When Brass 2 the World takes the stage at North Coast Jazz which runs from May 26-28 at the Blanchisseuse Recreation Ground, two of its frontline vocalists Kyle “KC” Cowie and Amrika Mutroo would have had the guiding hands of Ronnie McIntosh and Austin “SuperBlue” Lyons behind them.
In a phone interview, McIntosh said he always wanted to do something with SuperBlue and got an opportunity to do that with the band.
He is familiar with Brass 2 the World's members who are led by musician Burt Marcellin and also knows a lot of the musicians as they came from other bands.
[caption id="attachment_1016882" align="alignnone" width="905"] Veteran singers Ronnie Mc Intosh and Austin "SuperBlue" Lyons, simultaneously spin their microphones while performing at the launch of Flag Party and Stage on Fire, at Sound Forge, Port of Spain in 2022. The event was hosted by Brass 2 The World band. - Photo by Angelo Marcelle[/caption]
The band was looking for guest artistes and he suggested himself and SuperBlue as a duo as “Ronnie and Super were basically at war during the early Soca Monarch days,” he said.
McIntosh felt it would be a nice presentation to show that he and SuperBlue were fine. They approached the band and a contract was signed which said the band could sell Ronnie and SuperBlue as part of its act.
“It took off slowly but I think in this Carnival people got a chance to see what was really happening,” McIntosh said added.
That contract was signed at the end of 2021 with the anticipation of Carnival 2022. However, there was no official Carnival 2022 and instead a hybrid event called a Taste of Carnival was held.
The band was unable to present its new product then because there weren’t a lot of gigs at that time.
Initially, Mutroo was not with the band and there was another lead female vocalist.
One night, when he visited the band room, he was introduced to Mutroo by Marcellin.
“She was just holding on for the other vocalist. Burt Marcellin asked me what I think about her and I told him, ‘She is perfect. She have the whole presentation and also has a strong Instagram following on her own.'”
McIntosh said he encouraged Marcellin to keep her. For him, KC is young, has the right presentation and dresses well.
Guiding the young vocalist is part of McIntosh’s plans to revive the strong frontlines that once existed in bands like Blue Ventures and Chandelier.
Both him and SuperBlue sit and speak with the young artistes giving them history and pointers, he added.
“One of the things we are working on right now is sourcing new music for them for Carnival 2024.” McIntosh said.
Discussions were taking place with songwriters like Mical Teja and Jason “Shaft” Bishop, he said.
“There are a lot of bands out there but they do not have the frontline that the bands used to have back in the day. Back in the day there was a frontline, there were two males and a female.
“Those frontliners were able to stand on their own. Taking into consideration, back in the day, a frontliner could have been a good performer
