By Krista Henry, Staff Reporter

Seretse Small performs at the award ceremony for the Bureau of Standards, held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, in October. - Colin Hamilton/Freelance Photographer

Telling the stories of his soul through his guitar, musician, Seretse Small captivates his audience with every performance.

Having grown up in Jamaica from multi-cultural parents, with his mother Jean Small, a poet, linguist/actress from Guyana, and his father a musician from Trinidad, Serestse has a wealth of Caribbean history to drawn from in his music. According to Small, he was exposed from an early age to a very Africianist perspective, having been grounded among persons, such as Micheal Smith, Ernie Ranglin and Mutabaruka, who understood art.

Mentor

Small attested that his mentor, Jasper Adams, coached him in the music of the greats and in understanding how great Caribbean people are.

Initially learning to play the guitar from his father, Small claimed that it was not his instrument of choice; neither does he see himself as a gifted guitarist.

"I tell people I'm not a guitarist, but they think I'm an amazing guitarist," he said.

Not only gifted as a guitarist, Small has also done extensive teaching, music publishing and storytelling.

"I am devoted to communicating the heart and soul of Caribbean people," he said. Seretse sees himself as a griot, a West African term for 'storyteller', hence the name of his firm, Griot Music.

Small realised the potential of starting a music publishing firm after a small stint in the United States. "The side of publishing I'm concerned with is the creative side, nurturing young persons, developing their songwriting skills, giving these persons a forum through which to express themselves," Small said.

Currently, Small is trying to establish his own live studio and he can usually be seen every Tuesday playing at Christopher's Jazz Café, in New Kingston. He describes his sound as "very sensual, orgasmic and intensely improvisational".

"A t the heart of it, it's very African. I am inspired by a love for being Caribbean," Seretse Small said.