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

Early Departures: Keesing Live and Morgan Heritage, RETV Unplugged

The Keesing Live shows may be the best live concert series you haven't heard of.
That's no fault of the organizers Alternative Music (singer-producer-whatever's required Charmaine Limonious and engineer-producer Bobby Stewart). They frenetically promote and work the shows before and after each date amid their already crammed professional and personal schedules.

And amid a live scene that's still partly on life support (with corporate funding going more to parties and hit parade overseas act showcases) its a bona fide miracle: the show starts on time - always, artists are accommodated decently and professionally and, a one might expect, lighting, staging and audio are always spot-on (maybe a few minor glitches but nothing to mar the production.

And so it was at the most recent Keesing outing, with visiting Nation of Islam leader Farrakhan in the audience, there were commendable deliveries from Kelissa (with of-the-moment reggae hero Chronixx unobtrusively providing background vocals off stage), the live return of history-making Rising Stars winners One Third (first group to win the competition) and the blind - but certainly not disabled - singer, Kandi, who admirably raised the curtain.

other duties prevented this writer from catching the curtain-closers, legendary Jamaican pop storytellers Ernie Smith ("Duppy or Gunman") and Pluto Shervington "Your Honour", "Sweet Jamaica") who jokingly remarked in the pre-stage lounge that there's "too much blood in my rum stream"

if quality musicianship and a tight production ship are your style of live entertainment, then you owe it to yourself to help make Keesing Live a less-kept secret.

A few days after, over at the Countryside Club (fast returning to its previous stature as a live venue of note) the singing Morgans, aka Morgan Heritage, held court, speaking to media - well, primarily to IRIE-FM and TVJ, but with others of us "let in" on it; they addressed a wide range of topics, from the ravages of Chik-V to the ravaged state of Jamaican music.

Again, time and other logistical pressures kept from getting the "Full Morgan" but they have been touring behind their most recent album, "Here Come the Kings" as well as pursuing their respective individual projects

C2W is now "all-rights" CEO speaks of impending diversification, path to profitability

"We  still believe that publishing is one of the best business opportunities in the entertainment business, but the properties that we hold, the copyrights, they do take time to develop, so we are re-aligning ourselves toward growing revenues and profitabliity in the short term"

With those words, Ivan Berry, CEO of embattled music publishers C2W Music set the stage, at the   Knutsford Court hotel in Kingston last weekend, for the company's transition into the now oft-mentioned "360 Model" in that it will, in addition to its core business, C2W will enter the artiste management business and also strengthen its existing sub-publishing collection deals with global music labels /publishers BMG and Warner-Chappell. "We are now an 'all-rights company'" Berry stated, but with a proviso that event promotion will not be a significant avenue of investment for the company. there are, however, plans to revive the Songwriting Camps, which while draining cash, also produced, according to the exec, much of the company's copyrights bank.

Berry, a former BMG exec, spoke passionately, candidly and at length about the company's vision, trials and prognosis. C2W presently holds some 900 copyrights, a few of which have begun to turn some much-needed revenue for the company. Notable among them are the tracks "Richest Girl" by Etana, and "Without A Woman" which is the lead single on the rising new album by Maxi Priest (featuring Beres Hammond). Another C2W property, "Supersoaker" has been recorded by soca star Skinny Fabulous in tandem with top Romanian singer, Andreea Balan.

The company, according to both Berry and President Derek Wilkie, did turn a profit for the 2nd quarter of this current year, and projections are for the third quarter to be similarly profitable.But they declined to give actual figures, and clearly, it will take many quarters of profit to wipe out the deep red stain on the company's books to date, not least a USD620,000 loss for the year just ended and a liabilities over assets ratio of roughly 9:1

The AGM also wlecomed new directors, drumming legend Sly Dunbar and Clyde Mckenzie, the latter present for part of the meeting

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!

Wayne "Marshals" Family and Friends for album launch

Arguably not every artiste an enlist the services of a Tessanne Chin, Assassin, aka Agent Sasco and Tarrus Riley for an album showcase.

But then, not every artiste is Wayne Marshall, who officially presented his latest full-length "Tru Colours" to the public at Chris Gayle's Triple Century Sports Bar in New Kingston.

he began the performance segment in a more serious guise, attending to social issues like violent crime ("Strike Them") and diverging paths ("On The Corner" which samples REM's 'Losing My Religion') before dedicating a segment to wife Tami Chynn who was absent from the proceedings.

Marshall has varied association's with Bounty Killa's Alliance camp (Killa turned up to support but did not take the stage), as well as with Damian "Jr Gong" Marley (who has executive producer credits on the disc) as well as with footballer BiBi Gardner (a fellow Wolmerian) and the aforementioned guest artistes.

And it was Riley, guesting on "Nah Give Up" , Tessanne (who also performed her latest single "Everything Reminds Me of You") and Assassin on "Go Hard" and "Stupid Money" (also featuring Marshall's 8-year old son Gio) who added most life to the night's offering.

Guests, drawn from the music, sports and business worlds, sipped specia Tru-Juice and Appleton cocktails through the night.

"Fyah and Ice" for Keesing renewal Aug 23

Comedian/radio host (not to mention LIME pitchman) Donald "Iceman" Anderson and roots reggae rockers Raging Fyah are among the smokin' entertainment acts on the bill for the latest renewal of the universally excellent Keesing Live series, which is set for this Saturday (Aug 23) at the Alternative Music HQ on Keesing Avenue.

Also appearing will be Jermaine Blake.

Raging Fyah, who released their sophomore set "Destiny" earlier this year, are recently returned from a European tour.

Hamlet “To Be” in Jamaica Aug 26

“Hamlet” contains arguably the most oft-quoted of William Shakespeare’s myriad quoted lines.

: “To be or not to be. That is the question”

And simple as it may sound, that is the question that has occupied succeeding generations of dramatists, as well as legions of actors, critics, psychologists, and the merely curious for centuries.

Similarly, the title role of "Prince of Denmark" has been make-orbreak for many of the world's greatest actors.

Now the UK’s Globe Theatre Comp

any will give Jamaican Shakespeare aficionados and those prepping the text for Lit exams the opportunity to witness the full scope of the bard’s genius come August 26, with a special fund-raising performance of Hamlet, at Kingston’s Little Theatre.

The Jamaican production is part of a worldwide tour mounted by the venerated company in honour of its iconic associated, whose birth was noted earlier in the year.

A Fundraiser for the Arts Foundation of the EMC, the performance will cost 5K per ticket, and will be under the patrojnage of British High Commissioner, H.E. David Fitton.

The Globe Compant production is supported by  First global Bank