World Creole Music Festival Sunday: Kai, Midnight Groovers, Gramps Morgan and Friends, Signal Band, Fanny J, and the Soca All-Stars

The Festival came to a close on Sunday night, with a lineup featuring a few of our favorite artists, foremost among them was the Midnight Groovers. To legions of expectant fans, the historical significance of the Midnight Groovers performance at this year’s WCMF was not lost. Poppa Chubby is a veritable living legend on island; the band’s musical legacy represents the golden era of Cadence-Lypso and the band is still active today, over half a century later!

Earlier in the week we met with Poppa Chubby for an interview at Fort Young Hotel in Roseau. He hinted at a special music set that he was curating. In addition to the important social conscience messaging for which Midnight Groovers is famous for, they would add some dancers and an ode to Carnival to add a festive and more carefree dimension to the concert.

From the opening notes, the band captivated, Chubby calling out with bouyant and melodic vocals and the audience responded without prompting.

At the core of the the Cadence-Lypso of the Midnight Groovers are the cascading rhythmic guitar melodies by founding guitarist and Chubby’s brother, Marcel, matched with the syncopated cowbell playing. As Chubby explained: “to make the Cadence sound, you need the cowbell, you use the shiake (Tamborine) and you use the metal triangle (to the syncopated rhythm). That is the essence, using those things… and the rest is the drums. A lot of my songs are traditional songs. We record traditional songs with my rhythms.” The video below captures the band performing one of their classic songs.

The band was an all-star line up performing over a dozen classic songs from Midnight Groovers’ repertoire. They performed hit songs including “Talon Haut,” “Anita,” “La Paix Nou Lay,” “Jeunes Gens” and “Coco Sec,” along with a half dozen other songs. In addition to regular band members, tonight’s group also included some local musical luminaries including Michelle Henderson on backing vocals. We had commented to Chubby earlier about how, from the opening notes, one can tell immediately if a song is by the Midnight Groovers. It just has that special sound that is instantly recognizable.

The finale revelry included the Sakis Lapo Kabwit band from Grand Bay and carnival characters joining the band and dancers Cherise Linton, Donnella Riviere, and Hagana Dorival (who also appear in the videos in creole outfits)

“The cowbell is the mark of cadence music, without the cowbell, it’s not there. we started the cowbell in Guadeloupe, in the 70s” Chubby said “There were 17 bands in Guadeloupe from Dominica when we started in the 70s but they didn’t have any (sound) we used to play cadence music. Exile One was the one who started it. They went and they did an album and they called it Cadence-Lypso, So they tied Calypso music, and the Bele music from here and other things and made it  a sound and from that all the bands followed.

We are the ‘Kings of Cadence’ but we didn’t give our self the name, it came from the producer (Henry Debs) at Debs Studio, he recorded all the bands in Dominica. He called me in the recording room and said in Creole “Chubby you are one of the best singers in all the groups from Dominica, I am going to give you a name, Kings of Cadence.”

Midnight Groovers still perform at music festivals and at traditional events such as Fete Isidore each May in Grand Bay. “Our village in Grand Bay - workers on the estate, they have their uniforms, people do mass, and after that they have their bands, steel bands playing. That is in May, every May” with traditional music being formed throughout the local village festival. Chubby recommended that this event, in addition to WCMF, was a great way to appreciate traditional and roots music in Dominica.

Since we last spoke, in 2018, Poppa Chubby travelled  to Paris to make a compilation taken from his original reggae albums. The good news is now while finding good quality original albums is near impossible and extremely expensive, a new generation of listeners can now hear the music at Apple Music, YouTube, and other online streaming locations. In addition, he told us of plans to record new music he has been writing in a studio in England in the coming year.

Kai made their WCMF debut in 2018 as one of the offshoots of the legendary Haitian Konpa band Carimi and has been producing exciting albums and hits for the past several years. Carimi was a favorite of Dominican audiences and Kai takes many of the elements that worked so well with the music but adds additional lush vocal chorus and more pop aspects. The sound is a slightly lighter but very enticing brand of Konpa which still emphasizes the keyboard arrangements over the guitar arrangements.

Although Kai had the opening performance on Sunday evening, Richard Cavé and his band gave it their all, putting 110% into the performance such that by the end of the performance. It was an odd placement for such a hit band and audience mover and shaker, but but the end of their set many within Roseau had entered the stadium having heard the opening notes of this star band.  Kai performed a half dozen extended versions of his his songs including solo work from Kai Band and additionally Carimi hits such as “Ayiti (Bang Bang)”

Richard Cavé, a superb keyboardist, often works complex keyboard arrangements into his songs. However, he continues a trend we are noticing where superb musicians from the Haitian music scene have shed their instruments to be band leaders. In Carimi, Richard was the lead keyboardist and often joined his bandmates on stage with a Keytar (portable keyboard shaped like a guitar). Cavé now shines as a bandleader, interacting on a very personal level with audience members throughout the set creating a warm festive atmosphere. Similarly, T-Vice lead Roberto Martini (also performing one Friday night at WCMF) has shed his lead guitar to front the band in recent years. 

The crowd knew every word of the Kai songs, and was enthralled with the Carimi highlights that were performed. It was evident the love for Carimi band is still strong on island years later. (The band is planning a reunion concert on Long Island New York later this year)

Richard a founding member of Carimi in 2001 has an illustrious career in the Haitian music industry. Carimi fused soul and R&B into Konpa along with pop elements.Their repeated visits to Dominica over the years resulted in a large fan base and additionally they have influenced local Dominica acts including Ecstasy Band.

Gramps Morgan set, billed as Gramps Morgan and Friends, was an opportunity for him to welcome others into the spotlight as well as introduce new creative directions he has been exploring since we last saw him with Morgan Heritage. 

The music from the album "Positve Vibrations" and the recently released 6 song EP "Deeper" introduced unexpected  new twists to the classic reggae sound, to a broader tropical vibe, perhaps tipping listeners that music can defy expectations and still be unmistakably Jamaican. Its all "Positive Vibration"  but not just reggae, Country, R&B, gospel shone on stage along the reggae music. “Its All About Love” blended country guitar likes with the classic Reggae beat over which he he sings in his big voice, as iconic as the Brooklyn Bridge, “Its all about Love, Its all about leaning on each other through the hardest times”

So while listening to his performance we did not hear gospel music but did feel the church, nor country music but felt its rural connection. Its a gift to be able to connect cultures and Gramps has it in abundance with positive vibrations being the common ground. Gramps Morgan relocated to the Nashville area several years ago where he collaborated with new friends he met there. Two, Claude Kelly (vocals) and Chuck Harmony (keyboards) of the duo Louis York, joined him on stage where they did "Have a Little Light"

Lyrics from “Have a Little Light”

“The one way to feel real good 
You won’t find it in no book
But here is the best advice I know yeah
Love hard with no regrets 
And watch how the fire spreads
We can make this whole place glow”

- Louis York/Gramps Morgan

Luciano also performed some of his classics.

VP recording artist Duane Stephenson was one of the friends joining Gramps Morgan on stage.

Signal Band, led by Shelley Alfred, is one of Dominica's more prolific groups. The music on ‘The Electric Room’ their 2024 album is full of gorgeous pop hooks laid over Bouyon beats, dubbed Bouyon Love, including "Yes Baby" which kicked off the set. An audience participation number was dedicated to those who passed on over the past year including Ferdina Frampton, who as a journalist Shelley said "Gave musicians starting out a chance" on it Shelley urged the crowd to "Put up your lights and wave for the angels in the sky".

It was a touching moment and quite different from the Carnival anthems Signal band brings leading Dominica's largest jouvert costume band. Over the course of the set the band introduced appearances by some of the vocalists they collaborate with, Trilla G (2023 Calypso King)  Bouyon Queen Carlyn XP ( FaNaTiK, Mizik a Nou) and vocalist Nice did his bouyon hit "Situationship"

After the performance Shelley and Trilla G spoke to reporters. Congratulated on the band’s recent successes, they were asked about their rise from the food court stage to the main stage and they said simply how they got where they are was a testament to hard work and staying true to who Signal was. Trilla G said: “We could have moved away from what we stand for for many reasons there was quicker paths to success than to the one we chose, but we stayed on our path and we knew we would get there.” As a teenager Shelley Alfred won the Junior Callypso contest three times performing as De Professor”. Trilla G won the 2023 Calypso King crown. Their music is called Bouyon Love Shelley said but “Calypso is rooted in us, it comes out in our music and storytelling and its something we are proud of too.”

Fanny J's set mixed a slow and mid tempo zouk love songs with smoldering R&B numbers. The French Guianan singer had the audience swaying, a very different energy than most of the artists. Fanny has a seductive voice that creates a unique vibe. She is the most popular voice in the ‘Zouk Love’ genre which is at the opposite end of the spectrum form the high energy ‘Zouk’ of Kassav. Her audience connects with the lyrics which are sung in French and connects with listeners paricularly in Martinique, Guadeloupe, Reunion and France.

The Farmacy, built by Ron Mellow, the Pond Casse road to Emerald Pool, Castle Bruce, and La Plaine, also called the east interior highway. Ron rebuilt it by hand after the total destruction of Hurricane Maria paralyzed Dominica in 2017. Daily fresh fruit, roast coffee, roast breadfruit, smoked Agouti, bamboo straws and gourd bowls can be found at The Farmacy. Everything is local, gathered or grown in the area. Ron also introduced us to Poppa Chubby and reggae artist AbiYah Yisrael who recorded a music video for “HerbTree” on location there. The property includes a small guest cottage overlooking a stream for travelers who like natural surroundings. Instagram Contact: nonoialie / Facebook: Ron Farmacy