Parang band hosts Christmas in July

CHRISTMAS in July is now a big thing in TT and the family parang band Amantes De Parranda will host a show titled Somos on July 21 at the Kaiso Blues Cafe, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain.

"It is not solely a Christmas in July event but has elements of parang in it," percussionist Jenais Carter told Newsday.

"We have not hosted an event in a few years and we feel that now is the right time to connect with public and supporters right before the start of the parang season. This is the first event of this nature we will be putting on in July but we plan to make it an annual event," she said.

Amantes De Parranda will be the only parang band in the show and will cover the second half of the show, along with guest performers, vocalist Peter Levels and pannist Kern Summerville.

"Last year we did a riddim, the Christmas Dream Riddim, and they (Levels and Summerville) were on it," Carter said.

Somos translates to "it's a family thing" and Carter said all the performers are connected to her family band in some way.

"They are all people with whom we have worked over the years, people who we have seen develop."

Among them are calypsonian and soca artiste Chuck Gordon, vocalist Krisson Joseph, the son of the late Seadley "Penguin" Joseph, and pannist and music lecturer Khion Delas. Carter said later in the year Amantes De Parranda will host a full parang show during the season, featuring multiple parang bands.

For more information on Somos visit Amantes De Paranda on Facebook and Instagram.