Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

 Sir David Wants You To Drive In To See His First Show In A Year   By Stephen Weir:   If you are a David Rudder fan and have missed seeing “Sir David” perform during the pandemic, honk your horn this July 31st.  And if you really want to hear some of the new material he has written over the past year or so, honk again and flash your high beams.   On Saturday July 31 st  Soca legend  David Rudder  will be performing live in Toronto for the first time since the shutdown.  He will be outdoors, on stage at the  City View Drive-In  playing for a lot filled with parked cars!  The car-only venue is back this summer since the relaxation of Covid restrictions in the city. The drive-in is located adjacent to the  Rebel Night Club  on Polson Street in the Toronto Harbour District.   Trinidad’s David Rudder is based here in the GTA and has had to quarantine along with the rest of the city.  It has been quiet for a norma...

  PARANG MUSIC HERALDS THE BOXING DAY RETURN OF JAI! By Stephen Weir:  On December 26 Jai Ojah-Maharaj ( pictured above ) will be back. His return comes just in time to bring Parang music back to the airwaves. The godfather of Soca and Parang on Toronto radio will soon be heard on CHIN radio, the station where it all began for him over 30 years ago!  His  Caribbean Connection  Saturday night show will be a huge Boxing Day present for FM listeners from Toronto to Buffalo and beyond. “ I have been talking to Lenny Lombardo (the owner of CHIN radio) on and off for quite sometime now,” said Jai yesterday. “ Things began to heat up about three weeks ago, when we learned the Saturday night  South Asian Show  was giving up its weekly time slot.  They have had that (time slot) since I left CHIN in 2011 (to join the just launched G-98.7), and of course I want it back!” “ Because of the Pandemic the community is missing the joy of Parang,” he continued. “So...

Good live Caribbean Music coming to Scarborough this month  and Ossie says that is The Truth! By Stephen Weir: Next Saturday night Ossie Gurley wants people to wear costumes to his new gig at Scarborough’s Spades Night Club, but cautions anyone dusting off   and climbing into their Caribana gear.   “Sure come in Mas, but please make sure your costume isn’t too big for the door!” Ossie Gurley and his band, The Truth, have signed up to perform the last Friday and Saturday of every month at Spades.   Their first night is next Friday, October 25 th . Saturday October 26 th is their Halloween costume party! “ There hasn’t been a regular commitment by bands in the city for a longtime,” Ossie Gurley told the Caribbean Camera.”   We are doing this to get the community out, have fun and support the culture. We will do this every month for as long as people come out!” Ossie Gurley and The Truth  has been entertaining audiences across Canada since...

Jai Ojha-Maharaj is back playing sweet Caribbean music to the World! B y Stephen Weir The Dean of Soca Music on the Toronto airwaves is back! Two weeks ago Sunday morning radio host JaiOjah-Maharaj once again got behind the microphone and started playing the sweet sounds of Soca and Calypso Music. The Caribbean Connection Radio Show with Jai is not being heard on Toronto’s CHIN radio station, his home for 30-years, but on the MyCarribeanRadio -- the Trinidadian Super Soca online radio station. “The actual show is originating out of a private studio in Toronto’s west-end” Ojah told me in a recent phone interview. “We are going to video stream at a later date, so in the short-term it will be just radio. To hear me listeners (anywhere in the world) must log on towww.mycaribbeanradio.com Sundays 10am to 2 pm beginning Sunday.” Jai Ojha-Haharaj    was the host and producer of the original Caribbean Connection Radio Show that for 30 years was th...

  Pet Marchan and Justin Trudeau talk Caribbean food TRUDEAU COMES TO CARNIVAL BOOT CAMP By Stephen Weir Last Friday Prime Minister Justin Trudeau came to Toronto to meet with Mayor John Tory at City Hall. When he finished the tete-et-tete and went out onto Nathan Phillips Square, he got 45-minutes of Carnival boot camp training that touched on all aspects of the carnival arts, from pan, to costume making to carnival food! “I met the Prime Minister of Canada this morning!” said Noel Audain, a longtime costume maker for Louis Saldenah’s Mas K Camp. “ It was exciting to show him the art of wire bending.” “ I set up a display to show the Prime Minister the fresh fruit and vegetables that are grown in the Caribbean and used in our cooking,” explained long time Carnival associate Petronilla Marchan. “ I had it all. Peppers, mangos, yam, casaba and something he had never seen before. Caribbean Tamara,” continued Ms. Marchan. “ He was very pleasant and took his time looki...