Bigford to go live in city

JAZZ singer Vaughnette Bigford will go Live in Concert at the Central Bank Auditorium, Port of Spain, next month. The La Brea-born chanteuse will perform a diverse repertoire of music selected from among her favourite local and foreign musicians.

Bigford will have Elan Parlé and Ja Moi as her guests artistes.

Since the beginning of the year Bigford has has been performing regularly before enthusiastic audiences at home, New York and at the recent Barbados Jazz Excursion where she shared the stage with R&B and contemporary jazz greats such as Jeffrey Osbourne and Avery Sunshine. She also produced two shows of her own—VSpot Jazz Experience which was part of the Point Fortin Borough Day celebrations—and Black Gold. The latter provided a showcase for young, aspiring talents from La Brea and its environs. This project was Bigford's way of giving back to the community that nurtured her.

Live in Concert will feature a bit of world music as well. In a media release Bigford said, “Vaughnette Bigford Live in Concert is my way of treating my Port of Spain-based fans, in particular, to an experience to which they can look forward (to) each year.

“For this concert, we’ve included a twist of world music on the playlist in addition to the usual calypso-jazz and straight-ahead standards that I sing. I simply want to play music that has resonated deeply with me and present it in a manner that not only sounds good, but is also visually appealing. My fans mean the world to me and I enjoy doing it for them.”

Always at the forefront of local jazz happenings, Elan Parlé will make a guest appearance at the November 9 concert. The ensemble, led by popular keyboardist and composer, Michael "Ming" Low Chew Tung, burst onto the circuit in 2000, sparking renewed interest in original Caribbean jazz compositions which lent themselves to refreshing "in-the-moment" musical interplays among the instrumentalists. Elan Parlé has appeared at major festivals throughout the Caribbean.

The show’s second guest artiste, Ja Moi aka Khalen Alexander, will bring his special brand of conscious vibrations as a vocalist, drummer and founder of Riddim Nation Collective.

Ming will do double duty on keys as he is also a member of Bigford’s backing band which also features ace guitarist Theron Shaw, Shaquille Noel (drums), Tony Paul (flute and sax), Rodney Alexander (bass) and Ajibola (percussion).

Showtime is 7.30 pm