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Music

Playlist (Nov/Dec 2019) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 160 (November/December 2019) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Third World; Ijó; Mindscape Laboratory; and Nailah Blackman

More Work To Be Done

The Jimmy October Project | Snapshot

By Laura Dowrich-Phillips | Issue 160 (November/December 2019) 

“New Calypso” is how twenty-four-year-old Jimmy October describes his genre-bending music — a sound that feels like “home” to listeners in Trinidad and Tobago but also appeals to international audiences. Laura Dowrich-Phillips learns more

Jimmy October, musical genre-bender. Photo by Olajuwon Scott, courtesy Jimmy October

Playlist (September/October 2019) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 159 (September/October 2019) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Godwin Louis; Stephen John; Jonathan Michel; and Josean Jacobo & Tumbao

Global

Playlist (July/August 2019) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 158 (July/August 2019) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Trishes; Jeremy Hector; MizikOpéyi; and Carlos Santana

Ego

Koffee: Strong and sweet | Backstory

By Nazma Muller | Issue 158 (July/August 2019) 

Dancehall’s latest sensation, nineteen-year-old Koffee, is captivating fans across the globe with her vibesy toasting, catchy riddims, and cheeky lyrics. Nazma Muller reports on the pint-sized Jamaican phenomenon with the relentlessly positive attitude

Koffee. Photography courtesy Sony Music

Playlist (May/June 2019) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 157 (May/June 2019) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Machel Montano; Reginald Cyntje; M.R.I.; and Ronald “Boo” Hinkson

G.O.A.T - Machel Montano

Playlist (Mar/Apr 2019) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 156 (March/April 2019) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Super Blue; Triple Kay International; and more from various artists

Keshav & Rakka present Badang! Riddim

Destra Garcia: queen of queens | Closeup

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 156 (March/April 2019) 

T&T’s self-proclaimed Queen of Bacchanal is a Carnival mainstay. But, two decades into her career, Destra Garcia remains underestimated by local fans and critics, argues Nigel A. Campbell

Destra Gracia. Photography by Frame Photography, courtesy Bamboo Entertainment

Stories of steel | Panorama

By Mark Lyndersay and Sharmain Baboolal | Issue 156 (March/April 2019) 

Carnival is the season of steelpan. But behind the Panorama stage, the future of T&T’s national musical instrument will be shaped by administrators, craftspeople, arrangers, and educators — like these men and women profiled by writer Sharmain Baboolal and photographer Mark Lyndersay

A modern touch: notes on a new steelpan are marked using pre-cut magnetic stencils. Roland Harragin’s pan tuning factory delivers small runs of instruments now, but maintains a tradition of hand-crafting of the instrument that reaches back to its beginnings in Trinidad and Tobago. Photography by Mark Lyndersay

Playlist (Jan/Feb 2019) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Keba; 5OH8 + KVL; and Tebby

Filmstrip

Dennery Style | Backstory

By Laura Dowrich-Phillips | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) 

If you have ears to listen at Carnival time, you’ve heard Dennery Segment, even if you don’t know the name. Laura Dowrich explores the roots of the soca genre originating in a small village in St Lucia

Lashley “Motto” Winter. Photo courtesy Motto

The Mighty Shadow | Icon

By Attillah Springer | Issue 155 (January/February 2019) 

Attillah Springer writes a letter to T&T’s late calypsonian-philosopher

The Mighty Shadow. Photo by Maria Nunes

Playlist (Nov/Dec 2018) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 154 (November/December 2018) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Millbeatz; Jonathan Scales Fourchestra; Anthony Joseph; and Lyfe Az Rose

The Revolution

The inimitable Grace Jones | Backstory

By Nazma Muller | Issue 154 (November/December 2018) 

She’s an instantly recognisable icon of music and fashion, with a forty-year career in the limelight. And the inimitable Grace Jones is Jamaican to the core, says Nazma Muller

Jones’s “statuesque flamboyance” in full display on stage. Photo by Joseph Okpako/Getty Images

Jeanine De Bique: “It doesn’t matter where you come from” | Own words

By Caroline Taylor | Issue 154 (November/December 2018) 

Jeanine De Bique, Trinidad-born classical singer, on the influence of her upbringing, and why Trinis “could do anything” — as told to Caroline Taylor

Photo courtesy Jeanine De Bique

Playlist (Sept/Oct 2018) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 153 (September/October 2018) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Freetown; Larnell Lewis; Kabaka Pyramid; and Jah9

Born In Darkness

Michele Henderson: “I woke up with an entire song in my head”

By Paul Crask | Issue 153 (September/October 2018) 

Singer-songwriter Michele Henderson, performing at October’s World Creole Music Festival, on her musical childhood and her transition to the international stage — as told to Paul Crask, at her home in Grand Bay, Dominica

Singer-songwriter Michele Henderson. Photo by Paul Crask

Playlist (Jul/Aug 2018) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 152 (July/August 2018) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by jointpop; Kellie Cadogan; John Arnold; and Jeremy Ledbetter Trio

From Trinidad... With Love

Nailah Blackman: welcome to the evolution | Snapshot

By Laura Dowrich-Phillips | Issue 152 (July/August 2018) 

With music in her bloodline, T&T’s Nailah Blackman was almost destined for a career behind the microphone. She was the breakthrough performer of Carnival 2017, still a teenager — but, as she tells Laura Dowrich-Phillips, her ambitions go beyond soca, to another stage of musical evolution

Nailah Blackman. Photography by Ikenna Douglas @idouglasphoto, styled by RisAnne for Brown Cotton Caribbean @risystyle, make up by Kai Forde @simplii_beautifulll

Playlist (May/Jun 2018) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 151 (May/June 2018) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by Jeanine S. Ruiz; Michael Brun; King Kembe; and Sting and Shaggy

This is me

Playlist (Mar/Apr 2018) | Music reviews

By Nigel Campbell | Issue 150 (March/April 2018) 

This month’s listening picks, with reviews of the latest by David Bertrand; Jimmy October; Major Lazer; and Beres Hammond

Skip Marley: “I’m not trying to fill his shoes” | Own words

By Nazma Muller | Issue 150 (March/April 2018) 

Twenty-one-year-old Skip Marley, grandson of the legendary Bob, on growing up in Jamaica’s musical royal family, his hopes for stardom, and the message of his songs, for his own and every other generation — as told to Nazma Muller

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Recent issues

  • Flowering cacti, a characteristic part of the Curaçao landscape, against the brilliant blue sea surrounding the island. Photo by Irina Naoumova/Alamy Stock Photo Issue 160
  • Seeking serenity at Animal Flower Cave near the northernmost point of Barbados. Photo courtesy Barbados Tourism Marketing Inc. Issue 159
  • Tennis champ Naomi Osaka plays for Japan, but she cherishes her Haitian roots. Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images Issue 158
  • Guyana-born actress Letitia Wright, star of Black Panther. Photo by Kwaku Alston, courtesy IAG Talent Issue 157
  • The eye-catching fruit of the Clusia tree, known locally as the autograph tree or parrot-apple, in the rainforest of Tobago’s Main Ridge. Photo by Sean Drakes/Alamy Stock Photo Issue 156
  • Masquerader Ricardo Felicien of the devil band Rhapsody in Blue, based in Paramin, Trinidad. Devil mas has been a tradition in his family for generations. Photo by Maria Nunes Issue 155
  • The iconic and inimitable Grace Jones. Illustration by Rohan Mitchell Issue 154
  • Bemner Suse of Guyana’s Wai-Wai community at his home in Konashen. Photo by Pete Oxford Issue 153

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