Yorke’s musical montage

Heather Ann Guerra
Heather Ann Guerra

VOCALIST Natalie Yorke promised patrons an evening of love at her show on August 3 and she delivered.

Dazzling in a red top and black pants, when Yorke took the spotlight at Kaiso Blues, Wrightson Road, Port of Spain, she was a natural and the standing room only crowd showed its appreciation for the woman who is well known for her best supporting vocalist role.

The former Blue Venture lead vocalist has done background vocals for Slinger “Sparrow” Francisco, the late Winston “Shadow” Bailey, and the late Aldwyn “Lord Kitchener” Roberts Carol Jacobs, Zouk band Kassav, and has also worked with artistes David Rudder, Machel Montano, Aaron Duncan, Destra Garcia, Ella Andall, Kimba Sorzano, Fay-Ann Lyons, and Jamaican dancehall musician Shabba Ranks. This was her third show in preparation to becoming a solo artiste.

In keeping with the show’s theme, Musical Montage, Yorke gave patrons a little taste of a number of musical genres, among them R&B, Samba, jazz, calypso and soca.

Natalie Yorke

“I can’t give you all this and not show my love for my own music,” she told the audience after she had belted out songs by Anita Baker and Sade.

“I hear a song, I hear a cry. Some say that it’s wrong, I can’t see why. All that I know, is when I hear it, it moves me so and I feel a spirit. And I heard a wise man once say, everything must change…Tell them people to take my ca­lyp­so mu­sic to the moun­tain, let every drop of earth hear when I sing. Ris­ing out of them bar­rack yards...,” Yorke and her audience passionately sang the words of Gregory Ballantyne’s Calypso Rising in unison.

Earlier, saxophonist Francis Prime, and vocalists Marilyn Williams and Heather Ann Guerra had set the pace for the show, which started promptly at its 9 pm advertised start time.

Williams got a head start on the Yuletide celebrations with her popular Ribbons, and Guerra took the opportunity to try one of her own compositions, which was well received. Prime’s performance, though, was nothing short of a headlining act.

Yorke was backed by the band Three Piece, with supporting vocals by Guerra and Candice Antoine. She was generous enough not to hog the spotlight, giving her background singers a chance to join her in the frontline, with each singing a verse of Nadia Batson’s So Long.

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