Signal Hill Alumni Choir's phenomenal Musical Odyssey

“Phenomenal!” That was the expression of an enthused patron who found agreement in others as they exited the Shaw Park Complex last Sunday evening chipping in the sing-along of Mical Teja’s DNA, as the Signal Hill Alumni Choir (SHAC) interacted with the crowd, greeting and thanking patrons.

Under the auspices of the President Christine Kanglaoo and in the presence of her husband Kerwyn Garcia, the Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Farley Augustine, assemblymen, councillors, other dignitaries and a whole lot of Tobagonians who braved the downpours, the choir presented what is arguably its most scintillating show.

SHAC’s 2064: A Musical Odyssey final performance in the 40th anniversary concert series began with a gospel segment, in which the choir rendered three songs Swing Down Sweet Chariot, Come Let Us Praise and an adapted version of the Hallelujah Chorus. And as expected, the choralography for which they are best known was captivating from the first note.

It was a fitting tribute too, as artistic director John Arnold introduced this segment telling the audience that Swing Down Sweet Chariot was the first winning song ever performed by the group. And in a special throwback the choir was joined by some of the original past members.

Powerhouse Stephanie Joseph was the first of six guest performers to take the stage.

In that sultry, soothing entry to her cover of Michael Bolton’s When I’m Back on My Feet Again, Joseph took patrons to church and lifted to the heights of hope. And while still basking in the “the sweet light of heaven, shining down its light” she invited the audience to clap along to her performance of Say a Little Prayer, made popular by Dionne Warwick in the mid-1960s.

The evenings celebration continued with Music Amateurs Choir. They were the last of the five choirs in TT that are over 40 years old to have performed in the concert series. Arnold explained that SHAC’s accomplishment mirrored the work of many others before, and in a spirit of homage and community the series featured the Southernaires Choir, The Lydians, The Love Movement Choir and The Marionettes in the three Trinidad shows.

With music educator and star violinist Caryll Warner as conductor, and in the music legacy of her dad, Lincoln Warner, a long-standing member of the choir, Music Amateurs showed their vocal prowess and maturity as only a choral group of over 60 years could.

They sang covers of As Long as I Have Music (Don Besig and Nancy Price); Louis Armstrong’s What a Wonderful World and the beautiful reassurance of Scott and Russell’s He Ain’t Heavy He’s My Brother.

The choir is well known for classical and gospel genres but also boast a rich repertoire of calypso renditions and for their final song they showed their versatility with a delightful arrangement of Ras Shorty I’s Watch Out My Children.

When host Avian Parks introduced the next guests, she explained that their addition to the cast which was last, represented the legacy and forward thinking behind the idea of “2064” – the projection into the future, and the idea of succession planning. The Signal Hill Secondary School (SHSC) was introduced as the incubator for SHAC membership and for the future of SHAC.

Led and accompanied by music teacher Dachelle Morrison, the SHSC choir gave an award-winning performance of Come Leh we Go with costuming, choreography and drama that we have grown to expect of a Tobago folk choral performance.

SHAC closed off the first half of the show with two renditions from their folk catalogue: Traditional Beliefs and Pacro Water.

Both compositions of calypsonian, composer, and musician Tobago Crusoe, the former is well regarded as a classic folk tale about the traditional folklore of Tobago.

Ajamu Daniel was the lead storyteller reminding the audience of many myths and old wives’ tales which ordered behaviour in times past.

And to the delight of the house, the choir gave the recipe and spilled the virtues of Pacro Water. Leaning low into the audience and whispering how “men over 70, and they making chirren easy”, SHAC elicited uproarious laughter and applause throughout the well-populated auditorium.

The choir reentered the stage after a brief intermission accompanying singer Lynette Louis with her renditions of Smooth Operator (Sade) and At Last (Etta James). This was the introduction to the African and World Music segment.

Lead soprano Gilda Williams then belted out the African gospel song Vuma, a performance which moves heart, soul, and spirit at each rendition. Coupled with the synchronised movement to match every echo of “heaven’s hope and promise” in Williams’ voice and body movement, Vuma remains a well-received song at every performance.

Then, in that remarkable talent of flawless sequencing of songs into medleys, the choir presented another of Arnold’s outstanding work, the Buju Banton medley. Some patrons were on their feet swaying and skanking to the best of Buju, among them African Pride, Hills and Valleys, ‘Till I’m Laid to Rest and many other favourites.

The segment ended with James Brown’s I Feel Good with SHAC entertaining with that classic 60s energetic, twisting, rolling movement as interpreted by choreographer Georgina Peterkin.

As in each of the four concerts, the steelpan was featured, and Black Rock’s son Jaime Ramsey was up next. To high audience appreciation, he gave excellent performances of Take The “A” Train (Duke Ellington) and Buju Banton’s Sleepless Nights.

Arnold celebrated pan’s major achievements over the past months by including Joshua Regrello at Naparima Bowl and vocalist/pannist Kern Sumerville for the two Central Bank Auditorium shows.

Then it was time for Benjai to claim the stage.

Rodney “Benjai” Le Blanc is not only a gifted composer but such a pleasing performer. Representing in red, white and black, he performed his 2011 hit I’m a Trini with its infectious rhythms and apt descriptors of things that truly represent our uniqueness.

But it is rendition of his 2015 Phenomenal that possibly elicited the patron’s comment at the end of the show. In a slowed version, Benjai and SHAC blended beautifully to give the belly stirring “Once the music hit meh veins, So much powers ah cyah explain” ending powerfully in full a capella mode.

And what a climax it was as SHAC performanced Merchant’s Umbayaya Oh and David Rudder and Machel Montano’s Oil and Music.

This was followed by the choir’s soca medley 2024 finale which featured Anxiety (Patrice Roberts), Runaway (Mical Teja), Market (Nadia Batson), Inventor (Olatunji) and DNA (Mical Teja).

This was a loaded production with sustained highs throughout the evening’s two-and-a half hours show and a fitting culmination to the 2024 concert series.

SHAC ends its year-long celebration in November with an award ceremony and gala event in Tobago.