Given that I am known as someone creating music for a Caribbean audience, I am often asked by interviewers, or the general public, what kind of music I listen to. While I have an interest in a wide range of music, including Israeli and African folk, what I listen to most of the time would include classical music (the generally popular fare), Caribbean music (calypso, soca, zook) and mainstream American pop, including crossover country, but not conventional country-and-western. While there is quite a span involved, I have a particular love for the treasure trove of Trinidad music (a very early influence on me) with its songs about cultural life and the marvellous inventions of Trini humour; it is an unusual aspect of a popular music and I guess its appeal to me, with its indication of more than music, is a reflection of the kind of person I am beyond music.
That said, there is a wide span of music that draws me. Sometimes, it’s the lyric; sometimes the melody; sometimes the orchestral arrangement; sometimes the vocal work; but I am often also captivated by the drum patterns, or tracks, these days, and, particularly, by what the bass player is doing. Bass, for some reason, is a very important aspect for me when I’m evaluating a recording or a band playing live; I zero in on the bass.
