Christopher Herbert’s journey continues Wiser now

The work day had just ended and Herbert, a music teacher at the institution for the past 13 years, still seemed energised.

“I have always liked teaching, the sharing of information. It was a God decision,” he told MENtality during a recent interview.

At 58, Herbert, once known to the entertainment world as “Tambu,” looked very much the suave performer who thrilled partygoers and made women swoon during his heydey in the calypso/soca arena, decades ago.

“Dis Party Is It,” “Free Up,”and “The Journey,” are among the former Road March King’s more memorable offerings.

And while music still remains a dominant feature of his life, Herbert makes no apologies for the fact that he no longer sings for soca lovers but strictly for the Lord.

“It is a blessed, wonderful thing,” he says of his decision to give up the local entertainment scene.

Herbert established Cherub Music Ministries in February 2001 as a response to the “calling” he received from God while studying abroad during the mid-1990’s.

The ministry, located at 167, Quintin O’Connor Street, Real Spring, Valsayn, encourages individuals to develop a deeper relationship with God.

The former calypsonian/soca artiste conducts voice training classes for individual artistes, choirs and groups, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Herbert and his wife, Gail, also pastor at House of Truth Assembly.

The church, Herbert said, focuses on living the Word.

“What we don’t practice, we don’t preach....We are seekers of divine truth. It is our desire to know the truth of God and declare it to all. Truth makes men free,” he said.

Six years ago, Herbert created a CD, Lift Up His Name, containing a slew of Spirit-filled songs, evidence of his spiritual journey. He says another CD is planned for later this year.

Herbert says he has no regrets about the path he has chosen to follow.

“The Lord has drawn me to him and I understood my purpose for being,” he says.

The ex-policeman views his teaching position at St Joseph Secondary as another facet of the spiritual crusade on which he embarked.

“It’s different from the Police Service,” he says. “The culture and sub-culture that exists in society shows that we are really living in a new world.”

However, Herbert feels that the holistic development of students are not effectively catered for in the education system.

“People respect education and paper, not the person,” he argues.

Herbert was 44, a late bloomer, when he decided to enter the teaching profession. It was the result of an intense period of soul-searching in which he sought methods to impart his wisdom and knowledge to young minds.

“I realised I had done well for myself and I needed that continuity,” he says.

“I felt that I needed not only to impart information or experiences gained from my studies but also values and patterns for persons to emulate to achieve success or at the very least, respect.”

Herbert added: “Once you deposit into another man, you are part of his making. You are never valuable until you add value to the life of another person.”

The father of seven is hoping to positively influence the lives of many students as possible both through his love of music and by lending an ear to those who desire his counsel.

Music has always been in Herbert’s blood. As a student at the now defunct Wong’s High School in St James, he often visited the Police Band on afternoons during their rehearsal sessions.

Herbert, who plays the keyboard and trumbone among other instruments, recalled that on one occasion, he even played a version of the sentimental classic, “Bridge Over Troubled Waters,” to the delight of band members. He subsequently joined the Police Band in 1972, where he excelled both as a singer and musician.

The experience also propelled him into the national spotlight when he became the lead singer in the band, Charlie’s Roots, and one of the country’s top performers.

During those heady years, Herbert admitted to having been caught up in the glitz of the arena. He enjoyed numerous perks, some of which included lucrative gigs, free travel and accommodation and audiences with many high-profile personalities in entertainment and other arenas.

“I was involved in certain behaviours that seem normal to the environment at the time. There was cigarettes, girls, alcohol,” he told MENtality.

“It was dangerous because it did not afford you the opportunity to mature. Maturity is about responsibility, values, principles, deportment, not how much girls you have. A mature person does things in moderation.”

While still in the prime of his career, Hebert realised he wanted more for his life. The entertainment world, he observed, presented “a facade.”

“It gives you a feeling of being something you are really not,” he said.

Herbert would later face perhaps the biggest test of his life.

While studying at the Berklee School of Music in Boston, Herbert was invited to a prayer meeting over a period of one month where he literally “cried out” to God for deliverance. Although he yearned for a deeper spiritual connection with his Maker, Herbert said he was not prepared for the feelings he ultimately experienced.

“I became filled with the Holy Spirit and I fell flat to the ground. It was like a high tension wire had hit me and there were needles in my body from head to toe,” he recalled.

“I didn’t know it then but I began talking in tongues and was told I would never be the same again.”

Indeed, things changed when Herbert returned to TT. He recalled that he had received much flak from his colleagues in the fraternity, some of whom were unimpressed by his conversion.

“Some of them gave me three months to give up the whole thing. Some of them said that I was accustomed to money and that I wouldn’t survive. Even some of my own brothers in the church doubted that I would last,” he said.

Of the backlash to his decision to serve God, Herbert, who has shared the stage with gospel artistes, Yolanda Adams, Helen Baylor, Fred Hammond, said: “The world sees Christianity as a demotion but it is really a promotion from God, a higher place. Every man that has attained greatness started from the bottom.”

Asked about the calibre of soca songs over the years, Herbert said many among the current crop of singers were “talented but irresponsible.”

“The reality is that the influence of an entertainer’s contribution could impact the attitudes of listeners and those who are fans. Many of them do not understand their power,” he said, adding that some singers also needed to be more creative.

In years gone by, Herbert recalled, singers paid more attention to language and the messages that were sent in their audiences.

“You seldom see that now.”

Smutty offerings and vulgar presentations, he stressed, were never his forte.

“I was never a winer man. I was a performer,” Herbert said with a smile.

Despite having accepted God as his light and saviour, Herbert, who completed his Master’s degree in Education last month, admitted that there are challenges.

“It is still a work in progress,” he says.

However, Herbert believes he has made the best decision for his life.

“I am a wiser man today because of the decisions I have made. The things I know now could not have come by research or study. I believe in heaven and hell. I cannot be in the two,” he said.