After portraying “Enchanted Garden” in last year’s West Indian American Day Carnival Parade, the Brooklyn-based Branches JS 21 and Mango Tree Productions wants “A Touch of Class” is this year’s presentation.
“We like to be different,” Trinidadian-born band leader Edwin Worrell told Caribbean Life in an exclusive interview at the mas camp, at 369 East, 98th St., between Riverdale Avenue and Legion Street, in Brownsville, Brooklyn, on Monday.
“Our costumes are sexy but not scandalous,” added Worrell about the band, formerly called Branches & Associates. “And that’s what we’re giving the people (masqueraders).”
He said “A Touch of Class” comprises seven sections, with about 36 masqueraders in each section: Hibiscus, Red Ruby, Golden Child, Temptation, Innocent, A Touch of Class and Sexy.”
“We’re a low-budget band; we’re trying to cater for the people,” said Worrell, who has been producing mas in New York for the last three years.
“We love the Parkway (Eastern Parkway, a major thoroughfare in Brooklyn, where the annual Caribbean Carnival Parade is held)”, he added. “We love everything about New York.
“The public can expect fun, love – a real carnival experience,” continued Worrell, whose previous productions tied first for Band of the Year in the parade.
The first year’s production, in 2022, was “Carnival is Color”.
At that time, Worrell said: “Usually, I play for T&T Boys, but, this year, I decided to go on my own, because mas is a thing for people to enjoy themselves – to bring cheaper costumes to the masqueraders.”
“The mas today is really getting out of hand, because of the nakedness,” he said. “We’re trying our best to show that you come with a costume and feel comfortable. A lot of people don’t care. We’re coming with a difference.
“This is my passion, this is my love,” added Worrell, whose band has been participating in Trinidad and Tobago Carnival for over 25 successive years. “I’m doing it to show the culture of all the different masses in the Caribbean.
“We’re a band with a difference,” he stressed. “When you go out there (on Eastern Parkway), you look nice.”
In 2022, Worrell said Branches JS 21 and Mango Tree Productions “tied with a big, big band [Sesame Flyers].”
Allena Frazier said she and her twin sister, Alaysia Frazier, expect to have fun playing this year with Branches JS 21 and Mango Tree Productions.
“You can expect energy,” said Allena, a Brooklyn resident, whose parents hail from Guyana. “You can expect just positive vibes and celebration.
“Anything good, I’m bringing,” added Allena, who will portray “Hibiscus”.
Alaysia, who also serves as the band’s manager, said spectators can expect “fun, energy, uplifting, and culture, spice and unity.
“We’ll show up for the family unity in the carnival,” added Alaysia, who has been playing with Branches since its inception in New York.
Ashley Hall, who was born in Brooklyn to Jamaican parentage, said she will be playing with the band for the second successive year.
“I’m the whole vibe,” she said, stating that she will portray “Red Ruby”. “As me touch down, the whole place touch down – that’s me (speaking colloquially). It’s fun activities – whining, music, culture. We are culture.”
Nickola “Hot Gal Nicki” Stephens, 23, who lives in Brooklyn and was born in Maypen, Clarendon, Jamaica, said she will be debuting as a masquerader this year.
“I feel excited,” she said, stating that she will portray “Golden Child.” “I’ll be ‘wilding out’, having fun.
“I’ll be ‘skin out and pon me head top,’” added Stephens, speaking in Jamaican parlance. “Everybody knows me as ‘Hot Gal Nicki’”.
Worrell can be reached at (347) 582-7888.
