The showgoers sat through it. Almost five hours. And they seemed to love every minute.
The “it” was UPLIFT 2026: A Caribbean Musical Fusion billed as “an unforgettable evening of pure musical brilliance by Nicholas Brancker Band and an allstar lineup of friends” on the lawns of the Prime Minister’s official residence Ilaro Court on Sunday evening.
The guys scored big with the large audience. The music – both vocals and instrumentation – transmitted via the genres of reggae, spouge, calypso, rhythm and blues, gospel, inspirational and jazz was a feast for the ears.
Organisers got it right when they summed up the production as one of Sunday rhythms, sweet melodies and soulful grooves.
UPLIFT was more than an evening out. It was a feel good moment to tap your feet, clap your hands or move your waist. It sent a message of renewal of a better world conveyed through positive musical notes.
It was also an opportunity for breaking news coming straight from the lips of band leader and bassist Brancker.
“We did a song last year that we call Sugarcane. That is a spouge tune. It’s an instrumental tune. Two things that people don’t seem to want to hear. And it will be internationally released in about a month’s time. It also will be part of a Netflix series that is to be released a year after. So whoever said that spouge is dead, listen to this here,” said Brancker to applause from the audience and then the opening strains of Kevyn Lynch (trumpet), Jomo Slusher (trombone) and Romaro Greaves (saxaphone).
That Barbados is just 166 square miles and a smile wide and possessing so many talented musicians and singers takes one’s breath away.
These included singers Israel J. Allen, Allison Norville, Edwin Yearwood, Ch’an, Alix Cage, Nikita, Biggie Irie, Adrian Clarke and The Most Honourable Stedson Red Plastic Bag Wiltshire, the St Leonard’s Boys Steel Orchestra, Chrystal Cummins Beckles-Holder and the Barbados Police Service Band to boot. All were on stage Sunday.
Vocal tributes were also paid to Caribbean icons, the Norville, late reggae singer Jimmy Cliff and calypsonian Black Stalin along with American legend Stevie Wonder for his poignant lyrics. “We need to make sure that we do not let their [Cliff and Stalin] music die with them because some of the music that they have made has been integral in developing the sense of self that we have as people,” Brancker said, while praising the work of the back vocalists.
“All music needs its space, but we need to make sure that we keep highlighting positive music that makes people feel good about themselves. I can’t help but think that that song [ Wonderful World, Beautiful People] could have been written today and it would be just as powerful and just as meaningful when we think about the nonsense that is going on in the world and the kind of egos that are flying around and the kind of casualness with which we treat human life.”
Brancker hoped “the narrative of the show is being honoured by what we are doing tonight.
“I hope that when you wake up tomorrow morning, you will feel connected to a whole bunch of people who you were with last night, and you can face the world with a little bit more strength, a little bit more faith in yourself, a little bit more faith in the other people around you,” added a philosophical Brancker as the curtain came down on the musical outing which was laden with virtuoso performances, both at the individual and orchestral levels. (John Sealy)
