Kevin Sobers and I formed Moyenne in 1998. Together with Junior Noel we made it our pace to make and play music. A connected collective of musicians played with us over the score and more which has functioned primarily as a trio, quartet and sometimes quintet: Douglas Redon, Darren Sheppard, Kyle Noel, Joshema McIntosh, Jason Baptiste, Sean Thomas, Moses Auguste, Tamba Gwindi, Duvone Stewart, Felix Ruiz and Curtis Ruiz all stepped in at one time or another in the small combo. The opportunity to create and perform as a larger ensemble was first taken on in 2012 when we entered the Trinidad and Tobago Steelpan and Jazz Festival Pan Challenge. We entered and placed 3rd.
In 2013 Moyenne won the Trinidad and Tobago Steelpan and Jazz Festival Pan Challenge. A win that we remind people of from time to time to indicate the quality of my arrangements and position them, and Moyenne’s larger ensemble sound, as a leading voice in the creation and performance of kaiso music. The 2013 win saw Moyenne triumph over the likes of Desperadoes and Carlton Zanda, Duvonne Stewart and Sound Specialists, Codrington Pan Family, Exodus and Pelham Goddard while our resident drummer, my brother, Darren Sheppard also led his band Fusion Steel to the top five in the same competition, and, our bassist, Douglas Redon played for Exodus. This is significant for us as we enter into the realm of creating and performing as the Chantal Esdelle and Moyenne Kaiso Ensemble.
Our win almost went unnoticed. We get to toot our own horn and say that it was a phenomenal performance. You now get to experience it and more kaiso ensemble work from Moyenne: The Steelpan and Jazz recording featuring pannists, Glenford Kevin Sobers, Joshema McIntosh, Nigel Supersad, Kadeem Sobers and instrumentalists (who are also pannists) Chantal Esdelle, Douglas Redon, Junior Noel and Darren Sheppard will be included on Moyenne’s newest recording project, “For the Love of Kaiso”.
We invite you to join our journey via our posts, behind the scenes videos and podcasts, all on our website. www.chantalesdelleandmoyenne.com
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