Smooth Vibes and Spirits

The Brooklyn-based Vincentian-American Independent National Charities, Inc. (VINCI) on Sunday, June 8, hosted its Annual Pre-Father’s Day Jazz & Cocktail celebration to rave reviews at Royal Palace on Utica Avenue in Brooklyn.

The sold-out ceremony featured a wide array of artistes, including Jazz Vocalist Boncellia Lewis and Friends; Haye Entertainment; Pannist DoMo (The Jack of all Trades); Richie Nick and Friends; Classical Pianist Sean Sutherland, with Classical Jazz/Soul Vocalist Addison Stoddard; and Percussionist Modupe.

Seven-time Grenada-New York Independence Calypso Monarch and Comedian Hercules served as Master of Ceremonies at the event, which was held under the auspices of the Consulate General of St. Vincent and the Grenadines to the United States. Consul General Rondy “Luta” McIntosh and his wife, Semone, were among the patrons.

“The ambiance, the performances, and the energy of the audience were very captivating and quite memorable,” Enisha Fern Dopwell, VINCI’s public relations officer, told Caribbean Life.

“Patrons enjoyed all the performers, but the most engaging aspect was the rendition of Becket’s ‘St. Vincent My Homeland‘ by Sean Sutherland, classical pianist, and Addison Stoddard, vocalist,“ she added. “I think they literally brought the house down with that remarkable performance.“

After “St. Vincent My Homeland,” the bubbling audience requested an encore. “Encore! Encore!“ the crowd shouted. “We want more! We want more!” Sutherland and Stoddard honored the request.

Dopwell said Boncella and Friends never disappoint.

“They’ve been performing for us from the inception,“ she said, stating that they “delivered an unforgettable performance.”

They ended with the legendary Etta James’s 1961 recording of “At Last,” one of her first releases for the Chess/Argo recording label after starting her career with the Modern label.

Dopwell said Haye Entertainment, a young and vibrant group, was “superb.”

The band, comprising three brothers – Noel Hye on saxophone, O’Neil Haye on bass, and Mikel Haye on guitar – with Joshua Cox on drums, provided a mixture of Caribbean and contemporaneous rhythms, highlighted by Bob Marley’s “One Love.”

Dopwell said Nick & Friends were “extraordinary, especially the female vocalist.“

That female vocalist was African American Katy Waters, the lead vocalist with the Brooklyn-based Caribbean band Just Friends.

Dopwell said DoMo “surpassed himself,“ stating that he “was in a completely different space musically.”

Among other selections, DoMo beat out on pan Bob Marley’s “I Don’t Want to Wait in Vain,” Grover Washington, Jr.’s “Just the Two of Us,” and Trinidadian Alatunji’s  “Engine Room.”

Percussionist Dodupe brought the house down with a “robust performance,“ Dopwell said.

“We had a diverse line-up this year,“ with artistes from St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Panama, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, the US, St. Lucia, and Vincentians residing in Toronto,“ Dopwell said.

“This collaboration of musical talent captured the excitement and success of our Jazz & Cocktail Event,“ she added. “Overall, the entire evening was well-attended and successful.

“Folks were pleased and satisfied with the performers, food, drinks, music, company, and ambiance,“ Dopwell continued.

VINCI President Wayne Ragguette also told Caribbean Life: “I felt very positive and great about the outcome of the event.

“Thoughts of expanding the event are quite imminent,“ he added.

Last year, Caribbean-American musician Brandon Bain and his Sunlytes Band “jazzed up” the group’s all-inclusive Jazz & Cocktails Father’s Day celebration at Kendra’s Place, formerly Café Omar, on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn.

Bain – renowned affectionately as “Mr. Bain,” a Brooklyn resident whose mother hails from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and father from Grenada – headlined the event held for the first time on Father’s Day. Prior celebrations were held pre-Father’s Day.