OLDIES SUNDAY: Baba Brooks And His Band – Guns Fever (1965)

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One of the key elements to a good song is its production. While lyrics can do so much, the rhythm channels them to those who can hear. Today on Oldies Sunday, we want you to move to the rhythm. Going back in time, we check out legendary Trumpet Player Baba Brooks and his Band’s “Guns Fever“.

Arranged by Baba Brooks and released through Treasure Isle and Island Records in 1965, this Ska number was purely instrumental sprinkled with bits of scatting and gunshot sound effects. Baba signature Trumpet could be heard throughout the high tempo track that you can’t help but dance to. No words, just vibes. “Guns Fever” went on to become one of Baba’s well known releases, and Baba and his Band went on to work with the likes of The Skatalites, Derrick Morgan, Stranger Cole, Alton Ellis, and many more. The 60s was filled with beautiful instrumentals, and Baba Brooks had a hand in plenty of them.

Check out the track below, and share with a friend. Show us some love/follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @13thStreetPromo.

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.@FridayNightCru Seek Another Hit With @ZacJonesStony @PRGKid Featured “LAYB”

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The duo of Jamaican artists KinDah and Dash D make up the Friday Night Cru. No stranger to the Blog, the group has been working its way up to becoming a prominent name in the new generation of artists on the Island. With influences ranging from Jazz to Dancehall to Hip Hop, they have resulted in unique tracks that helped to boost the group’s profile and following. Looking for another banger, FNC released, “Look At Your Body (LAYB)“.

Produced by Harry Hunt and featuring fellow Jamaican artists Zac Jone$ and PRG Kid, we get a Trap-Hall track by the Cru that should get you moving during this “Holiday Stay Inside Party” season. With each artist dropping sensual lyrics for the ladies, expect this one to cause a change in temperatures as well. Whether its high energy or chill vibes, the Friday Night Cru will make it happen. Get your Playlists ready.

Check out the KoneLives made Lyric Video below, and share with a friend. Show us some love/follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @13thStreetPromo.

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Working Women Rule On @IAmDavidLyn & @TarrusRileyJA’s “Gwan Fi Money”!

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This is for the ladies who are about stacking up the dollar bills! Having made noise all year, David Lyn is ready for more as his “Any Day Now” EP is a few steps away from official release. We featured his motivational single, “Keep Moving” recently, now he follows up with the single, “Gwan Fi Money“!

Produced by NeriBeats and Izy Beats (with Guitar by Gabrielle “GG” Stok) and featuring “Singy Singy” a.k.a. Tarrus Riley, David Lyn and Riley make fire here as they speak on dealing with women who are all about that money. If the discussion doesn’t have dollar signs in it, leave those ladies alone! This goes out to all the hardworking independent women out there, especially those who make it happen during this worldwide pandemic. Accompanying the single is a music video directed by Noorez “Nunu” Rhemtulla, and shot at the Villa Jamille in Port Antonio, Jamaica! David Lyn has a lot more niceness in store, but you have to wait till his EP drops!

Check out “Gwan Fi Money” below, and share with a friend. Show us some love/follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @13thStreetPromo.

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Orville “Xpressionz”, Neila Ebanks & More To Appear On @AkibaAbakaArts & Raw Management Agency’s Weekly Talk Series!

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“10 Weeks In Jamaica: Theatre Conversations from Jamaica to the World!” is a lively series of weekly discussions  with Jamaica’s leading theatre artists exploring the histories and memories of–and visions for–the Jamaican stage. Produced by Boston-based international theatre production company Akiba Abaka Arts, in partnership with Kingston, Jamaica-based talent agency and production company RAW Management, the series aims to connect Jamaican theatre artists with a global platform of theatre makers looking to gain new knowledge, share best practices around progressive theatre-making, and engage members of the greater Caribbean Diaspora longing for familiar stories of home.

“10 Weeks in Jamaica” weekly conversations can be streamed live each Sunday at 4 PM; previous episodes of the series featuring Oliver Samuels O.D., Dr. Brian Heap, Dr. Deborah Hickling-Gordon, and Fae Ellington are available for on-demand viewing on the Akiba Abaka Arts YouTube page here.

The next conversation on Sunday, November 29 at 4 PM is titled Dancehall Reggae and the Nettleford Effect.  The sounds and movements of Dancehall Reggae music scores the landscape of Jamaica’s cultural identity. Rooted in the Afro-Jamaican Kumina and Mento traditions, this form of popular music is among the country’s largest exports. The Honorable Rex Nettleford, OM, FIJ, OCC – a Jamaican scholar and choreographer, and co-founder of the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica – shared philosophies on the importance of contemporary Jamaican music and its linkage to pre-colonial African societies. He expressed these philosophies through dance theatre and a rigorous support for the arts in academia, as well as in the shaping of Jamaica’s national identity.

 Sunday’s conversation brings together three beneficiaries of Nettleford’s legacy for a conversation on how Dancehall Reggae shows up on the Jamaican stage: Orville “Xpressionz” Hall, artistic director for Theatre Xpressionz and chief judge for Jamaica’s number one dance program “Dancing Dynamite”; Marlon D. Simms, Dean of the School of Dance and Artistic Director for the National Dance Theatre Company of Jamaica; and Neila Ebanks, a dancer, choreographer and educator considered one of the Caribbean’s most innovative performing artists. The conversation is moderated by Jamaican-American theater entrepreneur, actress and director Akiba Abaka.

Upcoming programs in the series include:

Sunday, December 6, 4PM EST

JAMAICAN PLAYWRIGHTS ANSWER GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (PART 1)

Speakers: David Tulloch and Fabian Thomas

Sunday, December 13, 4PM EST

JAMAICAN PLAYWRIGHTS ANSWER GEORGE BERNARD SHAW (PART 2)

Speakers: Dahlia Harris and Amba Chevannes

Sunday, December 20, 4PM EST

QUEER NARRATIVES FROM THE JAMAICAN STAGE

Speakers: Karl Williams and Webster McDonald

Sunday, December 27, 4PM EST

LEADERS OF A NEW STAGE

Speakers: Evone Walters, Andrew Barracks and Rayon McLean

Sunday, January 3, 4PM EST

AFRO-FUTURISM AND THE JAMAICAN STAGE

Speakers: Tanya Batson Savage and Michael Holgate

Check out previous episodes below, and share with a friend. Show us some love/follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @13thStreetPromo.

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.@D_FeezyMusic Has Ambitions Of Living The “Rich Life”

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D-Feezy has kept his work ethic at the highest capacity all year. With plenty music to choose from this year, he is doing his part in providing the entertainment that many of us need. Having dropped 2 projects this year, he’s looking to provide more content before the year is our. For the holiday season, he has ambitions of living the “Rich Life” in new video.

Directed by TBE Studios, D-Feezy is seen partying it up with his people as he shares what he has been envisioning in his pending rich lifestyle. He also keeps it gangster as he lets listeners know that if it wasn’t for him and his crew, some lives wouldn’t have been easier as he makes the moves necessary to keep things in order. We all want to live a life that’s luxurious with all our problems solved with the press of a button. For some it’s easy to attain but for others, you just have to work a lil harder for it. Be sure to tune in to D-Feezy’s music, and follow the “Awah Nation“!

Check out the video below, and share with a friend. Show us some love/follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @13thStreetPromo.

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Caribbean Theatrical Production Streams Online

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Shared in conjunction with T&T Performing Arts Network

The current global pandemic has had a crippling effect on theatre and live performances around the world. In an effort to adapt to the new normal, theatre practitioners have been going digital – producing and repurposing their performances for virtual streaming platforms. Not to be left behind is S.H.A.P.E. Up Production – a Tobago based drama youth group out of Signal Hill Secondary School, whose 2020 production ‘The Farewell that Kills’ will be available for digital viewing from November 27th – December 27th, exclusively on Caribbean Cyberstream.

The Farewell that Kills, written and directed by Garnet Lawrence, is a stinging reflection of current social issues using Traditional Carnival characters as the medium. Through a series of vignettes: a mixture of monologues, spoken word and dance where real life people are juxtaposed with traditional Carnival characters, each scene focuses on a different yet relevant social issue – from the brutal murder/suicides arising out of domestic violence, to perceptions of inequality by the public towards the Police in shutting down COVID parties.

In a statement to the media, Lawrence said the drama group – which performed Tobago’s feature presentation for the 9th Biennial Caribbean Secondary Schools’ Drama Festival, has been producing plays since 2016 specifically for Tobago students to critique as part of their CXC requirements. He lamented, “[Before then] we didn’t have theatre in Tobago that students can critique, and they may not always be able to afford to go to Trinidad.” 

When asked what inspired him to still produce work in spite of all the obstacles facing the creative sector due to COVID-19, Lawrence said the answer is twofold. 

He said, “My rationale was that during this time, not only Tobago, but rather the wider Caribbean will be experiencing a lack of theatrical productions. I wanted to create something that is entertaining, thought provoking, and that students can effectively review for their CXC Theatre Arts play critique component. This is why I have avoided the Zoom platform style and did not pre record as individual scenes but rather filmed it as a full run…as one continuous flowing production.”

Trinidad and Tobago Theatre The Farewell That Kills T&T 13thStreetPromotions 13thStreetPromo Caribbean T&T Performing Arts Network
Kayla George on set during promotional photography for ‘The Farewell that Kills | Photo credit: Triston Wallace.

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