February 26, 2008
Something magical happens when the Marley boys share a stage.
It was as if Julian, Ziggy, Damion, Stephen and Ky-Mani were channelling various personas of their father Bob, who the world hails as one of its greatest performers, inside the Smile Jamaica Africa Unite concert, held last Saturday on James Bond Beach in Oracabessa, St Mary.
The performing brothers joined their eldest brother Ziggy - who had just completed his solo set (Let Jah Will Be Done; Melody Maker anthems Tomorrow People and Look Who’s Dancing; Love Is My Religion) - on stage at about 4:30 am yesterday morning. And it was as if Bob himself were reincarnated before the seemingly still-not-daunted audience - most of whom, were on their feet since 8:00 pm Saturday night.
The colours of Rastafari emblazoned on flags, soared above heads, while screams of approval solidified the welcome which audience members showed for Stephen Marley’s rendition of Rat Race, followed by Ky-Mani on Road Block and Damion ‘Junior Gong’ Marley on his delivery of War.
American R&B singer John Legend dancing with a woman he plucked from the VIP section of the audience.
A couple more tracks from their late father’s repertoire followed before young Gong brought the crowd to new heights with his version of Exodus, complete with fire rapid rhyming and compelling beat. He continued to hold the audience’s attentions with Welcome to Jamrock from his Grammy-winning album of the same name, as well as Mission.
The indomitable Bunny Wailer, the only surviving member of The Wailers, also shared inflections of the man whom he called friend. Wailer, clad in white satin with red, green and gold detailing, paid tribute to Marley by performing several of his songs including No Woman No Cry as well as post-Wailer material.
All the while, the banners continued to fly.
“Sometime we categorise artistes. This man yah transcend all categories. We want to give you the man dat seh Ordinary People,” said formidable MC Mutabaruka in his introduction of American R&B artiste John Legend. The introductory chords of Get Lifted from his 2005 debut album of the same name elicited screams among the audience, even as the stellar performer stood front of stage to greet his fans.
“What’s Up Jamaica?” Legend asked before singing Save Room and Slow Dance, from his sophomore album Once Again. On the latter track, Legend invited an all-too eager ‘empress’ to the stage to accompany him in dance.
“Sometimes we don’t mind doing it in public. We doing it in the park tonight, y’all ready?” he posed as an apt transition into PDA (We Just Don’t Care), its rhythm remixed into a fast-pace, jerky shuffle with pounding bass.
Bunny Wailer on his rendition of No Woman No Cry.
Settling at his on-stage Yamaha piano even as the ladies continued to scream, Legend performed his biggest hit yet Ordinary People before Stay With You.
“A know a whole heap a people a seh, ‘How him a sing Tarrus Riley song?’, said Muta of Stay With You, “A nuh Tarrus song, a fe him (Legend) song.”
Legend, whose performance was eclipsed by the then virtually unknown Life Jennings at the Air Jamaica Jazz & Blues festival two years ago, gave an impressive showing and beautifully interpreted what the Jamaican audience would have liked. Still, it would have made his set more formidable had he covered a Bob Marley song . not entirely out of character for him, since on his first coming he covered Dennis Brown Revolution and it’s even rumoured that he sometimes now performs Stay With You with reggae influence.
Dancehall royalty Stone Love, more specifically selector G-Fuss, kept patrons entertained in-between the all-too long (and too many) band changes.
The American brand of R&B continued with the sounds of pop sensation and Bajan star Rihanna. She entered the stage in a gold burlesque-inspired bodice with green rhinestone detailing and tassels paired with ‘Dorothy-in-the-Wizard-of-Oz-type’ sparkling ruby shoes and of course, the trademark coiffed hair.
The image aside, the now 20-year-old singer outdid her 2006 Sumfest performance but was still not stellar, since the synchronisation between her voice and the pre-recorded tracks proved somewhat untidy; except for her opener, a cover of Marley’s Is This Love.
Notwithstanding, Rihanna’s bubble-gum-sing-along-type music, namely Hate That I Love You (featuring Neo on her latest album Good Girl Gone Bad), Shut Up And Drive and her biggest hit to date Umbrella, remixed with a rocksteady outro, found its mark.
Though the pop princess’ set was somewhat entertaining it seemed to dwindle after she mistakenly branded the St Mary locale as Kingston.
The Smile Jamaica Africa Unite concert included a host of other noteworthy performances namely Tarrus Riley; Queen Ifrica and Elephant Man whose set featured a cameo appearance by American teen prince of pop Chris Brown, among others.
The night’s bill, however, seemed daunting as the band changes were far too long and it was anyone’s guess as to which artistes were making themselves available to speak with the media.
Still, organisers must take credit for showcasing the now-internationally acclaimed brand of music that calls Jamaica its home and Marley its scion
