Valentino launches CD

BROTHER Valentino (Emrod Phillips) launched his latest compact disc at the Mas Camp Pub on Wednesday night among some of his closest friends and associates.

The CD entitled “One Day Soon” is a compilation of songs recorded over a period of time. The disc includes songs a such as “Pan from the West”, “True Opposition”, “Vision”, “Where Kaiso Went”, “Birds That Fly High”, and “Merry Monarch”.

The night was like a “call of the Rasta” as performers such as Soft Touch, Karega Mandela, Brother Resistance and Black Stalin supported Brother Valentino with his launch.

Also in the line up were Conqueror and reigning Calypso Monarch Luta.

Backed by Kelly Green and Harmony who played fantastic music (the band included six horn players) each performer praised “Valley” and thanked him for allowing them to be on stage for the occasion. Brother Resistance gave the audience a synopsis of what is calypso, stating that it came from the voice and the drum as performed by the ancestors who carved the way for what is being done today. Resistance went on, “I have been doing this thing for years, who is them to come now and tell me who is a calypsonian.” This after his performance of “Can I Have a Witness”.

He then talked about Lancelot Layne and performed his (Layne) hit “Blow Away” with the audience as chorus. After this Resistance spoke about the price of gas and oil and how much T&T supplies the USA. “We rolling in money and still 400,000 Trinis living below the poverty line. Clearly Brother Resistance was enjoying himself and then signalled the band as he started “Down Below”.

Resistance made way for the star of the night who came on stage and thanked the audience for coming, Valentino also thanked his fellow calypsonians for the lovely job they did on the night. He kicked off his performance with “True Opposition”, A reggae version of “Birds That Fly High”, “Where Kaiso Went”, “Stay Up Zimbabwe” and “Band From The West”.

Though not planned it was exactly midnight when Valley started “Life Is a Stage” and when he was finished he received a standing ovation. He returned to the stage to perform “Trinidad Is Nice” before leaving the stage to another standing ovation.

The tempo kept going as members of Roy Cape All Stars replaced some members of Harmony to back Black Stalin who started his session with “We Can Make It if We Try”.

He continued with “Wait Dorothy Wait” and “Bun Dem” bringing the evening to a fitting climax.