recor) Ae 13 eC Und Pea ete CeuLEL) Morgan Heritage ra za ST CC Cems rc Ty Cee CE ra CCR ECL Sid Cen ed ETM ean nest 8 THE Bear VOL. 20 #6, 2001 REGGAE + AFRICAN + CARIBBEAN * WORLD MUSIC ‘BEAT. VOLUME, NO. 6, 2001 epiton CC Smith, Minister of Information FOUNDING EDITOR Roger Steffens CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Siowete Selassie. JcquieJucean, Blan Dring DESIGN AND PRODUCTION José Legaspi ADVERTISING AND CIRCULATION Carol Haile Selassie WEB MasTER Jay Nelson. Aftopulse.com conraiBuTORS Bob Tare, Chuck Foster, Dave Hucker, Timothy Welsing, Martin Sinnock, Brian Dring. Ron Sakoleky, Stephen Davis. Steve Heilig, Rober Leaver, Mara Weiss, Nego Beto, Derek Rath Mark Garney, Raber’ Nelson, Daniel Neely, Susan Maron. “Matthew Smith, Christina Roden, Banning Eyre. Ken Brau. Tad Boothroyd, Janet Pianct, Richard Henderson, Robert Ambrose. Jean-Pirte Pell, Soa Kader coven ‘Baba Maat photo by Eddie Monsoon Cover design by Jose Legaspi The Beets pase vey s60 months by Bens Preto RO. Bes 65456 Lon Anpels CA SOOKE: eas GETTHEREAT@a01c0n, SSS 1b 319. Co 1. Bongo Prins, eles ere ie pub, Opeions eed imate sy hove oe bor Sok ecru elt he pn te pat, ‘Sebnripton OO per ear email nae est, Sen es money one pate w Bong PodctoPO Box S83. Lok ABB CA Ais, Sucre ene pace staan nade Ano Pies Subp me ae a een Ha ew ef rato aki ss igo, Ts leks mg feta nee for ele ‘avers Call 1238) 287-225 oe ely te wove ables fr inci iver ne Wu, Ad ele er YOU 21 AY Dee. ERE oe ‘shale ant pecitenins a posed Wwe TheBeatcom PRINTED INUS.A,nd, because they are coming c *. Skaboodabe Ip. (Top. Deck, 1964). Again, we find Bravo _eMainang on the tune "On Your Knées" on the Thee Beckford 2 etordings ace telling'In-@ nay that they havent for 40 "and Priends.tp, Trench Town’ ko (amelcen Gold, JMC. + ylarnt Mento Is Bock Indie Spokight. From new Issues to. ",”° 200.242), wher hels credited as Frank Cosmo. Brav's career relssues, mento Is @ pop form th “Sy as a singer, as Indeed distinguished. ce a Roan ee ‘ 85 Bucket Civ ater Flea w ito Is @ dance style, a sohg ~~:Florida. He mage a name for himself by Paying on the T.V. Asca- type rythm aad the name ofa genie that was the popu nla the ship that Brought waves of emigrants from the West indies ruse of Jamaica unl the 1950s. The genre’ rots are to London In search of better Hives. He was later hand picked by Abe in European set dances (Uke the quadrile), where the tien prave-Brove wasnt s malt recording stor, but he was an. ‘name was Ripert Lyon, gang and plafedS#kophont and his band > geluapertees In tye "S0u ona 0S Eventhough Bre/o featured Some of Jamas best musilans brody lcluing the vo Isn't @ household name, als the times wit net ‘Ce jultar): Mapletott reat nostalgia, and I you follow the big names in she _ you've heard Him sing or example; that's Bravo tthe. version o Share an Scand” fem fe3 dre ees Shon The ‘on MRS surely insplred countless anes Gitte te. pci Ment) Reynolds, Eade a ae eT ee atin entine ueer Len aa eae tubes pone Reed ged Bet ae seca clint ine apietny hele is tine” pers bea knoe tor ees eats a3 Ney was clearly mento Inspred, hs earycecotds were, done with Spring” 2 dence banés.ané carried the, subtilis “esljpsor"‘Jamalean, name "Reynolds Calypso Clipperswaké Hubert Porter Was @ calypso" or "ento-ccypss." Ys wat clearly Intended fo €opi-__welrknown singer who eid most of is recording on fallze of clyose's popularity at the time, as records were sold ‘Store label Athough hs recorded ouput might Suggest other- ‘bth to local and international markets that were’ doubtlessly “wise (because “calypso” was a mare marketable musle) Porter ae better known as a pop sing for ‘asa calypsonian. tiue Motta: and Several recorded ercellent atrial as holéspe~,:In 1959, tha Siver Sead group reterded an exetenk pet ‘ite tourist mementos, Tours was Dig’business In Jamalca ln." tied ‘Sliver Seas Caypsos (me, RITMOSO7. Tt-wos well oe “the 08 and part of “authentic” tourist entertainment Included “recorded (you can realy hear the rumba bor In thls one), and 2 “ative"-band playing at the tables and on the beaches alobg- sas lineranotes by Edh Ts actualy features five side iby sticks, rumba dancers and fire-sptters, These record~" ‘musicians, the adaltion being a aGsiclen named “Lord” Jell- Inge ore vrtuoly always Tateresting particulary Because In, ‘coe Barker. The elrurhstances afound Jefoe's Joining the naoycoues the musician Involved were wel known locally. The", band were Somewhat characteristic of hetel bands: His own rovlem for organizations Tike the Jamoica Tourst Board (3, “groub was hired to filihen the Ser Seas Calypso Band went ‘group that eriployed aid promoted sevecl bonds Incidental) o the States. Jelioe told me tat Re was 50 populat atthe ho- ot wa, an {hatte ce of he Sve Sen aad feturn. Through this com _cslust as Lord Fly olden fils reeoras) age a £ petit, Jellege ater anpeired Sa . ‘Hotels became major employers-of musicians an #8 “he Monty Reynolds "Calyps6 Cliopers” recordings for MRS. ‘enters of riusical communities. One exarnole vas:the rou. records for hotels were the _ st musians employed bythe lve Seo Hotel in Och lo.» Wagers led by Denz Lang he Arava the Montese By the late "50s, the Sliver Seas hed established 8 ealjpso. “Beach Hotel Band-—with Lord Lebbi), ard Baba Nota, whose = rub part of it enfertalnpent presentation, the ranks of record for the Myrtle whi cludes many Important mistelane we atone tie or” Alphonsol ‘another recorded for Stanley Mott, Iluding Lord Compos- Hotel work wasnt the only ‘ia aval: white some ‘er Monty Reynolds, Ede Brown aqd Jellicoe Bark groups were tourist-orented, others performed and recorded nid catapulted to In-": on @ more local evel. Wile few have a sense of what these ss Continued on page 40 i ; + THE BEAT VOL, 20 #3, 2007 393 carpe nd EJeading against Retords Ltd, which co sic market a record-* uSter im shell of$ the com “them heap it up in the corner, is mento Sor the whole night, undil daylight. Corn night, mento till daylight.” ~Blackie James recalling mento dances in St, Elizabeth. Blue Glaze Is very Involved inthe resurgence of mente musi, ‘and works very closely with the Jamatca Cultura! Development Commission (JCOC). Perhaps mento’s popularity would not have ‘been so widespread was It nt for this kind of outside help the Festival Commssion and, later, the JCOC have proviced. Perhaps the Individual most active in preserving mento Is Joyce Campbell. Ms. Campbell ‘been deeply Involved in cul= tural development pragrams for ever 30 years and her ine haustible work end support has allowed dozens of bands to continue practicing thelr craft. Over the last couple of yeers, the JCDC with Ms. Campbell have been particulary active rals Ing the popular awareness of mento musk, Last December, for ‘example, there was a JCOC-sponsored mento band competition (Glue Giaze came in frst place) and there are currently plans for a youth-band competition to be held In 2002, The youth competition Is particular Interesting as the JCOC has organ~ {zed seminars that bring people knowledge the schools to teach the formal aspects oft ‘The JCOC's work is paying off, a5 evidenced by a refreshed wave of Interest in mente musi. In particular, there have been two excellent mento eds released In Jamaica over the past year. The first of these, released by the JCDC, Is Mento Music In Jamalca, Vol. 1, featuring four of Jamaica's best bands: The Kew Park Mento Band, the Mt. Peace Mento Band, tne Rod Dennis Mento Band, and the Blue Glaze Mento Band. Ac {ng to record distributors, it has exceeded sales expectations, and the original run sold out quickly. This cd features a rien variety of old-time fotk tunes played by bands that best repee- sent the style. In its first commercial recording here, Bue Glaze is in excel- {ent form. Pryee’s clarinet cuts through the mix admirably and the performance of o sixfigured quadrile is an excellent example of the form. Blue Glaze expects to relees cd, entitled Artistic Mento, In the coming months.) ‘Also featured on the cd Is the Rod Dennis Mento Band. Its sx tracks of oldstime tunes (Including the favorite “Linstead Its own Anant cen Market”) capture the band's sound well In addition to the com pllation, the Rod Dennis Mento Band has released its own cd through Penthouse Records. Recorded with a pared-down ensemble a couple of years 299, Donovan Germai’s high pro ‘duction values enhance the band's renltion of tunes including Cut Munu" and “Hill and Gully Rige" Like the JCOC’s produc tion, sales are exceeding expectation, Te Rod Dennis Band was founded some 20-odd years 390, although for the muslelans mento gees back much farther. As Magnus will tell you, they “were Born with It” As Is the case, ‘with Blue Glaze, the Rod Dennls Band's musiclans come from ‘rat Jamaica, and therefore play In what one might calla root 'y style. In rural areas, meato danées are something special, Blackle, who grew up in rural St. Ellzabeth, recalls with glee his ‘memory of corn nlght, where mento could be heard: We used to plant a lt of corn, and when the corn s glant we will open in, rip It In. When ‘im sheling the corn it pick off the ‘rain off the stick that night Is a mento night..Alter Yim shell fff the corn... them heap It up Inthe corner, is mento for the whole night, until daylight. Corn night, mento till daylight ‘One hopes that these bands perhaps even tour Internationaly. “This refreshed Interest In mento has inspired older produc- ers like Clement “Corson” Dodd to look back throwgh thelr archives Jor mento/Jamalean calypso recordings. Over the past year he has relssued one of his two Sugar Belly ¢ds and has plans to bring out the other. le addition, he Is considering ‘aleasing the album he eid with Count Lasher In the mid 1970s, While It was made with a reggae band, Lasher’ regqae~ continue making music and mente feel Is unmistakable and recalls the country-reqgae ‘style of Stanley Beckford (whose mento-favored recording of “Fi itand A Boor” won “Best Song” in the 2000 Festival Song Competition). Continued on page 42 Magnus Edwards, guitar player forthe Red Dennis Mento Band,Mento is Back! ‘Continued from page 4} Perhaps tne most anticipated menta celssue of the year, to be titled Boogu Yagga Gal: Jamaican Mento (HTCO4S), Is due wut from the Heritage recording company In January. Featuring remas- tered recordings of Count Lasher, Chin's Calypso Group and others, this cd willbe the first widely avaliable English-language celssve ofits kind, It promises fo be excellent. One would hope that other producers ‘follow sult and ressue more of these Important original recordings. Examples that come to mind inchide 72 y any of the thenvective com- panies, the Ips Count Owen recorded for Ken Khour's Kalypso label ang {he albums Lora Tanamo recorded Inthe late °50s and early "60s. Due to its renewed popularity, 1 would not be surprised to see mento used more frequently In newer genres of Jamalean popular muse, While there may stil be some who doubt mento's staying power, they may want ‘0 listen to what Blackie says about the matter: "The music Is growing ‘again, mento Is coming up; although them say it dead, it ro dead .. can never ele” Daniel Neely Is a Ph.D, student at New York University writing his dieser- tation on mento music. Contact him at danfel.neelyenyu.edu . Thanks should go out to al those Involved inthe preparation on this at le including King Bravo, Herbie Miller, Lord Tanamo, Leroy Lindsay, Count ‘Owen, Lord Jetlicoe, Danny Boy, Tony Laing, Clement Dodd, Gage Averill, Ken Biby, Ray Fuk, John Cowley, Richard Neblett, Kamau Brathwaite, Gal Stanton ad ae colleagues at NYU. selected Recent Mento Discography gE AE wk Ce aa oc La Ce Jamaican Music: Rod Dennis Mento-Band (Penthouss nee Ger Mare eer arn Peace meet Ro ie ilo oer er eae a eo eae a Teas ntial. (Coxsone Cl ie Sue eres eee Ce Delight: Independence Jump Up Calypso (Jet S een? E a ae eee eA ; lable recordings of TR Mc ee nd Se Resa ea eee ea er eo nee ) Tora) ee cur er ner here erate ing bands. rie ca at ee tae Pe eae as fe should be | Count Al eC Te! Seo Lord Tanamo, Skamento Movement (World Wide Music, 1994) | Joyce C: A rk. Produced ‘by the | Featuring four stylistically diver s paper Oe er arcs Meek Acre Sy DM TORT ee er Jamaica, Grand Caymen, Haiti and the Cominican Republic oy) Contact Heritage Records tor the upcoming Boogu Yagga Gal: ordings purports ta show the similarities | Jamaican Mento (HTCD45) via www.interstate-music.co.uk oF Moe nee ces cree es ce Per ee ree tee aoe corer) 43, Fi