Soca star Tony Prescott strikes a pose. Photo: Aba Luke

BY ABA LUKE

T&T’s Carnival halted at midnight on February 5 but the task of promoting the culture and the music of the island remained a key focus for Tony Prescott and his band, Surface. On the heels of Carnival 2K8’s departure, Tony and the band were bound for dancehall capital, Jamaica. They’d been invited to perform at the kick-off to Jamaica’s carnival celebrations on February 8, offering stage performances that would certainly prove to have never before experienced in the history of Jamaica’s carnival.

Having enjoyed a vibrantly successful season with two master tracks that received tremendous airplay and undying support from fans both locally and internationally, Tony P set off on a mission to show Jamaica just what it means to wuk up, and even wine down low.

The embrace was phenomenal as the crowd gathered at the Jamaica Bacchanal mas camp in New Kingston, chanted along to the chorus, much like the experience at the International Groovy Monarch Competition held in Trinidad the week before. Tony had done damage at the Queen’s Park Oval on final night alongside Luther out of St Vincent, who accompanied him in his rendition of his 2008 party favourite, Hey.

Scheduled to return to Jamaica, and hopeful that Grenada will be similarly receptive when he visits in April, Tony Prescott is flying high and looking toward the stars, in anticipation of the continued embrace of not only T&T but the rest of the region and the greater world.