ENTERTAINMENT
Canadian singer-songwriter Annabelle Chvostek releases “String of Pearls.” Ximena Griscti
Caribbean Life, April 9-15, 2021 21
FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT, GO TO CARIBBEANLIFENEWS.COM/ENTERTAINMENT
By Nelson A. King
After six-year hiatus, Annabelle
Chvostek has released her new album,
“String of Pearls.”
Blending the Canadian singersongwriter
tradition and her Slovakian
heritage with a long-standing
connection to Uruguay, the musically
adventurous Chvostek’s new
album was digitally-released worldwide
on March 26, with the physical
CD set for April 16.
According to entertainment publicist
Cindy Byram, the album was
co-produced in Montevideo by longtime
collaborator Fernando Rosa,
who gathered a variety of Uruguay’s
world-class jazz, classical and tango
musicians to create “a new-old pop
sound flavored with the tough tenderness
of 1930s tango, vaudeville
cabaret and Hot Club jazz.”
Byram said Toronto producer
David Travers-Smith oversaw the
Canadian and Uruguayan tracking,
which included helping hands by
members of Toronto’s lively Jazz
Manouche community.
“String of Pearls” will be available
on all music services, Byram said.
She said cascading vibraphones,
snappy brush drums, brisk guitar
chops and Chvostek’s richly nuanced
vocals grace the album’s opening
“Je t’ai vue hier soir” (I Saw You
Last Night), “setting the tone for
un-melange sonique that swirls folk,
cabaret, classical and Chvostek’s own
Slavic musical roots with vintage
swing-jazz.
“The title track’s Django-esque
Continued on Page 22
Singer Marvin Gaye performs on
opening night at Radio City Music
Hall, May 17, 1983, New York. Associated
Press/Nancy Kaye, fi le
Remembering
Marvin Gaye
By Nelson A. King
On April 2, late singer-songwriter
Marvin Gaye would have been 82 years
old after an almost 30-year career.
According to allmusic.com, few figures
in American music in the 20th
century can compare to Gaye.
“As a singer, he was without peer,
possessing a silky voice that could
sound either angelic or seductive or, on
his biggest hit ‘I Heard It Through the
Grapevine,’ positively haunted,” it said.
Continued on Page 22
Tomi Thomas
drops ‘Again’
By Nelson A. King
Rising talent Tomi Thomas entices
listeners with a playful melody while
maintaining a laid-back vibe, according
to Sarah A. Freiseis, special project
manager of the Brooklyn-based entertainment
company, PlaybookMG.
Freiseis told Caribbean Life that
Thomas has just released the single,
“Again,” ahead of the complementary
music video to be released later this
month.
“The track showcases African music
in a modern format laced with lyrics
that are an ode to love and the familiarity
of experiencing it,” Freiseis said. “The
percussive elements add depth and are
in perfect complement to his vocals.
“He stepped it up in the production
department with this one, bringing on
Continued on Page 22
‘STRING OF
PEARLS’
Annabelle Chvostek drops new album
/ENTERTAINMENT
/allmusic.com
