as a luminary of local satire. It reminded theatre goers that smart comedy is still made in T&T.

It also reminded this Express reporter that no matter how bad we think T&T is, let’s say thank God we don’t live elsewhere.

In a country not to far South of us, let’s call the country Benezuela, ironic theatre like Jam-It most likely would have been shut down and labelled as ’anti-Government’ on day one. Instead the 3Canal show ran for eight days, ending on Carnival Saturday with no notable censorship.

Keeping a seated crowd entertained at this time of the year is no easy feat, but 3Canal was on the ball at Queen’s Hall on February 9, when it hosted its Jam-It show in tribute to the late John Isaacs, Mairoon Ali, and Sheldon “Shel Shock” Benjamin. Although the response to the pre-show was somewhat lukewarm, those in attendance could sense what lay ahead as the trio eventually made a grand entrance on stage, flanked by a theatric entourage led by theatre stalwart Penelope Spencer. Patrons got their money’s worth, and then some, as they were treated to a bit of history, politics and a whole lot of entertainment, all rolled into one.
As the group belted out song after song from their extensive repertoire, each number was linked to scenes from the dramatic re-enactment of the 1881 Camboulay riots, with a contemporary twist, of course. Preparations for the Carnival celebration by the freed Africans, amid the numerous restrictions was outlined by Captain Arthur Baker, played by Michael Cherrie, were hilarious, and the packed Queen’s Hall all but shook with laughter. But it was the second act that stole the show. Clad in colourful costumes befitting a masquerade ball, the actors were out of sorts when they were forbidden by Governor Sir Sanford Freeling, also played by Cherrie, from celebrating Carnival in the way they wanted.
According to a stiff Freeling, there was to be “no wining, no grinding, no passa passing, no daggering, no palancing and all sorts of wajang behaviour” during his ball, at which the Queen of England was expected to make an appearance. Anyone found in contravention of these restrictions, he said, would be severely punished. The hiring of the band Divine Echoes to play at the ball invoked bouts of laughter from the audience. But when it was reported that the band was unable to make it and the services of 3 Canal had instead been contracted, the reaction of the citizens, especially Spencer, sent the crowd into a frenzy.
“Oh God! Let dem pull up dey pants,” Spencer shrieked, as she fanned herself. And when the queen eventually made her entrance at the ball, the audience stopped short of rolling along the isles. Emblazoned on the bottom front of her dress was a blue devil. It was then that 3Canal again took centre stage with a new bout of energy. And by the time the curtains came down, no one could accuse the group of not having accomplished its mission. Part of the show’s proceeds will be donated to the people of Haiti.

'Jam-It' hits PNM administration hard

POPULAR local band, 3Canal and its 2010 Carnival show ’Jam-It’ is taking a series of shots at this country’s Patrick Manning led administration and its zealous hosting of two expensive international conferences last year.

Known for being anything but politically correct, this year the 3Canal Show has stepped up the usual public criticism of this country’s leaders and several patrons whom the Express spoke to after Tuesday night’s gala presentation of ’Jam-It’ said the show was indeed hitting the current People’s National Movement led administration ’real hard.’

’They are only repeating things the citizenry has been saying all year. There is serious grassroots discontent in Trinidad and Tobago, serious concern over the decisions the Government we once trusted are making, and 3Canal being the kind of band they are, are not afraid to highlight the concerns of the people. They are performers, but they are people too and the issues here affect them also. It’s time more of us tell Manning like it is. As 3Canal asked them, what they going to do ’when the people come for they millions?’ What he going to do when we want we oil and gas money?’’ said one middle aged woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Though the band, which comprises Wendell Manwarren, Stanton Kewley and Roger Roberts, published disclaimers this week stating that any resemblance their characters bore to real persons was a figment of the audience’s imagination, this only served to make the script more comedic for patrons attending Tuesday night’s show.

While most patrons interviewed by the Express after the show, said they would not describe the event as ’anti-Government,’ several attendees agreed that any die-hard Patrick Manning supporters would be uncomfortable with the cast mocking the present PM’s perceived dislike for ’wajangs,’ and even homosexuals.

Diego Martin West MP Dr Keith Rowley’s presence event only served to make actor Michael Cherrie’s impression of ’The Emperor’ and his ’anti-wajang’ sentiment even more poignant.

Rowley was fired from his post as Trade Minister in 2008, following an episode where the Prime Minister accused his fellow Cabinet member of carrying on with ’wajang’ behaviour.

Despite the underlying theme of political commentary and the steady flow of ’picong’ doled out by the band, the 3Canal ’Jam-It’ show which runs until tomorrow was well received by the audience.

Tuesday’s event was dedicated to the memory of deceased 3Canal member, John Isaacs, as well as producer, Sheldon ’$hel $hok’ Benjamin, and actress Mairoon Ali, both also deceased.

Manwarren told the Express that all profits from Tuesday’s gala event will be donated to the Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund.

The 3canal “Freedom Now” show, featuring Wendell Manwarren, Roger Roberts and Stanton Kewely on Tuesday night at Queen’s Hall in St Ann’s was perhaps one of the best concerts in Port-of-Spain in recent years.

During the entire show emotions ranged from celebration of Emancipation, happiness to be alive and well, to doom and gloom from current injustices, to rage with the powers that be not listening to the people, to love when all else fails and lastly to hope for a better life in this country.

Every Emancipation 3canal hosts two concerts with the first being a benefit. This year the benefit was for actress Cecilia Salazar.

Four months ago she suffered Peripartum Dilated Cardiomyopathy – an enlarged, stressed and weakened heart. It meant she was in the early stages of heart failure in both the left and right chambers of her heart. Roberts explained: “Its about celebrating Emancipation but this year we decided to look at Emancipation as not dressing up in pretty clothes but what freedom really means to us and how we plan to make a difference with it.”

He added that with freedom as the breath of life, deceased producer Shelshok who was one of the celebrated persons of the event produced 90 percent of their music. And using another quote “Freedom lies in being bold,” he cited Salazar who he said took a bold choice years ago to become an actress despite the odds and a lot of her energy was poured into their work on the night.

That, coupled with 3canal deliberately bringing the band Cut + Clear to the forefront and closer to the audience, it was easier to communicate with the audience and it worked. With all instruments clearly heard, the band fired on all cylinders and their music was felt throughout the hall.

The night began with oral tradition artistes Mohammed Muwakil doing a freedom piece followed by The Griots – Tonya Evans, Mandissa Granderson and Isoke Edwards doing likewise.

3Canal then made their entrance on stage with “Happy Song” followed by “Rise,” “Now Is The Time” and “Freedom Jam.” During this song a total jam session followed with the introduction of Sheldon Holder and his guitarist Johnny Hosein Darius Balgobin and Nickolai Salcedo.

The Griots went into another interlude before 3Canal returned on stage to deliver “Millions.” During numbers, Manwarren blasted politicians for not hearing the plight of the people and even sarcastically joked on the PM and his “so-called” death threat then went on to sing “Watch Them.” By this time the audience fully got into their act as they sang with conviction, “Salt” and “Talk Yuh Talk.”

The music was pulled down a bit for Manwarren to tell a true story of a 14-year-old being gunned down the night before he’d arranged with his cousin Ataklan to work with him. Manwarren then sang “A Song For Billy” after which he stated “The killings have to stop.”

Ataklan was then introduced and he delivered “Shadow In The Dark” after which he stated, “Emancipation (slavery) hasn’t been abolished, it’s only been redesigned” but he changed the mood of the audience with his next song “Tomorrow Today” during which he asked everyone in the audience to touch someone next to them whether they knew them or not and tell the person “I Love You.” This action prompted Manwarren to declare: “Pastor Ataklan.” 3canal then surprised the audience when they next introduced Nigel Rojas of Orange Sky. He was greatly applauded as he got into “Love Each Other,” followed by a song that he stated helped saved his marriage, “The Rent.”

After the intermission the oral traditionists returned to begin the second half of the programme followed by the return of 3canal with “Illuminata,” “Slaves,” “Where Do We Go From Here,” “Giants,” “Boom Up History” and “Islands.”

At this point Salazar, who was in the audience with her baby Stella was asked to stand in the audience and the spotlight soon fell on her. She courageously and bravely did so and swayed a bit to the music, acknowledging the outpouring of love and support from members of her family and well-wishers who were out in their numbers. 3canal then closed with “Good Morning” and “Never Give Up”. That latter song got Salazar visibly emotional given her medical condition.

... I had no idea of what I was getting into when I "registered" at the 3canal storefront center the day before. 3canal is both a musical band and one of the many small production companies that stage carnival; the name, according to one of the musicians, Roger Roberts, derives from a type of machete used by cane cutters and, he says, is "a metaphor for cutting and clearing a path and space for vibes to flow and grow." Despite assurances that no one really has to pay, I'd plunked down 60 Trinidadian dollars (about $10 U.S.) for a bag containing a 3canal badge, a white tank top, a square of silver lamé cloth and—ominously—a plastic water bottle filled with white paint.

A little after 4 a.m, I returned to the 3canal storefront with my little lime of four—two Trinis and two other Americans—to find hundreds of people milling around a flatbed truck from which the 3canal musicians were blasting the band's heavy beat into the darkness. Around Port of Spain, people were assembling into 14 other Jouvay bands, each several hundred to a thousand strong, and each with its own music and colors.

When the flatbed truck started rolling, the crowd danced along behind it or, more precisely, "chipped," which is Trinidadian for moving individually to music. At first I chipped in my resolute white-lady way, conscious of my status as the only visible blue-eyed person in the crowd. But then the paint came into play, hurled from bottles and dabbed on any body at hand. A plastic bottle of rough whiskey was passed around. There was a moment of near-panic when a police car forced its way through the crowd, and I learned later that in the pushing and shoving a knife fight had broken out just behind us. But still, the vibe here was overwhelmingly sweet. A teenager planted himself in front of me and announced that I looked "too nice," a condition he corrected by gently anointing my face with fresh paint. I don't know the origins of this orgy of body-painting, and I am glad I hadn't joined one of the Jouvay bands that use chocolate or mud instead, but I know its effect: race was dissolved; even age and gender became theoretical concepts.

In the tradition of Western sociology, crowds are dangerous because they can turn into mobs. So when a contingent from our procession broke away to chase a group of Chinese men watching from the sidelines, I ran along anxiously behind them. Was there resentment of these workers, imported to build downtown skyscrapers? No. Would there be violence? No, the Jouvay celebrants just wanted to cover the foreigners in paint, and the Chinese were doubling over with laughter as they escaped. This was the true and ancient spirit of carnival: there can be no spectators, only participants, and everyone must be anointed.

Sunrise found us in a small public square, and in a condition far from the one we'd started in. We'd been moving through the streets for over three hours, powered by beers passed from hand to hand, and even my ultra-buff American friend was beginning to sag. People were still chipping away, raising their heads toward the already-hot blue sky in a kind of triumph. Hardly anyone was noticeably drunk, but we were annihilated, as individuals anyway—footsore, bone-tired, dripping with paint and sweat. We were, in some transcendent way, perfected...
[read the whole article by cilcking link below]

Barbara Ehrenreich has written more than 15 books.
Photographer Alex Smailes' book Trinidad and Tobago appeared in 2006.

...I’ve listened to the album [JOY+FIRE] and I believe it is my favorite of all the 3canal music I’ve heard. I’ll admit that in rap hybrid styles, I think in general there is too much rap and not enough of the other things. I love 60’s and 70’s classic style reggae but never much liked modern dancehall, for example. On Joy + Fire, I think the rapso mix of rap and calypso is just right for my taste. Try a track or two, and if you like them you can get the whole album. I dig it quite a bit, and I thank 3canal and Flow Trinidad for this experiment. From my perspective as a random white guy in America who has never been near Trinidad, I appreciate this greatly....

Nearly four years later, CFR finally hits the half-century. For show #50 I return to the place where it all began—cut+clear productions, headquarters of CFR’s “house band”, 3canal, for a leisurely chat with Wendell, Roger and Stanton about “Boom Up History“, the music track they’re giving away for free on Trinidadtunes.com, life on the road and the making of Joy + Fire, their 2009 release. Click the link below to listen!

Following their recent 6-week tour of Europe, 3canal is set to join forces with Amnesty International to stage ReThePublic, For the People-Know your Rights on September 22, at Queen's Hall, St Ann's. The show will form part of Amnesty's global initiative "Small Places Tour" where people are being encouraged to Think Globally Act Locally in support of the fostering of the Knowledge of Human Rights.

Part proceeds of the concert will also be contributed to the Jeffrey Chock Medical Expenses Fund.

On December 10, 1948 the United Nations adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Following this historic act the Assembly called upon all Member countries to publicise the text of the Declaration and "to cause it to be disseminated, displayed, read and expounded principally in schools and other educational institutions, without distinction based on the political status of countries or territories.

3canal member Roger Roberts said: "This is the second year that we have been doing the ReThePublic show which commemorates Republic Day. The tagline for our show is 'Know your Rights.' It just sort of coincided with what we were planning. We branded this year's concert under the Amnesty banner and just trying to get people to come out."

Speaking about long time friend Jeffrey Chock and his plight, Roberts said: "Ever since I knew myself in the arts; from very early working with Minshall. Jeffery Chock has been a person who has been documenting and photographing the

performing arts for years. He is a cherished friend who has worked selflessly just to capture the beauty that is around Trinidad and Tobago."

The show features 3Canal in concert, Maximus Dan unplugged and will be hosted by D'Jamettes-Cecilia Salazar, Dionne McNicol and Tonya Evans.

"They (Jamettes) will be the link between all the various elements and will articulate in their own funny way the human rights we all possess but are not aware of".

Last year's show took place at the Little Carib Theatre and, according to Roberts, it was a straight up concert. The 2008 event aims to be more varied.

ReThePublic takes place this Monday at the Queen's Hall, St Ann's from 8 p.m. For further information, please call

623-0982 and the box office at

624-1284.

EXPRESS EDITORIAL
Lighting up the Positives

As Carnival 2008 moves into high gear and as we prepare to crown the monarchs in the various fields, it is opportune that we turn the spotlight on the 3Canal group that in ten years has managed not only to creatively cut a swathe for themselves but who, at the same time, has sought to open up a space for the many young talented performers they believe to be out there.

Their critically-acclaimed new show, "Shine", is a case in point because while they have been showcasing some of their new work to appreciative audiences at Queen's Hall, they have also brought on stage a number of young people who might never have had the opportunity to shine.

The theme - of the show, their hit-bound song and their coming Jouvert band, all bearing the same name - has been deliberately chosen to highlight the reality that, whatever the deviant youth behaviour which regularly makes the headlines, Trinidad and Tobago can boast of a high level of juvenile talent that often goes unnoticed.

So much of 3Canal's work is motivational that it is little wonder that the rapso, "Good Morning", which the National Joint Action Committee's cultural arm, the National Action Cultural Committee, judged to be the best calypso sung last season, urged a return to the old community verities that took for granted the extension of courtesies between the old and the young and, particularly, from the young to the old, ancestral respect being one of the glues that hold all societies.

But, whatever their inborn talents as expressed in their melodic lines, requisite rhythms and incisive, often trenchant lyrics, the major lesson taught by these three young men must be that achievement is not possible without hard, even back-breaking work.

In addition to their performances (for fees but also for charity) both here and abroad during the season, 3Canal has not only consistently found time over the years to do recordings but also to stage an annual show that has now become a fixture on the Carnival calendar and organise a thematic Jouvert band that continues to draw thousands.

We cannot think of any other group of entertainers that has so set out to tap the mother lode of Trinidad and Tobago's cultural history in terms of music, dance and theatre, to give the society an honest yet enduringly hopeful image of itself. Given the space that they have thus opened up none, we think, should be churlish enough to begrudge them this space.

3Canal adds Shine to Carnival
SIMON LEE

3CANAL has developed the positive theme of their award winning Good Morning Neighbour calypso of 2007, with their latest Carnival show Shine, currently running at Queen's Hall.

Acknowledging that Trinidadian society was experiencing loss of community, collapse and violence the Rapso trio's solution was what they did best-not pontificating in Parliament or absconding into airconditioned amnesia, but celebrating the light, in order to diminish the dark.

If the show in its entirety (including a pre-show most patrons could have done without) was patchy, when all synergies converged it hit high points local audiences would probably not have witnessed since the days of Rawle Gibbons' calypso musicals Sing De Chorus.

It's not surprising that with two former actors (Manwarren and Roberts) in the 3Canal frontline and other drama veterans including Michael Cherrie, Glenda McSween and Cecilia Salazar in the chorus, the dramatic aspects of this production were outstanding.

The choreography of the many dance routines was both indigenous yet modern. The lighting, all too often a repetitious pre-set programme in Caribbean shows, added levels of interpretation to a minimalist yet highly effective set design.

It's amazing the effects which simple variations in colour can produce. The black and white costuming of both principals and chorus, were suffused with pulsing red during the powerful indictment of gangand-gun subculture This Place Have Too Much of Gun.

Following the Orisa chant which marked the opening of the show,
most of 3Canal's songs stuck with their positive brief: Are You Ready to Rise; Now Is De Time; Out of Nutten (We building something, out a nowhere we goin somewhere); We Jammin for Freedom. There were also celebrations of the spirit of J'Ouvert and Canboulay (Ah love me festival), we have now come to associate with this band, who have redefined the music of the last authentic part of Carnival.

It was after the intermission that 3Canal showed the potential for using their new genre of J'Ouvert music, as the basis for a welcome departure in Carnival performing arts. With the same open-handedness which prompted them to give stage exposure to young artistes in the pre-show, the "Canalistas" co-opted one of the finest young male voices in T&T into the second half extravaganza.

Maximus Dan may be the voice of a new generation, but he obviously knows his roots (he was singing Kitchener on Saturday night). Maximus hit the same note of gravitas as 3Canal who fused social commentary and the aggressive posturing of the gayelle in such challenges as What Yuh Gonna Do (a call for the takers to make reparation to those they impoverished with their greed and corruption) and A Revolution Comin.

The circular dance which accompanied Heat in de Place, was an insight into the kind of carnival theatre Errol Hill was theorising more than 30 years ago. Here was an entirely transnational, yet local theme-the visceral call of the bass rhythm-brilliantly interpreted in the choreography. It's quite possible that Shine, like all good ideas based on simplicity, may be the beginning of the post-modern Trini musical. It certainly looks that way.

Reportage
Le rituel égalitaire du carnaval de Trinidad
LE MONDE | 06.02.08 | 15h30  •  Mis à jour le 06.02.08 | 15h30
PORT OF SPAIN (TRINITÉ-ET-TOBAGO) ENVOYÉ SPÉCIAL
Il fait nuit. La ville semble assoupie. Simple apparence. A 3 heures du matin, lundi 4 février, on a bien mieux à faire que dormir à Port of Spain, capitale de Trinité-et-Tobago, les îles caribéennes voisines du Venezuela. C'est le lundi du carnaval, le jour du "J'ouvert" (le jour ouvert), l'ouverture officielle de l'événement national qui a donné au pays son image de capitale du carnaval, partagée avec Rio de Janeiro, au Brésil.
Dans tous les quartiers, chacun rejoint l'endroit d'où doit partir son groupe, pour une déambulation frénétique derrière un semi-remorque porteur de décibels neutralisant toute idée de silence à des kilomètres à la ronde. Pendant cinq heures, une exaltation collective déferle à travers les rues. Un chaos paradoxal, sauvage et bon enfant, une transe joueuse coloriant tout ce qui se présente sur son passage.
Gare à ceux ayant omis de garer leur voiture en lieu sûr. Elle subira le même sort que trottoirs, chaussées et individus croisés en chemin. A chaque groupe sa couleur. Pots et petites fioles de peinture circulent. On se badigeonne avec allégresse des pieds à la tête. Les nouveaux venus sont baptisés comme il se doit.
Aux environs de 4 heures, les camions sono s'ébranlent, encadrés chacun de leur tribu très agitée. On saute sur les derniers tubes de soca, la musique saturée de boîtes à rythmes la plus cotée par la jeunesse pour "winer" (collé serré énergique), on marche d'un pas dansant au son métallique des steel bands, les orchestres de bidons (les pans) symboles de Trinidad, ou sur un calypso, l'emblème musical du pays, rendu célèbre dans les années 1950 par Harry Belafonte.
Les cortèges se croisent. Les musiques se chevauchent, les peintures se mélangent quand les corps se frôlent. La rue est une suite ininterrompue d'images-chocs, de regards éperdus de joie et de fatigue, de visages hagards dégoulinant de peinture.
Le J'ouvert est le rituel et l'essence même du carnaval dans sa profonde tradition. "C'est là où les valeurs s'inversent", commente Jean-Michel Gibert, un Français installé à Trinidad, impliqué dans la promotion de la musique locale depuis une quinzaine d'années. "Hier, le maître devenait l'esclave et l'esclave le maître, aujourd'hui la femme devient l'homme et vice versa, le riche devient pauvre."
La peinture, la boue, la mélasse, le goudron, le chocolat, tout ce dont les participants au J'ouvert s'enduisent le corps accentue le côté égalitaire. Il ne s'agit plus de se montrer dans les plus beaux, les plus créatifs, les plus chers costumes, comme on le fera le lendemain pour mardi gras, mais d'être simplement ensemble en laissant courir un brin de folie.
"Le J'ouvert est la partie la plus "pure" du carnaval. Vous pouvez faire ce que vous voulez avec les moyens dont vous disposez. C'est un rituel de renaissance, qui n'est pas gâché par l'argent comme d'autres aspects du carnaval", déclare le charismatique Wendell Manwarren, du groupe 3canal, figure de proue du rapso, mélange de rap et de calypso. "Rise and Shine, It is a New Day, Be The Change You Want To See" ("Lève toi et brille, c'est un nouveau jour, sois le changement que tu veux voir"), chante, juché sur son camion avec ses deux compagnons, Wendell Manwarren, le corps et le visage couverts de peinture blanche. Sous l'aspect faussement naïf des paroles se cache une dénonciation de la corruption, de la violence, de la perte de valeurs.
En 1994, 3canal commençait sa carrière par une chanson intitulée Blue. Cette année-là, au cours du J'ouvert, toute la ville avait été repeinte en bleu par les dix mille fans qui suivaient leur camion.
3canal
participera le 19 octobre à la soirée d'ouverture, consacrée à Trinidad, de la Fiesta des Suds, à Marseille, et sera au Zénith de Paris le 20 octobre pour une soirée "All Stars Caraïbes".
Patrick Labesse

3Canal dazzles with 'Shine'
Wayne Bowman wbowman@trinidadexpress.com

Wednesday, January 30th 2008

Rapso trio 3Canal premiered their live presentation for Carnival 2008, Shine, to an appreciative audience at Queen's Hall, St Ann's, on Monday night.

Accompanied by their band, Cut and Clear, 3Canal-Wendell Manwarren, Roger Roberts and Stanton Kewley-performed their Carnival 2008 songs, as well as selected items from their repertoire of the past 12 years.

Their vocal performance was enhanced by a troupe of singers, dancers and dramatists that included Michael Cherrie, Cecelia Salazar, Dionne McNichol and Glenda McSween-Collens.

The show opened with a series of performances by several young and developing artistes hand-picked by 3Canal. Although the audience expressed minor appreciation for these fledgling acts, they really came alive when the headline act 3Canal took the stage, kicking off their presentation with a procession from the back of the auditorium featuring Orisha chants led by McSween-Collens, who did the vocal arrangements for the production.

Cheers erupted throughout the hall as the black curtain went up, lights turned on and 3Canal materialised singing "Shine".

The vocal performances were punctuated by dramatic monologues presented mainly by Salazar and Cherrie, who gave voice to poetry by Martin Carter.

Following the intermission, Maximus Dan appeared on stage and sang "Piranha" followed by "Love Generation". He was backed by Cut and Clear and the Shine troupe, and received an appreciative round of applause from an obviously impressed audience.

3Canal then returned to end the show with another session of their most loved songs.

It wasn't exactly a teenybopper crowd that went wild at GALA Hispanic Theatre on Saturday night for the rapso group 3canal, the indisputable stars of the music and poetry show "Caribeana Imperia." Diplomats waved their arms in the air and women almost old enough to be the performers' mothers danced with abandon and cooed about what one dubbed the three "delicious" young men from Trinidad and Tobago and their fiery, danceable music.

Clearly some of the audience at the "Caribeana" opening was already hip to 3canal and its calypso-driven rap. The rest found out fast, or as fast as this peculiar hybrid show allows. The largely English-language "Caribeana" is half staged poetry, half concert -- and to paraphrase Woody Allen, here's hoping you get the half that sings.


Samuel Encarnacion in
Samuel Encarnacion in "Caribeana Imperia" at GALA Hispanic Theatre. (By Daniel Cima -- Gala Hispanic Theatre)
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Not that Martin Carter's poetry is bad; it's just a tad precious as recited and danced to by the six actors playing Caribbean archetypes -- the Poems Man, the Grande Dame, the Warrior, etc. It's like a knockoff of a choreopoem (see Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf"). Island figures lyrically announce their concerns and travails while moving in moody patterns up and down the ramps and platforms of Eric Grims's three-level set.

But once Wendell Manwarren, Roger Roberts and Stanton Kewley -- 3canal -- begin stalking the stage, the party is on. It's buoyant music -- embattled, for sure, with a litany of complaints about the ways of the world but leavened with uplifting pleas that are sometimes rapped and sometimes sung, often in harmony. Melodic hooks are the attractive veneer for songs propelled by lyrics and irresistible rhythms (the reggae beat pops up once or twice).

The guys aren't great singers, but they're a passionate, unified front and rather charming. Despite militant trappings that include the righteous sarcasm of "Talk Yuh Talk" (with nadie escucha , or "nobody listens," projected on one of the backdrops) and T-shirts emblazoned "Revolution" as they sing the same and wave a red star flag, it's clear that their mission is to galvanize, not polarize.

That's driven home in a few bland songs of encouragement ("Now Is the Time," "Build") near the end of what had blossomed into a fairly cogent second act. No sooner does 3canal send the energy through the roof with a medley climaxing with "Talk Yuh Talk" than Carter's protest poetry matches that fervor, and the link between the music and poetry finally becomes not just intellectual but also visceral.

Directors Manwarren and GALA's Hugo Medrano haven't quite figured out how to make a reliable virtue of the show's stop-and-go nature, but every now and then they catch a bit of lightning in a bottle. It's a roller coaster -- periods of grinding uphill, with thrills guaranteed on the other side.

Caribeana Imperia, songs by 3canal, poetry by Martin Carter, translated by Salvador Ortiz-Carboneres. Directed by Wendell Manwarren and Hugo Medrano. Choreography, Dave Williams; lighting design, Ayun Fedorcha; costume design, Alessandra D'Ovidio. With Michael Cherrie, Diann Marshall, Marlon Anthony Russ, Paige Hernandez, Abby Charles and Samuel Encarnacion. Approximately 2 hours 15 minutes. Through July 30 at GALA Hispanic Theatre, 3333 14th St. NW. Call 800-494-TIXS or visit http://www.galatheatre.org .