Govanah in reggae

Di Govanah

Desmond Ray Williams began his career as Di Govanah at age 15 when he stamped his class as a talented  lyricist by decimating his teacher in a DJ showdown on a concert at his school, Maldon High, St James. With his star potential now exposed, Di Govanah's fan base quickly started to grow and by age 17 he had already recorded two albums: "Combination" and "Musically Equipped".

From those relatively humble beginnings, Williams matured rapidly in the business, and has racked up an enviable list of performance credits, including Reggae Sumfest and Reggae Fever. On the recording front, his output includes such tracks as "Time Like This", "Jah Say Don't" and "Inna Trouble."

Having been thus seasoned, the artiste believes he is close to the top of his game creatively, and anticipates a busy period over the coming months , during which time he will appear on several local shows whilst he prepares for a European trip come this summer. To accompany him on that tour of the continent is Swiss band Gully Echo, with producer Aron Franchetti. 

Ahead of that though, Govanah remains very active in the studios and is set to release a new EP, entitled "(Jam) Session". Already his fans are eagerly anticipating his arrival and commonly regard him as the "Young Peter Tosh". Accompanying him on this tour is 

Assessing his career to date, and reflecting on the struggles he quietly and humbly endured, the artiste is filled with pride, optimism and a sense of mission. "This marks a very exhilarating time for me musically as I strive to achieve the heights. My goal is to be a  voice for Jah people bringing a positive message while maintaining my musical relevance". 

Fully confident in the abundance of his talent and blessed with talent and with an infectious personality to match, Di Govanah is now set to unleash his arsenal of conscious reggae/Dancehall music to the world and is tipped to become one of Jamaica's leading break-out artistes of 2015.

Look out for Di Govanah, he is definately one to watch.

Moon over Tarrus: 2014 Christmas Concert

A city battered by Chik-V, price crises and various other trials would no doubt welcome the offering presented by Tarrus Riley, aka Singy-Singy at Kingston's Emancipation Park on the "eve of Christmas Eve".

With a crescent moon floating over the lower New Kingston skyline and the recently-added imposing backdrop of the soon-to-be-finished Marriott Hotel, Riley took the stage shortly after a typically sparkling opener from the ageless Karen Smith, who practically soared through a number of pop songbook selections ranging from Aretha Franklin ("Respect" "Natural Woman") to the seasonal "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and the indigenous "All For Jesus".

Clad in black, robustly contrasted by martial red high-tops, Riley brought a palpably fresh energy to his now familiar repertorire, and the audience was more than ready to receive him, both by voice and in person as he waded through the packed aisles, greeting, touching and singing.

His last tune in heavy rotation had the title "Where Were You" and singer Bijean Gayle answered in fine fashion, ably supported by a youthful and exuberant aggregation known as the High Point band. They delivered a new single "Ghetto Rock" (to be the lead-off on a soon-to-be-released album) and the imposing Gayle proved his showmanship by stepping off the stage ot pick out a young miss out of the front row  as a song and dance partner.

Another up-and-comer, D-Medz was taking the crowd through the verses of his anthem. "Champion" on our departure, with lots more solid entertainment promised.

A welcome and worthy Christmas gift to the people.

Fab Five @ 44

Whatever the setting - when the band on the stand is Fab Five, one knows there is the assurance that no musical cue will be missed, and virtually no tune is unknown.

And, as leader Frankie Campbell recently indicated, 2015 will mark 44 years of musical excellence. though the scene is hardly as robust as in the heyday of "Who, Wha'?", they keep on keepin' on

"This year was better than say, 2011 or 2012, when the global recession was still digging its talons into many industries worldwide," Campbell shares.

formed in 1970, is Jamaica's pre eminent popular band, whether measured by record sales at home, hits on the charts, frequency of engagements or major awards won over the years.

Their first recording, "Come Back And Stay", was number one in Jamaica, and in their first year on the road, and for the following two years, they won the only available awards, the Swing Awards for best band of 1971-72, 1972-73 and 1973-74. They also took the El Suzie Award as Joint Top Road and Dance Band for 1975-76 and the RJR Listeners' Award for Best Band in 1980.

They backed Johnny Nash on all the reggae cuts comprising most of his platinum album "I Can See Clearly Now". Two singles from that album, "Guava Jelly" and "Stir It Up", established Bob Marley as a major songwriter on the international scene.

Fab 5 have enjoyed an endless succession of hits in Jamaica and the "ethnic" markets of North America.

In their early years such songs as "Chirpy Cheep", "Shaving Cream", "Oh, Dad" and "Love Me For A Reason", and their musicality and showmanship made Fab 5 the rage on the dance and show circuits.

More recently, they have been kept on top by the likes of "Yu Safe", "Ring Road Jam", "Feeling Horny", "Computer Mad", "What The Police High Command Can Do", "Jamaican Woman", "Psalms", "All Night Party", "Mini", "Sweat", "Don't Wear None", "Freeze", "Good Buddy", "Mango" and their "Live" series.

Their twenty-two albums have been as successful as their singles, and their multi-award winning soca album "Yu Safe" was probably the most popular album produced in Jamaica in the decade of the '80s. A CD of some of their biggest hits - "Fab 5 Greatest Hits" has been released along with five of their newest CD albums - "Good Buddy," the massively successful "Fab 5 Live - The Ultimate Vintage Jamaican Party Mix ... Part 1" and the equally successful follow-ups “…Part 2”,“…Part 3” and the recently released “…Part 4” as well as the Box Set which includes all four discs. Their soca smash "Shape" is still very popular and the band’s versatility is proved by “Dugu-Dugu” their all-reggae release and the preceding all-ska album “Ska Time”. The late noted musician and journalist Sonny Bradshaw had said of Fab 5 that they are the only Jamaican band still playing authentic ska. The newest release from the band is the 2012 live tribute to Jamaica 50, “50 Years of Jamaican Music 1962-2012”, which has been selling quickly.

The busiest band in Jamaica, Fab 5 are in great demand not only for concerts and dances but also in the studio where they are the leading creators of commercial jingles for radio and television, dominating the airwaves and earning a string of prestigious awards, including four golden microphones. They have their own recording studio (Stage Studio) and Record label and distribution company (Stage Records Ltd). They have been the chosen band for almost every national and state occasion since the mid 1970s.

In 2003 Fab 5 received the Prime Minister’s Award for Excellence in The Performing Arts for their services to Jamaican music.

They have taken their authoritative brand of Jamaican music all over the world. They have shared bandstands with many of the great and famous names of modern popular music, including: Ray Charles; Dizzy Gillespie; the Grateful Dead; Rick James; Linda Ronstadt; the Neville Brothers; Roberta Flack; Fats Domino; Peter, Paul & Mary; Joe Jackson; The Chi-Lites; Skeeter Davis (with whom they are currently working on a recording project); the Drifters; Miriam Makeba; Bob Marley; Jimmy Cliff; Chuck Jackson; The Mighty Sparrow; Aretha Franklin; Gladys Knight; Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes; Jerry Butler; the Manhattans; Ray Goodman & Brown; and the Delphonics.

They have performed at the Kool Jazz Festival and the New Orleans Jazz Festival and for Japansplash and have entertained a live audience of one million at an anti nuclear concert in New York's Central Park.

They have triumphed not only with the music of Jamaica but also with their own compositions of soca, the music of the Eastern Caribbean.

At different times and in diverse settings, they have enchanted audiences with soul, funky, rock, jazz, disco and classical music, their album made with other Stage Records artistes –“Christmas In The Sun” is easily the most successful Christmas album by a Jamaican entity and the 2002 follow-up “Fab 5 – A Jamaican Christmas Gift” has proved just as popular.

They have dominated the Jamaican awards for show and dance bands and demonstrated their supremacy at the Jamaica Band Festival at the Wyndham New Kingston in December 1987.

Their collection of major awards, by far the greatest of any entity in Jamaican music, includes twenty-nine between 1986 and 1996, from all principal sources - the JBC, RJR, the Daily Gleaner, the Star, Rockers, the Jamaica Music Industry (JAMI) and the Jamaica Federation of Musicians (JFM), the most recent being the 1995 Rockers Award for Best Band, the 1996 award for Best Group (Instrumental) at the Jamaica Music Awards, a 1999 Tamika Award, the 2000-2002 JFM Best Show Band Awards, The Reggae Soca Awards Best Soca Band 2002-2003 and a 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from Reggae Sumfest.

The group has also won several international awards, including the 1996 awards for Best Album and Best Single (both won for "Good Buddy") at the Miami Reggae/Soca Awards and the 1999 "Best International Reggae Album" award at the Canadian Reggae Music Awards for "Fab 5 Live - The Ultimate Vintage Jamaican Party Mix ... Part 1."

Fab 5 have also won the "Best Soca Album" award at the Reggaesoca Awards in Miami for their 1999 album "Shape," thus making them the first group in history to win best album awards for reggae and soca in the same year.

In addition, the band's musical director Grub Cooper, OD, CD has won numerous awards in his own right, including the Order of Distinction, Officer Class (OD) and Commander Class (CD) 2006 (a national award of the Government of Jamaica), and a special honour award from the JFM (1988) for his outstanding contribution to the development of Jamaican music. He has also been Jamaica's leading theatre musician for more than three decades.

The band’s Bassist and Manager – Frankie Campbell – has also received the prestigeous OD making Fab 5 the only current Jamaican dance/show/backing band with two such awardees. Fab 5 have also been actively involved in keeping Jamaican music alive, with major representation on the boards of the Recording Industry Association of Jamaica (RIAJAM) and the Jamaican Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA). The band also works with many charitable organizations.

Musicianship, dedication, integrity and discipline are the hallmarks of Fab 5, who have earned and retained the respect of the music industry, critics and general public over the past thirty-six years and are all set for continued success in the future. In July of 2011 their performance at the renowned “Celebrate Brooklyn” festival drew sustained applause for over 5 minutes and their performances at the Irie Fest in Toronto during Caribana have become legendary.

The band comprises three 1970 foundation members - manager Frankie Campbell (bass); Harold (Jr) Bailey (guitar, flute and saxophone now part-time and overseas sound engineer) and; musical director Grub Cooper (drums and lead vocals), - Sidney Thorpe (keyboards), 1979; Donovan Lee Palmer (Keyboards), 1991; Romeo Gray (trombone) 1995; Andre Palmer (Trumpet) 2006; Andrew Cassanova (2012) who has been working with our brother group (the Unique Vision) for over 10 years; and Cleveland Manderson (2010) who has been working with the Unique Vision for over 25 years. Other personnel performs from time to time as part of the wider Stage Records (the band’s recording company) family.

For further information call Frankie Campbell at (876) 925-4057 or our New York number (914) 371-2667 or fax at (876) 925-4057 or e-mail Fab5@cwjamaica.com

Musical "Mahogany" Under The Tree

Pon Fyah band - Junior "Bird Bailey on drums, Paul "Smiley" Madden on bass and Ozoune(right) on keyboards

One would expect such a top-flight and well-versed trio to provide excellent accompaniment to vocalists  - and that they did - in this case Althea Hewitt and Clancy Eccles Jr (below), each of them well-travelled on the Jamaican entertainment scene. The two worked in tandem as well as in duet form, thrilling a very appreciative audience at the Mahogany Tree Bar at  Devon House, a venue which, save for the occasional bad sight liner, could hardly be more salubrious
or accommodating of the quality live performances on offer. The spanned the gamut of popular song choices, from ballads like Adele's "Never Mind" and Evanescence's "All of Me" to jazz-pop like Bobby Caldwell's "You Do For Love" and reggae.

The musical outing was the first at the venue, but far from the first for promoters Mo'Muzyk Pros, who also stage a regular Saturday night showcase at Jo-Jo's on Waterloo Road, and previously hosted a twice weekly live presentation at the former Christopher's Jazz Cafe, all in Kingston.

With this new  - but well-known - space added to the roster, the team is bent on making an indelible mark on the Jamaican entertainment landscape, with an eye on both local and international audiences for what is undeniably a polished, heart-felt and superlative live offering

Althea Hewitt

Clancy Eccles Jr

Alpha Dub:France's Dub Inc takes in the cradle of J'can music

The very name conjures up all kinds of heady associations for music lovers: The Skatalites, Don Drummond, Lenny Hibbert, Roland Alphanso, Johnny "Dizzy" Moore, Eddie  'Tan Tan' Thornton, Rico Rodriguez.

All alumni of the famed Alpha Boys School, and the South Camp Road institution has for many years attracted musical wanderers hooked by the Jamaican sound. The latest are France's Dub Inc,  representing the international tapestry of drum n' bass since 1997. The members of the band swung by during their Jamaican "lay-over" - during which they've recorded with the likes of Capleton and were featured at the Friday live series "Plug n' Play" at the Wyndham's Jonkanoo Lounge.

But on Friday afternoon, it was all about honouring the roots and the fruits. Gudied by Director, Sister Rosie Chung, the Frenchmen saw an alpha in transition and git the cherished opportunity to hear the future greats via an impromptu 'mini-concert' that included renditions of "Slide Mongoose" and "Linstead Market" as well as a ska classic like 'Java" and the Bob Marley anthem "One Love"

Interaction complete, they also presented the school with some much-needed instrumental gifts, and then it was back to their accommodations to prepare for the scintillating Plug and Play set later that night (into the wee hours of Saturday).

With Dub Inc's Alpha swing, another thread has been woven into the expanding global quilt that is the Jamaican music experience. There's more to come.