SAN­DRA L BLOOD

“Trinidad and To­ba­go, get ready to show your love for the great­est ca­lyp­son­ian to ever walk this earth—the Mighty Spar­row, the Ca­lyp­so King of the World,” de­clares Spek­taku­la Pro­mo­tions, pro­duc­ers of the up­com­ing trib­ute con­certs Thank You Spar­row.

The mu­si­cal cel­e­bra­tions are sched­uled for 6 pm on Ju­ly 26 at the South­ern Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts (SAPA) in San Fer­nan­do and Ju­ly 31 at the Na­tion­al Acad­e­my for the Per­form­ing Arts (NA­PA) in Port-of-Spain.

Spek­taku­la Pro­mo­tions promis­es two un­for­get­table pro­duc­tions ho­n­our­ing the life, mu­sic, and en­dur­ing lega­cy of a cul­tur­al icon. These shows, de­scribed as “spec­tac­u­lar oc­ca­sions fit for roy­al­ty,” aim to unite au­di­ences of all ages, back­grounds, and na­tion­al­i­ties—lo­cals and tourists alike—in a shared ap­pre­ci­a­tion of Spar­row’s un­matched con­tri­bu­tion to Caribbean mu­sic.

Spar­row, born Slinger Fran­cis­co ORTT, CM, OBE, cel­e­brat­ed his 90th birth­day on Ju­ly 9. Born in Grand Roy, Grena­da, he moved to T&T at the age of one with his moth­er, join­ing his fa­ther who had al­ready set­tled here.

His jour­ney in mu­sic be­gan in the school choir and pro­gressed to his first Car­ni­val per­for­mance in 1954. He record­ed his first song the fol­low­ing year, and in 1956, rose to na­tion­al fame with Jean and Di­nah (Yan­kees Gone), which won him the Car­ni­val Road March and Ca­lyp­so King ti­tles. Over the decades, he would go on to win these ti­tles a com­bined ten times, and earn the re­spect of ca­lyp­so lovers across the globe.

Spar­row’s ca­reer, span­ning more than 60 years, is de­fined by pow­er­ful so­cial com­men­tary, sharp wit, and a mag­net­ic stage pres­ence that for­ev­er changed the ca­lyp­so art­form. His voice told the sto­ries of the Caribbean—its joys, strug­gles, and tri­umphs—and helped shape the re­gion’s iden­ti­ty on the glob­al stage.

At the Thank You Spar­row con­certs, a tal­ent­ed cast of ca­lyp­so­ni­ans, many of whom were men­tored or in­spired by the leg­end him­self, will per­form his time­less hits. Fea­tured per­form­ers in­clude Chuck Gor­don, Pink Pan­ther, Ter­ri Lyons (the lone fe­male act), De­von Seales, KV Charles, Os­car B, Lu­ta, Ron­nie McIn­tosh, and Col­lege Boy Jesse, along with 11-year-old Zachary Ran­some, a mul­ti­ple-time Ju­nior Ca­lyp­so Monarch.

Au­di­ences can ex­pect a spir­it­ed jour­ney through Spar­row’s beloved clas­sics, in­clud­ing Jean and Di­nah, Mel­da, On­ly a Fool, and many more.

“This is more than a show,” said ca­lyp­son­ian Lu­ta (Morel Pe­ters), a mul­ti­ple com­pe­ti­tion win­ner. “It’s a na­tion­al thank-you to a man whose mu­sic car­ried our sto­ries, strug­gles, and spir­it to the world. It’s al­so an op­por­tu­ni­ty for our young tal­ents to ho­n­our the ca­lyp­so tra­di­tion and its great­est cham­pi­on.”

Pink Pan­ther (Er­ic Tay­lor) al­so ex­pressed deep grat­i­tude, not­ing his spe­cial con­nec­tion to the event.

“I was a pro­tégé of Kitch­en­er, who had im­mense re­spect and ad­mi­ra­tion for Spar­row. So I’m do­ing this not on­ly in my own name but al­so on be­half of Kitch­en­er,” he said.

Thank You Spar­row promis­es an evening of nos­tal­gia, elec­tri­fy­ing per­for­mances, and the un­fil­tered en­er­gy of pure ca­lyp­so. Pa­trons are en­cour­aged to se­cure their tick­ets ear­ly and be part of this his­toric trib­ute.

For tick­et out­lets, per­for­mance up­dates, and more in­for­ma­tion, call (868) 491-1802 or fol­low Con­cert Vibes on so­cial me­dia.