Friday, December 25 2009

THE LION King Sound System will tonight celebrate its 19th Anniversary at Club Prosperity, Upper Bournes Road, St James.

This year the theme of the party is A Night In Ethiopia and a treat is in store for all attending as genuine Ethiopian food will be served by an Ethiopian born-caterer resident in TT.

This caterer will also be performing the traditional Ethiopian coffee ceremony which is an integral part of the social and cultural life of Ethiopians.

An invitation to attend a coffee ceremony is considered a mark of friendship or respect and is an excellent example of Ethiopian hospitality. This is to be one of the highlights of the evening. Another highlight will be the showing of scenes from the famous battle of Adwa, on a screen which will be set up at the venue.

The battle of Adwa was fought on March 1, 896, between Ethiopia and Italy near the town of Adwa, Ethiopia, in Tigray. It was the climactic battle of the First Italo/Ethiopian War.

This is sure to be a special moment for those at the event. An event which will feature history alongside culinary delights and of course, great conscious music. An event for everyone who loves conscious music to enjoy.

Along with giving thanks for a successful career over the past years Lion King founder, Kenny Charles will also celebrate the birthday of his twin sons, Yacob and Asfa who turned 18 years old several days ago.

The boys are each also accomplished DJs in their own rights and patrons can expect to see them in action. Over the years they have shared the stage with some of the most respected icons of the international reggae arena, the most recently being Coco Tea and Sizzler at the Queen’s Park Oval, Port-of-Spain.

Along with all of this, the conscious vibes are expected to flow and the music is expected to be excellent.

Jah Melody heads the cast of local reggae singers expected to perform, while many sound systems, as is customary at these events, are expected to play at the event.

Back in the 1990’s when conscious reggae had all but completely disappeared from the scene the Lion King Sound System injected new life into the art form when Charles decided he would take the risk and play only music that edified and uplifted the human spirit.

In short time the sound systems that had fallen silent were again making a beautiful noise and many new conscious music sound systems sprang up to build a strong and vibrant fraternity today.

Having developed into one of the respected sound systems Lion King in 2005 started his own recording studio at 7A Romeo Street, St James under the label known as Lion Twin, so named in honour of Yacob and Asfa his sons.

Several releases are in store for the Carnival 2010 season.