Brass 2 The World launches Flag Party mas, Stage on Fire set

Brass 2 The World gave a taste of what's in store for masqueraders as it launched its 2023 Carnival Monday mas wear, Flag Party, and also celebrated its sixth anniversary.

Scores of people who love live brass music attended the event at Sound Forge, Mucurapo Road, Port of Spain, last Saturday. The first note was played around 11 pm by the band.

Co-founder Burt Marcellin was pleased with the band's progress and what it is doing to reshape the way masqueraders revel during the Carnival season.

"As you may know, my dad, Mano Marcellin, was the first person to put live music on the street for Carnival. He died in 2018 and since then I continued his legacy and pay tribute to him. In 2017, we brought back the live music when we played with mas band K2K (Alliance and Partners).

"Since then, we saw at least eight bands using the live band format. It's been on the streets since then," Marcellin said in an interview with Newsday.

Marcellin said the "Flag Party" mas wear theme pays tribute to Austin 'SuperBlue' Lyons.

"He was extremely happy when we presented the idea to him. We will also be launching our Stage on Fire set, which is the combination of veteran singer Ronnie McIntosh and SuperBlue, our three frontline singers and the band. The frontliners are Dilena "Diamond'" Flemming, Heaven "Snakey" Charles and newest addition, Kyle "KC" Cowie.

"We added KC. He has some grooming to do but Ronnie has personally taken him under his wing. We have a special interest in marketing him. As you know he is from the calypso world. He will flourish with us."

Marcellin said the energy level was "high all night as Brass 2 The World never gave patrons an opportunity to even think about resting."

"The frontliners sang a variety of old and new soca songs to prepare the crowd for the Stage on Fire set. When they came on, Ronnie McIntosh and SuperBlue showed that form is temporary but class is permanent.

"The veteran performers had everyone's attention for the entire set, as they sang their hits. They went into the audience to embrace their fans while giving one man the microphone to sing," Marcellin said.

The event was produced by Blow Mano Blow Mas Productions and also featured DJ Dwayne, who opened the night's entertainment. Errol Fabien MC'd the event.

Brass 2 The World would be performing at Boston Carnival in August.

Members of the band are:

Burt Marcellin – manager band leader/trombonist, Terence Sealy – manager musical director/audio technician, Gary Gervais – trumpeter, Michelle Marfan-Urquhart – tenor sax, Jamie Ghany – alto sax, Heaven Snakey Charles – vocalist, Dilena Flemming – vocalist, Kyle KC Kowie – vocalist, Mc Clair Earl Lewis – bass, Callina Morrison – guitarist, Trent Alexander – keyboardist, Kitson Primus – Appleton machine and Kevin Cooper – drummer.