KRISTY RAM­NAR­INE

Kristy.ram­nar­ine@cnc3.co.tt

Columbian singer-song­writer Elkin Robin­son will take cen­tre stage at the Lidj Ya­su Omowale Eman­ci­pa­tion Vil­lage Pan African Spec­tu­lar tonight.

Elkin is the new face of Caribbean Folk and brings ca­lyp­so, men­to, sailor folk, gospel, and zouk in­flu­ences in­to his heal­ing sounds.

All these in­flu­ences are sub­sumed in his ‘Old Prov­i­dence new roots’ sound, which is cen­tred around his gui­tar and tra­di­tion­al in­stru­ments such as horse-jaw­bone, shak­ers and tub-bass, full of easy-lop­ing pos­i­tive grooves and mes­sages to match.

The Eman­ci­pa­tion Sup­port Com­mit­tee of Trinidad and To­ba­go (ES­CTT) thanked the Em­bassy of the Re­pub­lic of Co­lum­bia in Trinidad and To­ba­go for se­cur­ing Elkin’s per­for­mance.

“The Columbian Am­bas­sador, His Ex­cel­len­cy William Sid­ney Bush Howard, Am­bas­sador Ex­tra­or­di­nary and Plenipo­ten­tiary and his col­leagues in the Diplo­mat­ic corps have been a tremen­dous sup­port to the ES­CTT due to our shared his­to­ry and ex­pe­ri­ences,” the ES­CTT said.

The con­cert will al­so show­case the tal­ents of Free­town Col­lec­tive and Ades­o­ga and WASAFOLI.

The mu­sic of Free­town Col­lec­tive is not on­ly pro­found and mean­ing­ful; but catchy, en­er­giz­ing and deeply sat­is­fy­ing. With­in the last few years, the band has steadi­ly been grow­ing its glob­al ap­peal and reach. The group will per­form at UB40's an­niver­sary con­cert in the Unit­ed King­dom lat­er in Au­gust.

Odun­bamku Ades­o­ga So­morin who goes by “Ades­o­ga” is a true Pan-African­ist. Born in Nige­ria, he lives in Trinidad and To­ba­go and spent much of his child­hood in Care­nage. He brings to the stage an Afro Beats style which em­braces African en­er­gies and Dance­hall flavour. With songs like “Vi­brate”, “An­ni­hi­late” and “Off your Feet”, he’s ex­pect­ed to keep the crowds jump­ing for more.

Wasafoli Trinidad and To­ba­go are pi­o­neers of West African Art & Cul­ture in dance and have steadi­ly been gain­ing a name for them­selves all over the world.

Wasafoli means 'Hap­py to play.'