‘Caribbean Crossing’ at UWI

Local students, in turn, swayed to the sounds of New York bands Djara, Haitian Rara and the Harbor Conservatory Latin Big Band.

It was a musical crossing, channelled by the Weill Music Institute of New York and the University of the West Indies.

The musical exchange, aptly titled “Global Encounters: Caribbean Crossing” allowed local and American students a chance to experience each other’s cultures through distance-learning technology, explained Mandisa Pantin of Aya Vision which made the link up with the education department of the Weill Institute.

While UWI’s Learning Resource Centre at its St Augustine campus showcased the stylings of steelband, rapso and chutney music, the world renowned Carnegie Hall was the venue for the American performances.

Five schools — Queen’s Royal College, St Augustine Senior Comprehensive, Bishop High, Trinity East High and Sangre Grande Senior Comprehensive School — got the chance to taken in the New York showcase in which Jimmy Bosch, described as a top trombone player in salsa music, gave a hip-swaying performance via the telecast.

Not to be outdone, 3Canal’s Wendell Manwarren, who hosted the Trinidad segment, set the pace for riveting performances from the local acts.

But it was not only about the music.

The students asked each other questions. The New Yorkers knew about soca and calypso, mostly through Labour Day carnival in Brooklyn. Reggae was also popular.

And one local student, reminded the American students that they would be seeing Trinidad and Tobago (TT) at the football World Cup in Germany next month, for which the United States has also qualified.

He got loud cheers from both sides when he predicted that TT will make to the final to come up against defending champions Brazil, even though he felt the result would be one-nil in the football giant’s favour.

And answering a question on whether people enjoyed music in TT, the resounding response was “We live for the music.”