Originally from Dominica, Wayne Benoit of the Phases Band has hinted that with his Dominican musical sensibilities mixed with St. Lucian and other musical expressions, Phases will be coming up with its own musical twists. As prove, two weeks ago, in celebration of Jounen Kweyol 2018, the artist released a remake of Tiwè Lanmen An Kwi Pwèt-la, a classic and humorous St. Lucian folk song that has withstood the test of time.
The artist has now followed Tiwè Lanmen An Kwi Pwèt-la, with two other releases—Salsa Beat, and Bouyon, in continued celebration of this year’s Jounen Kweyol festivities.
Salsa Beat is a fusion of Latin music with soca and cadence; and Bouyon is a Bouyon track, and as such a quintessential Dominican music, which, as the name implies, is a mishmash of various musical strains.
Wayne Benoit is Phases bandleader, lead guitarist, and one of the band’s three lead vocalists. A veteran musician, Wayne has been performing with bands since his late teens. He has performed with South Tent, Midnight Groovers, and First Serenade with whom he toured the UK and the Virgin Islands.
Based in Vieux Fort and managed by Jako Productions, Phases is a five-piece band with three lead singers (all of whom play instruments) that plays most genres of popular music including reggae, soca, zouk, cadence, R&B, POP, and Jazz.
Besides performing at hotels, the band has performed at such events as Creative Industries Micoud Bon Tan, Assou Square Concerts in Vieux Fort and Castries, St. Lucia Independence Day Celebrations, Friday Night Gros Islet, Jazz a La Chaudiere, and Jazz Finale.
Phases previous releases included We Like It (groovy soca), and Praise Jah (reggae). The band is on schedule to release a 12 to 15 track album early 2019, which will include soca, reggae, R&B, Latin, folk, bouyon, and zouk, thus reflecting the band’s eclectic repertoire and musical orientation. All the music is being recorded at Jako Studios and engineered by Marlon Florent.
Below are youtube links to Phases’ studio recorded music and to the band’s live performances of most of its releases.
Releases in Celebration of Jounen Kweyol 2018
Live Performances of Salsa Beat and Previous Releases