Reggae Month 2K15: More riddims, More Groundings, More on show

Anticipation continues to build for February as the annual reggae Month approaches.

The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA)is promising a bigger and better event this year including the following events as part of the choices for "edutainment" which complement the standard Reggae Month offerings:

- Grounation Series at The Institute of Jamaica – February 1, 8, 15, 22

- Trench Town Festival “Jamming at the Bass”, Ambassador Theatre – February 1

- Uptown Mondays, Savannah Plaza, February 2, 9, 16, 23

- Lyming at Culture Yard, Trench Town, February 4

- Weddy Weddy, Burlington Ave, February, 4, 11, 18, 25

This year, in the Reggae Village at Ranny Williams Entertainment Complex, the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) will introduce four new and three repackaged events, namely:

- JaRIA LIVE: a weekly series presenting local renown and upcoming talent - February 3, 10, 17 and 24. February 17 and 24 will be dubbed Ladies' Nights. This event began last year at a different location but comes home to the Reggae Village this year.

- JaRIA Mixer: a weekly Friday "after-work jam" with games and music by a guest selector - February 6, 13, 20, 27

- Lunchtime Entertainment will be a big attraction throughout the month of February, as the best of music, dance, poetry and drama will be served along with culinary delights from the Reggae Month concessionaires.

- JaRIA Dance Vibz: a creative dance show in the Louise Bennett Theatre interweaving music and movement - February 21

- Reggae Praise, a music ministry show featuring top gospel artistes, is not a new event. What is new is that it is now holding its own, on Sunday February 8, instead of being one element of Reggae Wednesdays.

- Neither is the Jamaica Music Symposium a new event. However, it will now be a 2-day event in collaboration with the University of the West Indies on February 15 and 16.

- Movie Night on February 23 is an offshoot of the very successful screening of documentaries and a movie during Reggae Month 2014

The annual Dennis Brown tribute event is organised by The Dennis Brown Trust, Leggo Records, Sounds and Pressure and the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA). Artistes perform in tribute to Dennis Emmanuel Brown. 

Visit  www.jariajamaica.com to get information on all Reggae Month activities.

THIS REVOLUTION NEED NOT BE TELEVISED

Gungo Walk Festival 2014

As new roads provide a tool to strengthen and extend commercial hegemonies, so do mutli-discipline entertainment/cultural events provide a tool to extend and renew a Jamaican cultural hegemony which, while still strong, has been buffeted over the last decade or so.

In that respect, the 2014 renewal of the Gungo Walk festival, on the campus of the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts this past weekend, could well be regarded as a cultural super-highway awaiting pavement.

Except that the organizers are thankfully, not waiting for whatever covering may on offer from officialdom; truth be told, its foolhardy to really expect the State, locked into admittedly stale yet still lucrative conventions, to nurture the seeds and saplings of its own destruction, or at least deconstruction.

But, the above is political discourse, a sideshow at best. The main event is every bit worthy of attention and support, from the “soul-Rasta” stylings of Mackeehan – joined artfully for a brief yet intense moment by Duane Stephenson, to the “modern dub” of Don Z, who best managed to blend the roots sensibility with a genuinely roughneck DJ delivery, aided and abetted by some extra tasty riffs from the accompanying Dubsmart band. One can hear the legitimacy of the heritage in the rendition of Peter Tosh’s “Steppin’ Razor” by Alexandra Love and the Warriah Love band.

And it shines through in the unexpected yet more than welcome revelation that is Shanique Brown, aka GiRL. Nurtured at Ardenne, she and an able quartet of young men took command of the stage and of the audience’s affections with such unapologetic aplomb that by the end of her bouncy, sing-along original “Press Play” (preceded by the deceptively simplistic “Love” there was little doubt about the future health of Jamaican popular music – at least nt from a live performance viewpoint.

There was also Maria Lindsay. The 17-year old Campionite, largely self-taught, delivered of herself a well-modulated yet near epic (in the best sense of that overused term) exposition of musical talent that endeared her to the growing audience gathered on the school ground, doing two originals (including “Wish” already in modest radio rotation) that wiped out her tentative start with Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song”.

The festival also affirmed that the present generation of young Jamaicans (whichever letter you want to assign them) may be closer to actual revolution than might be otherwise thought. They are certainly on point in terms of acknowledging the Africanness which the oligarchy – with Government’s tacit approval – has sought to deny while exploiting for decades.

For proof, look no further than the progress of capoeira, that mythical Afro-Brazilian dance of war and of identity, in Jamaica. Led by  maestro Eckart, the capoeira troupe, ranging in age from prep- schoolers to adults, showed, in their mix of athleticism and angularity, the ongoing assimilation process.

Assimilation worked in reverse as well: another Brazilian import, singer Soraya laid down a vibe of funky grace, clad in various iterations of her nation’s colours while going through reggae both classic and contemporary, in Jamaican as well as in her native tongue, the accent serving only to sweeten the effect.

And there was much more than music on offer -  dramatic presentations, dance, film all took their concurrent and independent turns for the audience’s attention and they in turn appeared happy to be made nomads, shuffling from stage to stage and room to room in search of the next enjoyment. In addition to festival merchandise, there was also a genuinely eye-catching array of handcraft items, and the near ubiquitous (but definitely welcome) I-Nation Books.

So if, in fulfilment of the late Gil Scott-Heron’s now iconic statement, “the revolution will not be televised” then we need not worry too much (though the publicity might loosen a few purse strings). It will be phone-shared, Googled, Facebooked, Instagrammed and tweeted far and wide, and even without those interventions, this, is clearly a movement whose energy will not be inhibited nor quenched.

Big and broad, Gungo Walk!