Tessanne Chin at KES ALL IN NYC 2012 | Interview & Performance
On March 9, 2012, Jamaican singer Tessanne Chin appeared at KES ALL IN at Best Buy Theater in Times Square, New York City, during a major Caribbean concert headlined by Kes the Band.
The night brought together artists from across the Caribbean, with Kes the Band, David Rudder and Benjai among the originally announced performers. Tessanne’s appearance added a Jamaican voice to the event more than a year before she would reach a much larger international audience as the winner of Season 5 of NBC’s The Voice.
Julianspromos documented the night through live performance footage, an interview conducted by Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, and photographs from inside the event.
Jamaican singer Tessanne Chin with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson during KES ALL IN at Best Buy Theater in New York City in 2012.
KES ALL IN at Best Buy Theater
KES ALL IN was held at Best Buy Theater in the heart of Times Square.
The March 9 concert was built around Kes the Band, with a Caribbean lineup that also included artists such as David Rudder and Benjai.
For Kes, the event represented a major New York appearance following the 2012 Trinidad Carnival season, while the broader lineup brought different generations and styles of Caribbean music together on a prominent Manhattan stage.
Official promotional flyer for KES ALL IN at Best Buy Theater in New York City on March 9, 2012.
Tessanne Chin in New York
By the time she appeared at KES ALL IN, Tessanne Chin was already an established recording artist in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean.
Her sound blended Reggae, Rock, Soul and Pop, helping her develop a style that reached beyond a single Caribbean genre.
Songs such as “Hideaway” had helped build her profile before her arrival on American television, while her debut album In Between Words had already introduced listeners to her wider musical range.
The 2012 New York appearance therefore captures Tessanne during an important pre-Voice period in her career.
Tessanne Chin and Kes the Band
Tessanne’s appearance at a Kes-centered concert also reflected an existing musical connection.
She and Kees Dieffenthaller, lead singer of Kes the Band, had previously collaborated on “Loving You,” a recording that brought their Jamaican and Trinidadian influences together.
That crossover fit naturally within the atmosphere of KES ALL IN, where Soca, Calypso, Reggae, Pop and other Caribbean influences shared the same stage.
Tessanne Chin & Kes Live + Interview With Vivaa
One of the surviving JulianspromosTV videos preserves several sides of the night in a single recording.
The footage features Tessanne Chin and Kes the Band live at Best Buy Theater, along with Tessanne speaking with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson for Julianspromos.
The combination makes the video particularly valuable today. It captures the atmosphere of the concert, Tessanne’s connection to Kes and her appearance in conversation before the international breakthrough that would follow.
Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson Interviews Tessanne
The interview with Vivaa offers a closer look at Tessanne during this earlier stage of her career.
Rather than seeing her only through the later success of The Voice, the footage captures Tessanne as an already active Caribbean artist appearing alongside some of the region’s leading performers.
Vivaa’s interview adds a personal element to the surviving concert footage, documenting Tessanne offstage as well as in performance.
Photos From KES ALL IN
Photographs from KES ALL IN at Best Buy Theater on March 9, 2012 preserve more of the people and atmosphere surrounding Julianspromos’ coverage of the event.
The surviving images include Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson at the venue and Vivaa photographed with Tessanne Chin.
Photos from KES ALL IN at Best Buy Theater in New York City on March 9, 2012, featuring Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson and Tessanne Chin.
Caribbean Music in Times Square
KES ALL IN placed Caribbean music inside one of Manhattan’s most visible entertainment districts.
Best Buy Theater offered a different setting from many of the clubs and Caribbean-centered venues traditionally associated with New York’s Soca scene.
The concert brought together performers representing different parts of Caribbean music, from the contemporary Soca of Kes the Band and Benjai to the Calypso legacy of David Rudder and the Reggae, Rock and Pop influences of Tessanne Chin.
That diversity gave the event a genuinely regional character.
Before The Voice
The significance of Tessanne’s March 2012 appearance became even clearer the following year.
On December 17, 2013, Tessanne Chin won Season 5 of NBC’s The Voice, dramatically expanding her international audience.
That makes the Best Buy Theater footage an especially interesting snapshot of the singer before that breakthrough.
At KES ALL IN, Tessanne was not appearing as the winner of an American television competition. She was appearing as a Jamaican artist who had already built a career within Caribbean music and was sharing a New York stage with artists from across the region.
From the Julianspromos Archives
Tessanne Chin’s March 9, 2012 appearance at KES ALL IN preserves an earlier chapter in her career while also documenting a major Kes the Band concert in Times Square.
The surviving Julianspromos media includes Tessanne and Kes performing live, Tessanne’s interview with Sheniele “Vivaa” Dodson, and photographs from the night.
Together, the footage and photographs provide a look back at Caribbean music in New York City in 2012 — and at Tessanne Chin before one of the defining moments of her career.
