The newly-formed, Brooklyn-based D Magma Band is already making waves and producing high quality musical entertainment in New York City.
“The bands primary mission is to deliver high quality musical entertainment here in the Diaspora by fusing our Caribbean music styles with other international genres, thus developing a product which can be more appealing to a wider audience,” said Adrain Bailey, the band’s Vincentian-born co-founder and ace musical arranger, in an exclusive Caribbean Life interview on Sunday.
Bailey said D Magma Band has performed less than 10 times since its inception and is “already creating a buzz here in the Diaspora and on social media.
“Our mission is to take our brand and style of music to all social strata, thus rekindling pride and classiness to our Caribbean music,” he said.
Bailey said the band’s recent performance at the Ragga Soca Fest in Brooklyn was “phenomenal,” featuring two of St. Vincent and the Grenadines’ outstanding artists, Poorsah and Hance, “who performed alongside Magma in an excellent showcase of creativity and talent, as we celebrated with pride the 44th Anniversary of Independence” of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Then, on Sunday Oct. 29, at the Gala St. Vincent and the Grenadines Independence Anniversary Ball, at Russo’s on the Bay, in Howard Beach, Queens, D Magma band “again stunned the audience with a classy performance that highlighted a significant portion of Vincentian hits that had the audience dancing and screaming in jubilation from the moment they started the dance segment,” Bailey said.
“It was, indeed, welcomed by all, as this aspect of live entertainment had been so lacking in the event for quite a few years,” he said, adding that the band’s goal is to provide “a worthy portal for our music to be heard outside of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as well as to preserve the rich heritage of live band music that the Vincentian community is so proud of.”
Bailey said he and Singer Extraordinaire Chanique Rogers formed the band in 2019 “after seeing the lack of live bands with focus on all styles of Caribbean music and not just reggae.”
He said the word “magma” is also “not an abstract one, as it represents the volcanic nature of the Caribbean islands, and is the source of our ‘Black Sand’ beaches, which are naturally ‘hot’ in the tropics.”
Bailey is no stranger to bands; he was the lead keyboardist and musical director of two major successful bands in St. Vincent and the Grenadines: Blacksand and Hottsand.
These bands toured extensively in the Caribbean, the United States, Canada and England, said Bailey, who is also the legendary music producer behind much of the music emerging from St. Vincent and the Grenadines over the past 25 years, including the mega international hit “Turn Me On” by Kevin Lyttle.
Rogers is also no stranger to the entertainment world; she is actively involved in the New York music circuit and has performed alongside well-known artistes, such as former Lady of Chic Alfa Anderson; world renowned singer and music composer Aziza Miller; and violinist Daisy Joplin.
In addition, Rogers has performed on ABC’s daytime television show “The Chew”, alongside the RCE Ensemble.
Rogers is also a singer with the Brooklyn Interdenominational Choir and the Actors Chapel Choir on Broadway.
Members of D Magma Band are primarily Vincentian nationals: Bailey (producer and keyboardist); Rogers (lead singer); Deuel Anderson (lead singer, formerly of Ninja Band, “half Vincy”); Perron “Perry” Hazell (lead guitarist, formerly of Solid Band); Ike Jeffers (bass guitarist, formerly of Astericks and Solid Band); and Trinidadian Willfred “Wiz” Kieal (percussionist/drummer).
You can follow D Magma Band on all social media platforms @Dmagmaband, or call 718-427-0385 or 917-853-8441 for more information.
