Sweet soca men

THE SAYING “behind every good man there is a good woman” aptly suits veteran musician Roy Cape and his wife Cheryl. They have been together for the last 37 years moving and shaking as well as shaping the musical landscape of Trinidad and Tobago. Roy Cape All Stars is “tearing up” the fetes with sweet soca music. But this is nothing new. For years this aggregation of musicians has been known as the best band in the land.  It is the only band that plays music off written music sheets in fetes. Cape is the man behind the band that has been in existence since 1981. Roy Cape All Stars has played music as a back-up band for Calypso Spektakula for several years, after leaving Spektakula the band moved to Robert Amar’s Kisskidee Karavan for two years and then shifted focus to the “dancehall” in 1994.

Before 1981 Cape worked with the Kingdom of the Wizards in a band led by Carl Beaver Henderson called TT Rainbow. Since the arrival of All Stars in the dancehall they have had top singers like Nigel and Marvin Lewis, Kurt Allen and Destra Garcia. Ghetto Flex also did a stint with the All Stars. With these singers came one Road March and one Soca Monarch title. (Lewis’s “Moving” and Allen’s “Stampede.”) Speaking with Cape before the band took to the stage at “Soca In Moka” we found out that Cheryl, who has been married to him ten years, has been the driving force in his life. A somewhat reserved Cape added, “I really appreciate the commitment the members of the band have shown, I have members in this band as long as 18 years. Sly (guitarist) has been with me for that long, Steve, the drummer has been around for 12 years and Bassie for six years. Our musical director Juiceman has been with us since 1993.

“We have had the most consistent horn section in the business and Curtis Lewis is a qualified musician having attended Berkeley School of Music in Boston. I feel Curtis is one of the best saxophonists in the Caribbean.”At 62, Cape says he is feeling good and is pleased with his health after working in “this” music environment. In 1998 he took to the stage as a singer with a song entitled “Jam Me Mr Cape” and was very successful. At present Blaxx, Derek Seales and Esther Dyer are the front line singers with the All Stars and are doing a very good job at it. According to Cape, Derek Seales is one of the most under-rated singers in TT but he is  a very good team player. Roy Cape All Stars has nine compact discs to their name, having recorded one every year since 1996.