Still basking in the glory of Plymouth...

POPULAR LOCAL singer Kees Dieffenthaller is still basking in the glory of sharing a stage with musical legend Patti LaBelle at the recent Plymouth Jazz Festival in Tobago.

Kees got his golden opportunity when LaBelle asked for three young men to join her on stage for her performance of her classic, “Lady Marmalade.” When it was his turn on the microphone, Kees stunned LaBelle and made TT proud with his powerful vocals and innovative “ad-libbing” to the tune — he did not know the lyrics.

“On the stage . . . at that moment in time, I looked at Patti and I was like, ‘This is Patti LaBelle. I am on her stage.’ Then, I started to have a small freak out,” Kees told Sunday Newsday in an interview at the offices of Question Mark Entertainment, Queen’s Park West.

“For me, the Festival was an amazing experience. I wanted to hear Patti because I heard that she was amazing. She was! She reasoned with the crowd. She brought it down. She was so good. The band was good. The engineer was mixing the band very well, every aspect of the band: the bass, the keyboards, everything. She had me in awe.

“When she asked for some people to come on stage who could dance and sing, I was like, ‘I could go on that stage and try something because it would be great to meet her.’ I had said that to myself in my head but then the people around me who I had come with told me to go on stage and the people around them said the same thing.”

Kees said he kept thinking he had to perform well and that “flopping” was not an option. When he began to sing, LaBelle told him she wanted to save him for last because he had some real talent. Kees said he took special pride in the fact that LaBelle had no idea of his musical background, so her approval of his talent was not influenced by that knowledge.

“That event made me feel pretty great. What was nice about the whole situation was she did not know who I was. She did not know I am a performer here in Trinidad and she still sent word to one of my friends for me to keep doing what I’m doing,” he proclaimed proudly.

Kees said LaBelle’s approval meant a lot to him.

“To get endorsed by somebody like Patti LaBelle, a legend . . . it encouraged me because sometimes in your own land, you don’t get the encouragement. We have our fans but at the same time there are others who hate. It’s a fight and you constantly have to prove yourself in each performance.”

The artiste, who performs with his brothers Hans and Jon and friend Riad Boochoon, said the Plymouth Jazz Festival helped to open the local ears and eyes to the music of the world.

As for the future, Kees, Hans, Jon and Riad recently launched their album, 3 Baldhead and a Dread (Festival Edition) which received great reviews. In addition, the band has broken into the world of video games with their hit “The Calling” which is featured on the EA Sports video game World Cup FIFA 2006. Kees credits the band’s management for coming up with the idea to market KES The Band’s music in such an innovative way.

“There are six to eight million copies of the game all around the world. It’s huge! It’s the first time in history that Trinidadian music is on the soundtrack to a game. It’s a different way of promoting music.”