Dave Martins

I was in Barbados performing some time ago and a young lady interviewed me and asked about my approach to music and to song-writing and arranging and so on.

In the midst of the daily complaints in the media about this problem and that, it’s a relief to sometimes see the bright spots.

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell fired a powerful salvo last week at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in the course of his Frank Worrell Lecture at the UWI Cave Hill Campus in Barbados. 

From time to time in our local press, we are reminded of the rich diverse strains that make up what we refer to as Guyanese culture, and in most of those reminders we are asked to rightly reflect on the fact that right alongside that attractive span we see the disturbing signs of ethnic division among our people. 

Here’s a coincidence: in 2016, as Guyana reaches 50 years as an independent country, the Tradewinds band is also 50 years old. 

It’s the middle of the day on Alexander Street in Kitty; as I’m walking across the road a voice calls out from one of the parked cards I’ve just passed; “Dave.” 

It happens sometimes that a singular occurrence, or a passage in something one reads, can open your mind to something that passed unnoticed before and you suddenly recognize multiple examples replicating that first light coming on. 

Sometimes a pleasant surprise lands on your doorstep regarding someone else’s doings that connects strongly with you as it triggers memories in your own life or your own search.

Figuring out situations in life is often akin to watching a huge fire producing mountains of billowing smoke; you have to wait until the flames die down and, particularly, until the smoke blows away before you can get a clear picture of whatever destruction took place. 

As opposed to just 20 years ago, news media these days is a hotbed of startling stories, bandied about almost simultaneously by the array of modern communication equipment operating in the media business but also readily available to private hands.

We speak about one nation in Guyana – we refer to it that way in our motto and some of us quote the motto as proof of our oneness. 

We speak about one nation in Guyana; we refer to it that way in our motto and some of us quote the motto as proof of our oneness. 

A long-time friend of mine, Tradewinds drummer Clive Rosteing, sent me an email this week concerning a news story about the American NFL star Cam Newton who had recently sent a very warm congratulatory note to retiring quarterback star Peyton Manning, publicly praising Peyton lavishly, and citing him as a role model for aspiring athletes. 

For devoted sports watchers like me, it is often fascinating to see an athlete possessed with some singular ability in one area of his/her game that is so striking that it sets that individual apart; it puts him/her above the crowd.

Since living in Guyana again I have seen first-hand the need for us to hold up our own achievers, to shout about them, not only for the praise that is due but, more pivotally, for the powerful information about our worth that is passed on to the new Guyanese wending their way, here and abroad.

A friend of mine was away in the South Rupununi for a couple weeks, doing some work and checking on some family, and was telling me about his travels – he was all over the map.

Following some recent local shows featuring popular imported artistes, we’re hearing some clamour again from the adult crowd complaining about the decline in popular music.

I’m a notes guy, and not only for songs. I keep little jottings about things I notice or read, conversations I overhear, comical signs on car windows, etc.

With Valentine’s Day in the air and personal relationships under the microscope, it’s appropriate to note (as my Bajan columnist friend Vic Fernandes did recently) that if you see no difference between the male and the female brain, either you haven’t spent much time around women or you haven’t been paying attention.

That’s right, 50 years ago or now: when would you rather be living?