On Kloud 9! . . . Young talent rocks Combermere School hall

It was four entertaining, exciting and enthralling hours. And a random survey carried out among the large crowd gathered at the Major Noot Hall, Combermere School would confirm that.

The annual event was a showcase of talented teens whose age range is 15 to 19. A total of 20 young people graced the stage throughout the night and impressed the lively crowd with their skills. There was music inclusive of instruments such as violin, steel pan and well-pitched vocals. The headline act, Kloud 9, consisted of students or past students of either Combermere or the Barbados Community College.

The event, Kloud 9 – Journey from Classics to Calypso, was staged by some young talented artistes. Kloud 9 members are Kofi and Kymani Gilkes (saxophone), Kemal Brathwaite (bass guitar), Nicholas Roach (drums) and David Scott (keyboard). Kloud 9 was ably accompanied by back-up vocalists Shekara Straker, Dawn-Mari Springer, Tristan Haynes on guitar, Mckele Dottin in trombone and Tyreed Greenidge on trumpet.

Kloud 9 lead men, Kofi and Kymani, literally blew the crowd away with their skills on the saxophone. The group performed a pot-pourri of music. They did songs such as Bless the Lord, Total Praise, Senorita and Here and Now along with a back-in-time medley which included: Shirley Stewart’s Walk Away From Love, Rick James’ Give It To Me Baby, Michael Jackson’s Rock With You and Bee Gees’ How Deep Is Your Love. A 21st Century medley saw the band performing tunes like Jah Cure’s That Girl and Bruno Mars’ Please Me among others. The band also brought it home and did some spouge numbers as well as Grynner’s Leggo I Hand, RPB’s Spontaneous and Gabby’s Bridgetown. They ended the night with Stevie Wonder’s Master Blaster and Whitney Houston’s Ain’t Nobody.

Throughout the night, the band had accompanied other young, talented artistes. Eighteen-year-old Chante White was excellent on the violin as she played If Only For One Night. Singers Drayann Cadogan-Regan and Ashe Augustine were good, too. Drayann sang Set Fire To The Rain while Ashe performed I Can. It was during that song that guitarist Tristan showed off his skills. Pannist Judah Goddard was also accompanied by the band when he performed his original piece.

The other band on stage was the Combermere-based C6 band. Kloud 9’s Kymani is part of that band as well. C6 is made up of six musicians: Macario Maynard (drums), Ajani Browne (keyboard), Theirry Hyland (bass), Daniel Harvey (alto sax) and Kymani Gilkes (alto sax). Missing Saturday night was Ashily Grant, who plays trombone. The band did a lively medley of songs.

The night was not about entertainment alone. A special token of appreciation was given to Marilyn Smith. There were also plenty of giveaways throughout the night. Host Belle Holder did a wonderful job in keeping the crowd active and engaged. Much to their delight, the crowd was even treated to a dance routine by Holder. (IMC)