Entitled Carnival – The Sound of A People, the opus continues Charles’ penchant for the rituals of his homeland, composed after four months of travel and deep research across Trinidad and Tobago to unearth the arts of Carnival that highlight the vivid and vast elements of our culture and history.

What he discovers is that Carnival traditions alive and thriving in areas with strong communities and families. Art forms such as the Tamboo Bamboo, Stick Fighting, Tambrin, Jab Jab, Blue Devils, Black Indian, Moko Jumbie, Fancy Sailor, Dame Lorraine, Steel and Iron Bands continue to grow and evolve after being passed from generation to generation through the oral tradition.

“The culture is dying only to those who don’t support it or know its history or its value or its vibrancy.

I was moved numerous times, by how these men, women and children go from ordinary to extraordinary with the smack of a drum or the crack of a whip or the sound of the pan and how it’s the direct link to our ancestors through oral traditions, where you learn by listening and watching.

Studying these folks was a dream come true,” says Charles of his research.

“CARNIVAL”, Charles’ fifth large compositional work was made possible with a Creative Arts Fellowship from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. The world premiere follows the Caribbean premiere of his sixth composition the San Jose Suite before a sold out audience at Queen’s Hall in November.

Charles, a 2015 Guggenheim fellow was recently awarded the Reubin O’D Askew award, the highest award bestowed upon an Alumnus of Florida State University under the age of 35 and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Millennial Swing Award, has spent much of 2016 performing at prestigious venues including the White House, Newport Jazz Festival, the Atlanta Jazz Festival, the Lincoln Center and, most recently, the Jazz Standard in New York and SF Jazz Center in San Francisco.

Sr Margarita Chan, principal of the Lady Hochoy Vocational Centre, which provides education and training to differently- abled students and adults said, “Every year the children look forward to the Christmas treat hosted by Flow. It’s a chance for the students to dance and sing, and be entertained and of course they’re always excited about the gifts from Santa Claus.” The show got off to a roaring start around mid-morning with an energetic performance from Los Buenos Parranderos followed by entertaining magic tricks by Tinkerbell the Clown. Following lunch, students of the centre and staff of Flow took the stage with songs and dancing before Santa Claus stopped by to deliver presents to all staff and students.

Trudy De Verteuil, director of Communications and Stakeholder Relations for Flow said, “While this is our second year hosting this treat for the students of Lady Hochoy Vocational Centre, we feel very strongly that it must remain an event on our calendar simply because the students enjoy it and our staff who are present enjoy it as well. It’s really important that we stop ever so often during the annual year to ensure that we continue to be connected with those for whom we work and who we support within the community. Lady Hochoy is one of our treasured partners and we’re happy to spend this time and to bring some Christmas cheer.”

The event began with a prayer session and was followed by a luncheon for both the students and teachers of the school.

The excitement continued as the DJ provided the perfect setting for dancing and singing as Digicel team members and students and staff of the school created lasting memories.

She was recently presented with Tobago’s highest award, the Tobago Medal of Honour (Gold), and today the sister isle will again recognise Calypso Rose for her contributions to the musical art form, this time with song, at the “Calypso Rose in Concert”, at Shaw Park Complex, Tobago.

The concert is free to the public and will also feature a number of Tobago’s calypso and soca stars, including The Mighty Shadow, Shurwayne Winchester, Adana and Fyah Empress.

Another eight teams will feature in the Champinship – Bermudez, Defence Force, Jabloteh, Las Lomas Academy, Police, TSTT , UTC, Utt.

The Alternative Division will feature five teams – Defence Force, Fire, Polioce, USC, UWI, while the Retro Divison will have another five teams – Bermudez, Carib Senators, Harlem, Les Enfants and TSTT .

.Competitive games begin on Monday with two matches in the Retro Division – Harlem vs Les Enfants from 5.30 pm and Carib Senators vs TSTT from 6.20 pm .

Head Coach Tom Saintfiet used Thursday as a recovery day for his players following their shocking 2-1 defeat to Suriname but was back on the training field the following morning (yesterday) ahead of their clash with the Haitians.

Haiti ended TT ’s Copa America Centenario ambitions with a late 1-0 win in the playoff in Panama City in January last year and both teams have been drawn together again in another playoff as they try to qualify for the 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

TT captain Carlos Edwards reflected on the loss yesterday, saying the local players are hurt but are picking themselves up for Sunday’s challenge.

“Obvious the boys did hurt because of the loss. I personally didn’t like the result because I felt there was no reason for us to be losing these kind of games at home especially with it being a qualifier for the Gold Cup,” Edwards told TT FA Media.

“But now we’ve returned to the training pitch and the feeling of wanting to go out and do better is back in our minds and we know we have a task to complete on Sunday. I believe in the squad even though we have some very young players who have not really found themselves as yet on the international level but the squad has the quality, I believe, to make us get results,” Edwards added.

“We have to play our best game yet under the new coach if we want to advance out of this stage.

Every player must bring their best game to the Ato Boldon stadium on Sunday and then we can take things from the next day looking ahead to the final playoff and the qualifiers coming up in March,” the former Sunderland player said.

Haiti and Suriname met at 7pm at the Ato Boldon Stadium last night. A Suriname win gives TT no chance of qualification while a victory for Haiti would see TT needing to beat the Haitians by a bigger margin on Sunday.

In reply, Police were stifled by the Merry Boys bowlers and could only muster 106 for seven from their allotted overs. Pacer Marlon Richards (2/17) and Ricky Jaipaul (2/21) did most of the damage.

Earlier, Police destroyed hosts UWI by 56 runs.

Police, in first turn at the crease, were held to a modest 138 for six in 20 overs with crucial knocks coming from Hollister Pajotte (48) and Ryan Jones (46) but little else otherwise.

Akim Chandler was the pick of the bowlers, taking two for 23.

But UWI made the winning target of 139 seem like 200, struggling badly in their chase and were bowled out for 82. Jasbour Findlay stroked 32 while Akim Chandler had 24 but the rest of the UWI batsman failed to make an impact. They were wrecked by Man-of-the-Match Rodney Singh (3/9) and Amit Jaggernauth (3/19).

meanwhile on Thursday night, Central Sports beat Queen’s Park by seven wickets in Group A. In a match reduced to 10 overs per side, Queen’s Park posted 123 for four led by a blistering 65 from Tion Webster.

Central Sports, boosted by Kjorn Ottley’s 50 off 21 balls, got home with four balls to spare to leave Group A wide open with each team winning one game after Cane Farm defeated Central Sports and Queen’s Park beat Cane Farm.

Today’s fixtures: Defence Force vs Munrose Sports (10am) Defence Force vs Club Crusoe (2pm) Munroe Road vs Club Crusoe (6pm)

Ramdin regains the job three years after losing it to Dwayne Bravo. Back then, Chairman of the TT Selection Committee, Alec Burns, explained that the Trinidad and Tobago Crcket Board (TT CB) sought to sync their captains with the West Indies side after Bravo had replaced St Lucian Darren Sammy at the helm for One-day Internationals. Ironically, neither Ramdin or Bravo, are currently in the West Indies oneday set-up.

Speaking to Newsday yesterday, Ramdin, who had also lost the national four-day captaincy to Rayad Emrit in November 2014, said his issues with the TT CB are currently in the past and he is focused on reviving the fortunes of the national team which is currently in a funk in the four-day format. He believes winning the Super50 will instil confidence in the team and can augur well for the second half of the four-day competition.

“I think it’s a good opportunity for 2017 for the team to gain some confidence in this Super50 competition because of the situation where we’ve found ourselves in the four-day at the bottom of the table. Hopefully, with some of the senior guys around the younger players, that will give them some confidence and share some experience and do well in the 50 overs tournament. “With my leadership and skills at the highest level, hopefully that will play a part in the entire team and we can go out and show a good outing for ourselves. I have the support from all the guys and the coach (Gus Logie) as well as the Board. I think what transpired in the past is behind me so I’m just going to represent the country which is important and do the best that we can do,” he declared.

Asked if he expected to be handed the reins of the team after a somewhat acrimonious relationship with the Board in the recent past, Ramdin explained: “They had asked me before. I had a little think about it and said ‘why not give myself the opportunity to go out there and represent my country’. There are some young fellas who don’t have the amount of experience and at the moment we’re lacking that in the team. So hopefully myself, Rayad (Emrit), Shannon Gabriel, Jason Mohammed, we can share that experience with the younger fellas and going forward, once that confidence is there they can have a better second half to the fourday tournament.” On his own form, the 31-yearold, whose grandmother recently passed away, admitted he will need to amp his training in the next few weeks to hit stride.

“I haven’t picked up a bat in the last four weeks. Hopefully the next three weeks is going to be very intense and push a lot of work. I’ve been doing a lot of fitness which is good. (I’m) going to hit a lot of balls and put myself in match situations. We have some practice matches coming up at the Cricket Centre and the Oval,” he added.

On the difficulty of playing abroad after the last three tournament were held in Trinidad, Ramdin acknowledged: “It will be a bit tricky. Playing on our soil we’ve gotten accustomed to it last couple of years. There are a lot of senior players who will not be around like the Bravos (Dwayne), (Sunil) Narine, who have played a part in the past and won this tournament.

It gives the opportunity for younger players.” The TT CB has explained that Darren Bravo’s availability is subject to a matter with the WICB being resolved.

TT Super50 squad: Denesh Ramdin (captain), Kyle Hope, Evin Lewis, Kjorn Ottley, Jason Mohammed, Nicholas Alexis, Roshon Primus, Ravi Rampaul, Shannon Gabriel, Khary Pierre, Jon Russ Jagessar, Imran Khan, Sheldon Cottrell, Rayad Emrit.

To the announcer/DJ the song was initially a vibe. “The song was just a vibe that I got.

It literally came into my head.

A day I was driving to south and last year I lost my father… my mind was all over thinking about stuff and I was trying to find all of the things I was thankful for because I like to sit and think about things I used to do before and what I am doing now. The whole thing was freestyle.

“There was a DJ I was sending a voice note to, talking to him and telling him remember when he used to tell me that my voice was too thin for radio and I was too thin for TV and I was too shy…So I was saying though the road is long, no matter how long, I would make it,” he said of the song’s origin.

Matthews said he sent the song to the DJ and told him he felt it could grow into a song. He began to write ideas and remembering days when he had to ‘tote’ water and, “now I have running water and I used to wonder if it would always be like this.” Matthews wrote a lot of verses to the song but only had to choose two as the full complement would have made the song ten minutes long. This was how “D Journey” was developed. The song, he added, spoke to every day happenings and the difficulties people often faced in everyday situations but striving despite the difficulties faced.

He said when the voice note was complete he said to its producer, Anson Soverall, that he felt a collaboration was needed. Initially, Calypso Rose was suggested but Matthews said no because “everyone would run down Calypso Rose since her recent success.” The production of the song was taking place at around Emancipation time and a lot of people were calling in and requesting songs by Andall. “I was like Ella Andall, you know what I have to find her.” He said his management, Ground Empire (Fay Ann Lyons and Ian “Bunji Garlin” Alvarez) initially told him that securing Andall for a song would be difficult.

Matthews decide to reach out to Andall himself, especially after discovering that Andall lived five minutes away from where he lived.

“Everything just lined up. I went to her and sang the song to her and she was like I would do it.

From there both of us real clicked. She came into the studio and she taught us some stuff. Taught us about rhythms and everything,” he enthusiastically said.

The song holds special resonance to Matthews who has dedicated it to his father, Selwyn Matthews, after his passing in June last year. The song was written a month before his father’s passing which makes it even more significant to Matthews.

The drivers expressed mixed views on the issue but many were in agreement that they intend to “go with the flow”.

“They (workers) are bluffing.

They are testing (Prime Minister Dr Keith) Rowley. I feel we will get fuel although the supply may not be consistent as it is now. If the workers shut down, then we will have to shut down too. We are going with the flow,” said a taxi driver yesterday while at High Street, San Fernando.

The Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) served the Stateowned oil company Petrotrin with legal strike notice yesterday. The decision came after both parties – the union and company – failed to reach an amicable resolution following four rounds of conciliatory meetings. The strike, which is scheduled to begin on Monday at 10 am, is expected to last three months.

Another taxi driver, Kevin Gayadeen, who plies the San Fernando to Chaguanas route, referred to the impasse as a “game” in which citizens are the ones affected.

“It is a game that the Government and Petrotrin are playing and the citizens are the ones who will really feel the effects. We as the small men will be affected the most. We are monitoring it. I am not worried and we are working with what we have at this time,” Gayadeen said.

He added that he as well as other colleagues do not have any contingency plans in place.

“We cannot even stock up because there are rules to do that.

It is a hazard to store fuel at the house so we will see how it goes,” Gayadeen said.

At the maxi-taxi stand at St James Street in San Fernando many drivers admitted that they too have no contingency plans.

Driver Errol ‘Madman’ Nandlal told Newsday: “ We have no backup plans. If they shut down then we have to shut down too because we would not have fuel to drive our vehicles. At the end of the day, we have to make a living so something has to happen.” Another driver, Allan Bhajan, expressed similar sentiments.