Lovers of traditional Christmas music are in for a treat on December 18 and 19 when We Three Strings: The Concert showcases at the Little Carib Theatre in Woodbrook.
Featuring Relator on guitar, violinist Stanley Roach and Robert Munro on cuatro in two nights packed with memorable Yuletide melodies, the concert aims to re-focus attention on much of the music we seem to have forgotten over time.
After collaborating with the artistes, the producers selected a set list comprising Christmas music only. Patrons can look forward to being entertained through several genres and performance styles ranging from classical to carols, calypso, Latin and parang.
Widely regarded as the consummate showman, Relator (Willard Harris) won the National Calypso Monarch competition in 1980, performing Food Prices and Take a Rest. While many believed that he would enjoy a successful future in the competitive arena, he chose to opt out, preferring instead to market himself as a calypso entertainer.
That decision led to the production titled Nostalgia—his ground-breaking cabaret-styled one-man show. Staged in the early eighties, Nostalgia launched Relator both at home and abroad as a gifted guitarist and impersonator extraordinaire.
Since then, the singer/song-writer’s performance sets often include vocal imitations of singers such as the late Dean Martin, Louis Armstrong and a slew of calypsonians like Terror and Lord Christo.
Over the years Relator has composed and recorded seasonal favourites such as Bottle and Spoon, Let’s Be Friends, Christmas is yours, Christmas on Sesame Street and Sip and Chat.
In recent times the entertainer has been touring extensively with US-based pannist and arranger Andy Narrell. Violinist Stanley Roach, known to many as the “City-gate Fiddler,” is a familiar busker at the down town transport hub.
An accomplished musician, he has performed at every major concert hall and hotel locally. Hailing from a family of musicians, he credits his father for having taught him the instrument. Roach hastens to add that while he was not the best technically, the senior Roach schooled him in the philosophy behind playing music—lessons the then student regarded as priceless. With a deep love for classical music Roach went on to improve upon his skills on the violin and was heavily influenced by Jascha Heifetz, a Lithuanian who was considered by many to be among the greatest violinists of the 20th century. Through listening to Heifetz’ recorded works, Roach eventually developed his own style and technique – skills which he has used to impress audiences ever since.
Robert Munro’s amazing talent on the cuatro has mesmerised music lovers in New York, Sweden, Barbados, Mexico, Venezuela and right here in Trinidad and Tobago. Seldom are audiences exposed to the cuatro being played as a lead instrument, as many choose instead to strum.
However, Munro, who is largely self-taught, developed his unique style after first practicing on a makeshift instrument fashioned out of plywood, four strings and shoemaker tacks. After receiving his first real cuatro some 60 years ago, he has since performed on the music circuit at jazz festivals, corporate events and many times for visiting officials from abroad. One of Munro’s signature pieces remains Lord Kitchener’s Bees Melody on which he somehow manages to re-create the buzzing of the insect using the strings, the fret board and the sheer dexterity of wrist and fingers.
Come December 18 and 19, these three music masters in their own right will be joined by keyboardist Orville Roach and Richard Joseph on drums for a concert already touted as being long overdue. We Three Strings promises to rekindle that familiar magical spirit of Christmas through traditional music known and loved the world over.
Tickets cost $200 and are available at Crosby’s, St James; Kanhai Raghubir Jewellers, Eastern Main Road, Curepe; and, Trincity Mall, Trincity. Showtime is 8 pm. For more, call 282-2761 or check out the Facebook page: We Three Strings: The Concert.
