Sean Jones @ The El Mocambo – Black History Month 2024-Thurs.,January 25, 2024

By Sally Warburton

The start of Black History Month 2024. What better way to celebrate than with Juno award winning Sean Jones and the Righteous Echo band at the El Mocambo! Sean Jones is the charismatic R & B soulful singer whose stage presence is dynamic and heart-warming. The event was held in the 2nd floor of the iconic El Mocambo where every location in the cozy venue has a great view of the stage.

Opening the evening was Debra Christmas representing The Standard – the Canadian Black Standard, speaking about the organization. The Standard is a community providing Black women with a successful network to cultivate their career path. The Standard was born to fight racism and discrimination in the workplace with an intersectional approach.

Then Tanya Phillips founder of The Standard – the Canadian Black Standard took to the stage to welcome all in celebrating the start of Black History Month. Tanya Phillips of ‘Right to Play’ spoke on stage and was joined by El Mocambo Executive Director, Mike Chalut.

The stage was filled with talent on January 25th. Canadian talent. Toronto talent. Black talent. Juno Award winning Sean Jones always generously shares his stage with up and coming R & B artists. This night was no exception. Sean Jones’ music with its influences of Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Marvin Gaye band seems to get better every time he performs, if that’s possible! The Righteous Echo Band includes Juno award winning bassist Calvin Beale, singers Cleopatra Williams & Quisha Went, keyboardist Joel Joseph, drummer Jeff Halischuk and Rich Grossman on guitar. After their first five songs including Spanish Joint, I Got it Made and Lucy Pearl, the first Guest Artist graced the stage. Luna Elle is an emerging 18 year old R & B soul singer from Mississauga. She wowed the crowd with her softly enchanting melodies and radiant confidence. Just beautiful. We know we’ll be hearing a lot more about Luna Elle in the near future. She sang her songs Crazy, Souls Align and Cuff It.

Sean Jones and The Righteous Band started their second set of dynamic R & B songs then Guest Artist Quisha Wint was featured. This dynamic artist was already on the stage as she’s part of Sean Jones’ back-up singers along with Cleopatra Williams. Quisha Wint is a brilliant singer and entertainer who lit up the stage with her presence (Could the stage possibly be lit up any more?!) and songs My Life and We Gotta Love. She mesmerized the crowd with her soulful vocals. An amazing, beautiful voice. Sean Jones and band concluded with more upbeat R & B songs and encores. It ended all too soon … as all Sean Jones’ concerts do… It couldn’t have been a better way to start Black History Month-supporting The Canadian Black Standard. A wonderful DJ @djmarl6ve was the evening’s performer on behalf of @bellosound – Bellosound. The event’s ambiance was enhanced with his amazing background and dance music. The iconic El Mocambo in its 75th year celebration!
The music was great. The El Mocambo venue is awesome with all its memorabilia on the walls and stairs, the bars and comfortable seating and space for dancing. The crowd was friendly, totally into the music and having fun. A wonderful evening of music, friendship, dance and support.