Virgin Islands musician Marsvyn David produced and arranged “A Quelbe Flavored Christmas.” His mosaic album combines jazz and pop with a different sound that celebrates the culture of quelbe. It develops the type of music that quelbe does not usually do and is performed by four generations of local artists. This timeless recording can be appreciated long after the holidays are gone.
St. Thomian by birth and Crucian by choice, David grew up listening to quelbe, aka scratch band, during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays with his grandfather, uncle, and family all gathered on the porch. “I remember the sounds of the banjo, the conga drum, the squash and the triangle.”
“Quelbe has been declared the official music of the Virgin Islands made popular by Stanley and the Ten Sleepless Knights [TSK], Dimitri ‘Pikey’ Copemann and Wayne ‘Bully’ Petersen.”
David’s album offers a mosaic of music flavored with quelbe that gives the listener the promise of Christmas.
“A Christmas Medley” came about through the genius of David’s many years as a musician, producer and arranger — and was inspired by a children’s performance in Germany.
“When we performed the Christmas concert in Germany, a children’s choir sang an unbelievable rendition of ‘Chorus of the Bells.’ I had always loved how that song came together, and I thought I would combine it with other European favorites and couple it with our quelbe rhythm. It also gave me a chance to do a choral arrangement, which is rare for me.”
“A Christmas Medley” has become a favorite of David’s. He was told it was playing in Denmark on some area radio stations over the holidays.
“A Christmas Medley”
[Chorus of the Bells – Mykola Leontovych and Peter J. Wilhousky]; [What Child is This – William Chatterton Dix]; [God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen – Traditional].
Vocal Choir
Raydiance Wise, Claudette “Adjoa” Hines, Seanise Jeffers, Emogen “Blakness” Creese, Kevis George, and Jahmani Johnson.
Musicians
Dimitri “Pikey” Copemann-tenor sax; Elvis Pedro-banjo; Loren Hughes-piano; Marsvyn David-bass, congas (electronic); Jamichael Frazier-flute; Jolann James-drums; Wayne Clarke-guiro, steel.
The nontraditional “Peace” was written by the late jazz pianist Horace Silver with lyrics by Doug Cahn. David remembers it as an anti-war song during the height of the Vietnam War and that Silver wrote it for peace as in a meditation.
The three young musicians who inspired David’s arrangement of “Peace” are vocalist Jahmani Johnson, David’s son Dwayne David, who wrote the rap, and rapper Aaron “Pryor” Lang Jr., the nephew of David’s wife Florine.
“Peace” is the combination of quelbe, jazz and hip-hop all in one song. It’s important that we not only go back to our roots, but we must also go forward to incorporate the young people with their young styles.”
Musicians
Jahmani Johnson-vocals; Aaron “Pryor” Lang Jr.-rap (written by Dwayne David); Elvis Pedro-guitar; Loren Hughes-piano; Don Moors-vibraphone; Malik Maillard-drums; Wayne Clarke-guiro, steel; Eddie Russell’s flugelhorn solo played by Frank Grillo; Marsvyn David-bass, synths, congas (electronic).
“A Child is Born” is another nontraditional song written by the late jazz trumpeter and composer Thad Jones with lyrics by Alec Wilder. Legend tells the story that Jones wrote it for the birth of his daughter. The song finds its way on Christmas playlists as it relates to the meaning of Christmas, the birth of the baby Jesus. Claudette “Adjoa” Hinds is the vocalist on the album. The tune is a quelbe with a jazz flavor, played by Owen Levine on piano. “Every song has its story,” David said.
Musicians
Claudette “Adjoa” Hines-vocals; Elvis Pedro-guitar; Owen Levine-piano; Eddie Russell-flugelhorn; Marsvyn David-bass, synths, congas (electronic); Jolann James-drums; Wayne Clarke-guiro, steel.
When bassist David was in Denmark performing with vocalist Emogen “Blakness” Creese, pianist Loren Hughes and drummer Toby Derima, the musicians were invited to Hamburg, Germany, to perform at St. Michael’s Cathedral. “We can’t ‘out-classical’ them in Europe,” David said with a chuckle.
“We have to represent our culture. The best way to represent our culture is to do what they’re familiar with so they can appreciate the change. If they don’t know it, they won’t know whether there has been a change or not.”
“Ave Maria” by composer Franz Schubert is one of his most notable works. “We performed it as one of our cross-cultural offerings. Our vocalist, Emogen “Blakness” Creese, sang it classically for the first time with Loren Hughes on piano. The second time, we did a slow quelbe and everyone in the audience went wild. They had never heard it that way. So, we decided to record the quelbe version.”
Musicians
Emogen “Blakness” Creese, vocals; Loren Hughes: piano and sax; Elvis Pedro, guitar; Marsvyn David, bass, synths, congas, (electronic); Toby Derima, drums; Wayne Clarke, guiro, steel.
Marsvyn David’s Mosaic: A Quelbe Flavored Christmas is an album of timeless musical classics featuring the official music of the Virgin Islands. It’s unique fusion of quelbe, pop, and jazz is performed by musicians and vocalists Dimitri “Pikey” Copemann, Elvis Pedro, Kevis George, Seanise Jeffers, Tony Romano, Kevin Rames, Jahmani Johnson, Aaron “Pryor” Lang jr., Emogen “Blakness” Creese, Raydiance Wise, Claudette “Adjoa” Hines, and musical director, producer and arranger Marsvyn David.
A Quelbe Flavored Christmas is available for streaming on all digital platforms and for purchase at Riddim’s Music in Christiansted, CMCARTS in Frederiksted, and the Music Shop in Havensight Mall on St. Thomas.
Visit marsvyndavidsmosaic.hearnow.com to download your online copy.
For more information or to purchase:
Marsvyn David: 340-690-5821
