This month’s listening picks from the Caribbean — with commentary from Nigel Campbell on new music from Nataki Lendor; Chromatics; Godwin Louis; and Jus Tani
Nataki Lendor
Until Everyone Hears (self-released)
Gospel music, praise and worship, revelations and testimonies are best experienced live. This new live album from powerhouse vocalist Nataki Lendor captures the thrill of being blessed with a great voice and the messages that precede the sung songs. They share Lendor’s faith and deliverance with the listener. In the past, she starred as Mahalia Jackson in a musical about the life of the gospel legend — so, in a way, life imitates art. The album’s audio production shines in its clarity and advances the argument that contemporary Caribbean gospel music is not subscribed to by a wider audience that appreciates the music, whatever the message. With songs incorporating Caribbean rhythms (“Good Good”), this album is also a celebration of good musical arrangement and performance, especially the background harmonies. As a filler for an unfulfilled soul, this works.
Chromatics
Hammer & Chisel (self-released)
The beauty of Caribbean hip-hop/rap is the color of the language. Chromatics, a major pioneer of Trinidadian hip-hop, has released a new album eight years in the making, covering a lifetime in 10 tracks and an audio interlude. In that limited autobiography, he recalls rivalries; exalts the joy of fatherhood and lasting marriage; details the loss of the mother. The simple beats create space for the words – the glorious vernacular – that securely center a Caribbean life and move from emotion to emotion: from “disquiet in my soul” to joy to pathos. A few phrases stand out as sublime wordplay with an island attitude: we don’t study beef [grievance]we do it; AND karma is a jammette and she will surely bring your summer back. Bombast and credulity move from the general to the specific (You try to win a Grammy / I should be a Nobel laureate), reinforcing an optimistic Caribbean reality. New rhymes and narration make this album a winner.
Godwin Louis
Psalms and Proverbs (Blue Chamber Music)
For centuries, music has been an adjunct to prayers and liturgical texts. When European colonists came to the “New World,” hymns and psalms were ritualized, with a mission to convert the populations they encountered (and subjugated) to Christianity. In the contemporary Caribbean, music inspired by these ancient words of trust and control has taken on new dimensions. Haitian-American saxophonist Godwin Louis is a global traveler who has used his Caribbean perspective to reinterpret and remake this set of sacred texts, music and traditional hymns. Haitian, Cuban and Trinidadian musicians are all in the mix, transforming music for your soul into relevant idioms. Strong madness mixes with Afro-Caribbean rhythms to great effect. Jazz “with a West Indian accent” imbues this album with a new aura of responsibility for positioning Caribbean creativity and ideas beyond the old totems. or Creole jazz holiday for every soul.
You now
Danger Zone (Road Music)
Modern Caribbean carnival music has always followed global trends, imitating and improvising with what’s hot, but never abandoning indigenous genres for the next big thing. Drum and bass, riddim and bass, and dubstep music are part of the EDM aesthetic that permeated road march material a decade ago and has pushed Caribbean music to festivals like Glastonbury. Caribbean-British duo Jus Now continue their work of fusing modern electronic beats with the rhythm and energy of soca music – both for the club and the street. The title track of this short five-song EP – perfectly sung by music innovator Mad Hed City – delves into the complicated and darker side of island life with quick-witted honesty that doesn’t flinch when it exposes ugly, dark truths. officially sanctioned or otherwise. We go hard ’cause we grow hard and we know it hard / Real talent leaves this yard … It’s not where it lives, it’s where it’s given when it’s livein’ in a dangerous zone. Do a dangerous jump.
