Nyol’s song

But for this music teacher and Berklee College of Music graduate this was but a warm up for the Young Kings competition and the National Calypso Monarch.

Sunday Newsday caught up with Manswell at Bishop’s Centenary College, Woodbrook where he has taught music for the past three years.

The 29-year-old’s journey began in the community of Pembroke in Tobago, as the sixth of eight children.

His father died when he was three and his mother raised them on public assistance and a home garden.

“Our mother did her best to make life as happy as possible.” His mother would always encourage them to have ambition.

“You all have to get more than I did in life,” he recalled her saying.

Manswell was born with glaucoma and had some vision until he was 14. Despite being visually impaired, as a child he did chores and climbed trees like everyone else. His mother never made him feel different and his siblings never left him out of activities.

From a very early age, Manswell began singing songs he would hear on the radio, whether gospel, R&B, hip hop, reggae or dancehall.

“I was born singing,” he joked.

There were no schools for blind children in Tobago and he was sent to Trinidad at age 12, which was a difficult experience.

“Nobody want to leave their entire family.” Manswell lived by a retired teacher who was generous enough to take him in.

“It was not a comfortable feeling. I was very scared. Very lonely.” At the School for the Blind in Santa Cruz, he met other blind and visually impaired musicians, and began learning the piano and would sing at concerts.

“All of what I know now (regarding music) started there.” From there, Manswell excitedly took the opportunity to be integrated into the mainstream school system and was enrolled at Bourg Mulatresse RC School.

“I always wanted an opportunity to be as normal as possible.” At the school, he met people outside the blind community and recalled he had no problems fitting in socially with the children. He said the teachers did not know how to teach a visually-impaired child but he worked together with them.

“I taught them to teach me.” He said it was difficult to get material for studying which had been converted to braille. The textbooks in braille came “very slowly” making life difficult for him and other visually impaired students.

After Bourg Mulatresse, Manswell attended San Juan North Government and again he had to “teach teachers how to teach me.” He met some of his best friends there among the students and teachers who “really impacted on my life in very positive ways.” Manswell completed CXC and A Levels in five years, skipping Forms Two and Three because of his academic prowess. During his primary and secondary school education, he continued singing and performing. It was while singing at a primary school graduation ceremony that someone heard him and introduced him to members of Birdsong music academy.

“And that is where my career in music really took off.” At Birdsong, he learned the theoretical aspect of music and how to play the saxophone. He also met late jazz pioneer Rafael “Raf” Robertson who would become a musical mentor. He has remained with Birdsong for 15 years and has been teaching with them as well.

While performing with Birdsong at a jazz festival in Barbados, he was discovered by a representative of Berklee College of Music, Boston, US, and was invited to audition.

Manswell was successful and received a partial scholarship.

He described attending Berklee as a “wonderful experience”, especially mixing with people and cultures from all over the world and sharing his own. Similar to when he came to Trinidad, Manswell was in a place with no family and had to make friends quickly.

He said he is a very determined person and, “I have to achieve what I set out to achieve.” So on the days when the weather would have him frostbitten, he would warm himself and say “tomorrow is another day.” Manswell became so integrated that he moved off campus and got his own apartment with a friend.

Asked about the services for the blind and visually impaired while living in Boston, Manswell replied, “If we could get half of what I had there in Trinidad, life would be so much better for myself and other visually impaired students.” He said the infrastructure is easy to navigate for the disabled and noted the sidewalks are made for people with canes and wheelchairs. He recalled that when he first went to Berklee they did not have facilities for the blind so they set up a unit to accommodate him and six other blind/visually impaired students. The group received full access to assistive technology and because of that they were able to succeed.

He attended Berklee for four years and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in professional music. After Berklee, he returned to Trinidad and taught music at the Blind Welfare Association for six months.

The year of 2014 would be big one for Manswell’s professional and music career.

In that year, he began teaching music at Bishop’s Centenary. Asked what inspired him to teach, Manswell said he needed a job – he was getting married at the time, had a daughter with another child on the way – but he also has a passion for young people and helping them to navigate the world.

He recalled on his first day of class, he told the students he did not want them to feel cheated because they have a blind teacher. He explained they would have things done differently to what they were accustomed to from other teachers. He also allowed them to ask him questions.

Manswell said he also teaches his students about life as he believes it is his responsibility to educate them things beyond academics and inspire them. He said he and his students have a mutual respect for each other.

At the school, he has started a singing group and this year traveled with them to perform at Speyside Jazz in Tobago.

It was also in 2014, that Manswell won the National Youth Action Committee Stars of Tomorrow calypso competition with the social commentary A Better World. Manswell said while people know him for singing jazz and performing with Raf and the Birdsong ensemble, it was his mentor who also introduced him to calypso. He has always loved the artform and its ability to tell stories and penned A Better World in his Boston apartment. In 2016, he entered the Digicel Rising Stars competition as the sole male competitor but did not make it into the top three.

He wrote One Eye Monster with the intention of entering it for Carnival 2017 but because of some personal issues he did not. He decided to enter the song in the blind calypso competition as a “feeler” to see how society would react to it.

On the song, he said, “there are just too many guns in this country.” He added that a lot of the violence “is so senseless.” “(Crime) is like a monster. You could be living life normal, a good citizen, and you could be (killed).” In his song, he was critical of the “lack of backbone” shown by the church. During the interview, he said the church needs to take a stronger role and return to where it would set moral and ethical standards.

“(Now) people just doing what feels right.” The song also critiques greedy businessmen, calls on politicians to do what they were elected to do and lamented that police response to criminals was inadequate.

The song took home the top prize at the competition and also best social commentary. Manswell plans to enter the song for Carnival 2018.

“I have to go back because I need to win Young Kings. I feel as though it would be unfinished if I don’t win Young Kings. So I will go back until I win. As well as social commentary and the National Calypso Monarch.” Manswell said he felt good when he won, noting if he could win at the blind competition and before Trinbago Unified Calypsonians Organisation judges, there was hope for him in the bigger competitions next year.

“If I win there with national judges it speaks well for my endeavours in 2018.”