KesFyah 2011: Kes the Band & Krosfyah in Brooklyn
On September 4, 2011, Kes the Band and Krosfyah came together in Brooklyn for KesFyah: A Pre-J’ouvert Jam, part of New York’s Labor Day Carnival weekend.
The event brought together two major Caribbean bands representing Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, with Michelle Xavier of Image & Company also featured. It was held at 856 Pacific Street in Brooklyn on the Sunday night before the West Indian American Day Carnival.
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson hosted Julianspromos’ coverage of the event, capturing interviews, personalities and moments from inside the fete.
Kes and Krosfyah Share the Night
The lineup brought together two bands at very different points in their careers.
Krosfyah, led by Edwin Yearwood, had already built a long history in Barbadian Soca and Caribbean music.
Kes the Band, meanwhile, was in the middle of a major 2011 season. “Wotless” had become one of the year’s biggest Soca records, Kees Dieffenthaller had won the International Groovy Soca Monarch title, and the band was continuing to expand its profile throughout the Caribbean and diaspora.
Putting Kes and Krosfyah together gave New York fans a night that connected two generations of Soca and two major Caribbean music markets.
A Busy Labor Day Weekend for Kes
KesFyah came during an especially active New York Carnival weekend for Kes the Band.
Two days earlier, the band had appeared on Fox 5’s Good Day New York, performing “Where Yuh From” and “Wotless.”
By Sunday night, Kes was back in Brooklyn for KesFyah alongside Krosfyah.
The appearance also continued a relationship between Kes and Julianspromos that had begun earlier in 2011. Kes the Band had become the first major artist interviewed by Julianspromos during The Official Wotless Fete in Queens that May.
Vivaa Covers KesFyah
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson hosted the on-camera coverage for Julianspromos during KesFyah.
Surviving video from the night includes Vivaa interviewing Kes the Band and Michelle Xavier of Image & Company, along with additional footage featuring Kes the Band’s dancers.
The footage provides a look beyond the performances themselves, preserving some of the personalities and activity surrounding the event during New York’s 2011 Carnival weekend.
Kes the Band and Michelle Xavier speak with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson at KesFyah in Brooklyn on September 4, 2011, with additional footage featuring Kes the Band’s dancers.
The surviving photographs further document Vivaa with Kees Dieffenthaller, Edwin Yearwood, Khiomal Nurse, Michelle Xavier and members of Kes the Band, creating another visual record of the artists and personalities connected to the night.
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An Early Lesson in Live-Event Audio
KesFyah was also one of the early events where the challenges of recording interviews inside a loud Caribbean fete became obvious.
The microphone being used at the time did not have adequate noise suppression for the loud indoor environment, so some of the surviving interview audio reflects the limitations of Julianspromos’ early equipment.
For anyone watching the archival footage today, that context helps explain the sound quality while preserving the historical importance of the interviews themselves.
The experience also became part of Julianspromos’ early learning process. Working in loud live-event environments highlighted the need for better audio equipment and contributed to later investment in higher-quality media gear.
From the Julianspromos Archives
KesFyah brought Kes the Band and Krosfyah together in Brooklyn on September 4, 2011, during one of New York’s biggest Caribbean weekends of the year.
The surviving footage and photographs preserve Kes the Band during the height of the “Wotless” period, Krosfyah representing Barbados, Vivaa interviewing Kes the Band and Michelle Xavier, and additional footage featuring Kes the Band’s dancers.
The coverage also captures an important stage in the development of Julianspromos, when the platform was moving deeper into original artist interviews and on-location Caribbean entertainment coverage.
More than fifteen years later, KesFyah remains a snapshot of Brooklyn Soca, New York Carnival weekend and Julianspromos’ early media history in 2011.
