Colleagues of the late Jaunty have expressed their sadness at the singer’s passing. SNO spoke with some friends of the late calypsonian, who all describe him as an effortless ambassador for Saint Lucian culture and music.

“I think my memory of Jaunty will be that of him absolutely wanting to perform on a Saint Lucian stage again. He did not say that it would be his last performance, but he was adamant that he was going to be performing on the Creole stage,” long-time colleague Caron Tobiere told SNO. Tobierre says Jainty had a love for Saint Lucia and music and loved combining these two loves with everything he did.

“He kept on telling me that he hadn’t performed in Saint Lucia for a while and he wanted to do the Creole stage because he had not done it, and he wanted to be on stage with his people. I think Jaunty had a passion for his music, he had a passion for Saint Lucia and I’m happy he got the opportunity to do what he loved,” she said in admiration of him.

Jaunty’s former manager, Ian Sanchez, recalls the vibrance of the singer’s youth and debut in the music industry. “From his early childhood days, Jaunty had a love for music, creating sounds with anything he could lay his hands on. It was only natural for him that his early music influence would be Calypso,” Sanchez wrote in his tribute.

Jaunty’s rhythmic calypso tunes are regarded as ushering in a new era of songwriting in the genre, both in Saint Lucia and the Caribbean. His 1996 hit, “Borbalist” was voted most popular humourous Calypso at the Sunshine Awards Show out of New York. In 1997, the artiste expanded his horizons to the neighbouring French department, Martinique, where he formed the music group, Soca Zouk Express. He was joined by a team of French musicians experienced in their own right. It was with that group that other hits like “Wheelbarrow” and “Go Ah Court” were made.

Sanchez says Jaunty was able to shift himself into numerous positions, which characterised him as being a very versatile artist. “He developed into a songwriter, producer, and arranger who simply. rested his own style. There is no one way to classify his music…Zouk, Soca, Ring bang and Soukous…it’s all in there.”

Another colleague, Andrew “Yardie” Haynes, attributes Jaunty as the pioneer of Saint Lucian pop culture today. “Jaunty made the “national word” mainstream with that song of his, “We Shall Hop”. It was a clever play on words. Back in those days, we couldn’t use such words in our songs, but Jaunty found a way to make it happen. Now, we have that word being used openly in cricket, football, so many places and it all started with him,” Yardie recalled.

Martin “Jaunty” Regis was a La Clery native, who leaves an entire island in mourning. As the culture evolves, pioneers like him will be remembered, copied, and revered for years to come.