A Night of Enlightenment at CMCArts

When you blend together three creative geniuses: Lisa Mordhorst from CMCArts. Glen Alan from Daz N Dem, and Zunnania from Art Party STX, and then mix in a little  Bam! like the great songstress Baz, who has  a voice that could very well have been sent down from jazz heaven, and then spice that all up with a band that cooks like there’s no tomorrow, you wind up with a winning recipe that makes for a night of unforgettable enlightenment. All of which is tastefully presented at the ever-popular Dr. Simone L. Palmer Concert Series, set under the stars and the courtyard tent of CMCArts in Frederiksted. 

The formula here is quite simple, turn the world of art upside down by slapping it on the upside of its head and thereby creating a new art form that could possibly be called “Magical Art & Music Realism.” 

Here’s what was shakin’ the night away on and about the CMCArts courtyard stage: Zunnania, put together the concept “Just Paint Vol. 3” that called for the audience to partake in painting freestyle on two huge canvases while Baz N Dem were performing on stage. 

Call it wild. Call it crazy, Call it sheer genius! Because it cooks like the finest of stews. It simmers at first with members of the audience being called up, according to their pre-selected color codes, to paint whatever comes into their minds on these two twelve-foot tall canvases. And now if you can picture the entire scene, Baz N Dem are up on stage groovin’ to these great jazz numbers, and off to the side are people painting these huge freestyle murals. And then the whole concoction starts to sizzle as Baz is calling out the color codes before each of her songs, and then Baz and this great band start tearing up the place with their fab jazz tunes.

And what a band! Chanel Jay (Baz) on the vocals, Glen Alan, the mastermind who put together this extraordinary band, on Upright & Electric Bass, Vernon Douglas playing hot hands on the drums. Wynt-Lee Ambrose on a dyn-o-mite guitar, Shomauri Gumbs who blows the crowd away on the Trombone, Nayeli O’Shaughnessy ticklin’ the Keys, Kevin Williams Jr. with a Steel Pan that is unforgettable, and She’coy Jones  blowing the sweet Saxophone.

And somehow, this wonderful melding of music and arts comes together in a magical way. The objects and figures that are drawn by the audience seem to float off the canvas, seemingly being swept away by the music. The sounds of Baz N Dem ringing in the ears of the artists as they express themselves in a ‘joie de vivre’ kind of way. 

When Baz does her version of Sade’s “Is it a Crime” the night kicks into high gear, as this talented songstress displays the ease of the greats on stage, a command of the genre of jazz that spins her to the heights of performance. 

And there’s Glen Alan, playing his Bass, smiling over his creation, like the great Charles Mingus, who espoused collective improvisation, and spawned little-known talents that went on to triumphant careers.     

Yes, it was a night of enlightenment, A night of creative enlightenment by a group of people who care about their craft, who care about taking their audience to new and exciting places where the mind can wander,  and moving the creative needle out past the courtyard and wonderful gallery space of CMCArts, across the Caribbean Sea as the sun sets in over the horizon, up towards the stars of discovery and creativity, to a place where St. Croix’s future in the arts should be highly visible for all to follow and expand upon.