Dale Virgo's Blog » Jamaica

I Have No Choice by Mark Lyttle

Dale — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 04:10:45 +0000

I came across this artiste last week when Sherine introduced me to him as one of her clients, check him out he has a great sound.

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/marklyttlemusic
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marklyttlemusic
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/marklyttlemusic1
LinkedIn: http://jm.linkedin.com/pub/mark-lyttle/38/99b/b61
Reverb Nation:http://www.reverbnation.com/marklyttlemusic
SoundCloud: http://soundcloud.com/marklyttlemusic

Jolly Boys in NY: New York Times Review

Dale — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:35:24 +0000

Albert reads the Jolly Boys review in The New York Times at the JFK International Airport on their way back to Jamaica.

Reprints

February 25, 2011

With Island Spice, and Years of Seasoning, Old is New Again

By JON PARELES

The Jolly Boys returned to New York City for their first public show here in decades like a Model T with a new CD player in the dashboard. At Hiro Ballroom on Thursday night, they had material few people would expect from a band that was started in the 1950s to play a style that was already decades old. The Jolly Boys have been entertaining people in Port Antonio, Jamaica, since then, often as a hotel’s house band, with a shifting lineup; Albert Minott, 72, recently stepped forward as lead singer.

The Jolly Boys cling to a Jamaican style called mento, a precursor to ska and reggae born out of older rural music. Mento is kin to old calypso and other Afro-Caribbean rhythms. But it has its own variant beats and its own cheerfully rickety instrumentation, including maracas, banjo and, instead of a bass, a rumba box: the player (Derrick Henry, a founding member of the group) sits on a box that’s like a supersized thumb piano, with wide metal prongs to plunk.

The Jolly Boys have been discovered before. From 1989 to 1997 they recorded four albums of their Jamaican songs for American labels. Only one member at the time, Joseph Bennett, is in the current band, on maracas.

At Hiro, the Jolly Boys turned to rock songs, but played two old mento songs: three-chord dance tunes that lurched and swayed their way toward potential singalongs. Mr. Minott sang with a hearty rasp; Lenford Richards, on banjo, switched between brisk, tinny rhythm chords and sauntering lead lines.

Then came songs from the band’s current album, “Great Expectation” (EOne Music). They were an unlikely assortment, trading Caribbean idylls and social commentary for alienation and post-punk self-consciousness. The set included the Stranglers’ “Golden Brown,” a song about heroin and lust; the Blondie hit “Hanging on the Telephone;” Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” and the Doors’ “Riders on the Storm.”

Each song got a mento treatment, with its own swaying, ambling beat and prickly banjo counterpoint. Mr. Minott let loose gravelly shouts in “Blue Monday,” New Order’s bitter estrangement song; Lou Reed’s affectionate “Perfect Day” became a melancholy ballad with a whistled countermelody, and Mr. Richards translated the lead guitar solo of Steely Dan’s “Do It Again” into a jittery Jamaican banjo excursion.

The songs were thoroughly incongruous, but not quite as gimmicky as a description might sound. Musicians in Jamaica have a long history of applying their rhythms to hits from abroad. By wrenching the songs so far away from their original versions, the Jolly Boys (and the British producers behind “Great Expectation”) forced them to be heard afresh. “The Passenger,” an Iggy Pop song, became a gallop along the open road; the Johnny Cash hit “Ring of Fire” hinted at arson. Meanwhile, the band was pioneering something different in mento: angst. Still, since the Jolly Boys visit New York so rarely, more of their own material would have been welcome.

THE JOLLY BOYS JOIN SADE AS SPECIAL GUESTS

Dale — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:18:43 +0000

THE JOLLY BOYS JOIN SADE AS SPECIAL GUESTS

Following a personal invitation from Sade, Jamaica’s legendary and iconic The Jolly Boys have announced that they will join Sade on their European tour this spring.

The Jolly Boys, once the toast of Jamaica with their traditional ‘mento’ music, have after five decades been enjoying a remarkable revival.

It was the legendary film star Errol Flynn who, having purchased a small swathe of Northeast Jamaica, would stage wild parties at his home, and provide his favourite entertainment in the form of a local mento band, whom he nicknamed The Jolly Boys.

Mento originated as country folk music, with origins in African sounds, but with influences from European and especially Celtic music. It pre-dated and influenced everything from ska to reggae to dancehall. However, the electrification of Jamaica and its independence in the 1960s led to the decline of mento music and a new musical voice, reggae.

It was in 2009 when music producer Jon Baker suggested The Jolly Boys record a new album featuring some surprising contemporary cover versions,[1] that mento music and The Jolly Boys were re-introduced to both Jamaica and the world. The album ‘Great Expectation’ released last year went on to receive rave reviews.

Singles from “Great Expectation” Album by The Jolly Boys by geejamstudios

In their 60-year existence a changing cast of at least 18 members has come and gone but now, as noted by The Observer’s Sarfraz Manzoor, ‘The Jolly Boys are finally getting the respect they deserve. With a combined age of 382, they make the Rolling Stones look like the Jonas Brothers’.

Since the release of their album, the band has performed on the BBC’s Later with Jools Holland, as well as mesmerising audiences at the Cambridge Folk Festival, Secret Garden Party and The Big Chill. Now Sade’s audiences will experience The Jolly Boys’ special brand of Jamaican magic.

Sade Live plus special guests The Jolly Boys – full ticket information:
Friday 27 May M.E.N. Arena, Manchester 0844 847 8000

Sunday 29 May LG Arena, Birmingham 0844 338 8000

Tuesday 31 May The O2 Arena, London 0844 856 0202

24 hour credit card hotlines: 0844 847 2450, 0844 209 7352
Online: www.ticketmaster.co.uk www.seetickets.com

Additional ticket and tour information can be found at www.SADE.COM and www.marshall-arts.com.

For information on The Jolly Boys visit www.jollyboysmusic.com. Great Expectation is available to purchase now on PIAS/Geejam Recordings.
For further information, please contact:

Ben Martin @ Marshall Arts

ben@marshall-arts.co.uk / + 44 20 7586 3831

Jolly Boys Jamaican Style (popculturevideomagazine.blogspot.com)

Dale — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 19:52:48 +0000

http://popculturevideomagazine.blogspot.com/2011/02/jolly-boys-jamaican-style.html

Errol Flynn gave this amazing band their name over 50 years ago.But it was John Baker who brought the Jolly Boys and their Mento style music to the Hiro Ballroom in New York, where they impressed even the most blase hipster. The Jolly Boys’ recent album, “Great Expectations” charted in eight European countries within the top-10 during 2010. ;Go and get it! Errol Flynn named this amazing band over 50 years ago in Jamaica, however, the Jolly Boys have only recently been noticed by the world. They rocked the HIRO ballroom and impressed even the most blase New York hipster. John Baker took the Jolly Boys out of their native land, to share Mento music with us. Find out more in this interview about a story much like the Buena Vista Social Club – Jamaican style. Their recent album, “Great Expectations”, charted in eight European countries within the top 10. Go and get it! jollyboysmusic.com

Updating u idiots

Dale — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 19:10:32 +0000

Hey Folks,
I am on the trail again with the Jolly Boys. We are currently in the Maldives having a whale of a time with vacation on the nice tropical paradise called Six Senses Resorts and Spa.

Maldives is the the middle of the Indian Ocean, check it out on google maps. Maldives on Google Maps

The Journey – It took us about 32 hours continuously to reach this place. We took 4 planes. We travelled from Montego Bay, Jamaica to London Gatwick on Virgin Atlantic, then From London Heathrow to Dubai, UAE on Emirates Airlines, from Dubai to Male, Maldives, on Emirates, then from there to the island where the resort is. In another blog post i will tell y’all more about the resort and if u wanna know about the jolly boys, guh chek dem blog. www.jollyboysmusic.com/blog

Ohh sorry for calling y’all idiots, i am just feeling so Jolly rite now.

Jolly Boys @ Redbones Cafe//July 3, 2010

Dale — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 03:32:46 +0000

On Saturday July 3, Geejam Productions will heat up the summer at Redbones Café in Kingston with Geejam Nights, a one-night-only concert event and party showcasing the Jolly Boys featuring Albert Minott and their new, modern take on mento, Jamaica’s first-time dance music.

First set begins at 8:00pm with a performance of the kind classic mento tunes your granny used to sing you when you were small. Then, at 10:00, the modern mento experience begins. The new-look Jolly Boys will play tracks from Great Expectation, their upcoming album of unique cover versions of songs made famous by artists including Amy Winehouse, the Clash, the Doors, and others, that fuse old-time style with modern beats and a fresh international vibe.

Among the throng of journalists flying into cover the event will be acclaimed & influential London DJ Chris Sullivan (of the Wag, Momo, Sketch and Supper Club), who will spin reggae, soul and funk in between sets and well into the night for your dancing pleasure.

Geejam nights is the official launch for the Jolly Boys and their new modern mento sound; it will be filmed for international release. Visit the Jolly Boys online at www.jollyboysmusic.com to see their music video of Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab” and to learn more about their summer European tour and album launch this fall.

http://www.redbonesbluescafe.com/events.htm

visit www.jollyboysmusic.com

Dale — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 15:26:43 +0000

Check out the Jolly Boys Website to see Videos, Interviews, Tour Dates, New Tracks, and to also participate in their blog. www.jollyboysmusic.com

THE JOLLY BOYS:Half a Century of Mento Madness

Dale — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:55:00 +0000

Taken from www.jollyboysmusic.com

Written and researched by Dr. Daniel Neely,

Pls. check out www.jollyboysmusic.com and become a fan on facebook @ facebook.com/jollyboys

In winter of 1946, Errol Flynn purchased Navy Island for the princely sum of US$80,000. For the next decade that small swath of land, not even 100 yards from the beaches of Port Antonio, became the berthing place for Flynn’s yacht Zaca, and the staging point for his unending party that is today the stuff of legend. The entertainment Flynn featured most often in those days was a small local group called the Navy Island Swamp Boys which consisted of Noel Lynch on Guitar, Moses Deans on banjo and “Papa” Brown on rumba box. The mentos, calypsos and rumbas they played were the perfect soundtrack for Flynn & co’s bacchanalian excesses.When this group broke up in 1955, Moses and Papa reformed the group with Derrick “Johnny” Henry on maracas & drum, Martell Brown on guitar, and David “Sonny” Martin on guitar. When Papa couldn’t make gigs, Allan Swymmer was brought in (he later became a permanent member). Legend tells us that Errol Flynn named this group “The Jolly Boys” after the vibe he caught from their playing. With Flynn’s imprimatur, the Jolly Boys music quickly defined mento and calypso entertainment in Port Antonio and set a high musical standard.

Although the Jolly Boys had a committed core of musicians, many others were pulled into and passed through its fold (to date, no fewer than 18 people have been official members). Access to a large number of musicians meant the Jolly Boys–a kind of musical family, custodians of a musical tradition–could take more gigs. One such group of “moonlighting” Jolly Boys was called the Mockingbirds; it was generally led by Allan Swymmer. Although a group leader, Moses sometimes led this kind of group as well. In fact, it was on a moonlighting gig in 1961 that Moses met future Jolly Boy Joseph “Powda” Bennett, who at the time was playing for people rafting down the Rio Grande; the two hit it off and formed an informal band that lasted for two years. (It was Moses who later pulled Powda into the band.)

By the end of the 1960s, the Jolly Boys had became an important part of the north coast’s entertainment industry, often performing with dance troupes in floorshows for elite Port Antonio visitors. One of the dance troupes the Jolly Boys very often performed with was led by Albert Minott, a young man of extraordinary talent. Albert specialized in hand-walking and fire eating, and impressed his audiences with his daring feats, but he also loved mento music. When he wasn’t busy dancing alongside the Jolly Boys in the floorshows of the 1960s, he joined them on rumba box whenever he could.

With the ascendence of reggae in the late 1960s, work slowed for mento bands. This forced the Jolly Boys to look for opportunity elsewhere and ultimately they split into two groups. Allan Swymmer moved to St. Ann’s Bay in 1969 where he started his own branch of the Jolly Boys, while Moses took his Jolly Boys group to the Round Hill estate in Montego Bay for a series of annual gigs. During this time, both groups maintained a very high musical standards (as seen on the Jolly Boys LP Lyrichord released in 1977) and kept regular contact with each other.

Then, in the early 1980s, Moses reformed the original Jolly Boys back in Port Antonio, with Swymmer leading on drum and Powda playing rumba box. They found abundant work in all of the parish’s major venues, including Jamaica Reef, Round Hill, Frenchman’s Cove, and Goblin Hill. But then, in 1989, singer-songwriter and producer Jules Shear saw the band during a visit to the Trident Hotel. Inspired, he recorded an album of their music and revealed their sound to a new generation of international listeners. Between 1989 to 1997, the group released a series of well known albums and toured internationally. On their way to being the most recognized mento band in the world, they even appeared in a scene in the film The Mighty Quinn, starring Denzil Washington.

In 1998, the group embarked on a new phase of its existence. Shortly after Moses passed away, the group began playing regularly at GeeJam, a residential recording studio in Port Antonio, for the artists recording there, a group that includes Gwen Stefani & No Doubt, the Gorillaz, Drake and Amy Winehouse. When GeeJam opened as a hotel in 2008, Jolly Boys became its house band and impressed co-owner Jon Baker with their poise and vibe. With the idea of documenting their music for future generations, Baker teamed up with Dale Virgo, GeeJam’s in-house studio engineer engineer, to co-produce their current album, Great Expectation.

Despite their busy schedule in Port Antonio, the group is still very much in demand in Jamaica and beyond. For example, it was a featured act in the Institute of Jamaica’s Mento in May concert in Kingston in 2003; later that year, it performed at the Montreal Jazz festival. In addition Powda was a featured mento performer in Monty Alexander’s Lords of the West Indies concert at New York City’s Jazz at Lincoln Center in 2008.

For nearly sixty years, the Jolly Boys and their tradition have persevered, largely due to their ability to draw from the community of original musicians who have been in the group’s orbit since the start. Today, the “foundation” group includes Joseph “Powda” Bennett on maracas, Derrick “Johnny” Henry on rumba box, Allan Swymmer on percussion, and Egbert Watson on banjo, with Albert Minott singing lead and playing guitar.

Still here in 2010, the Jolly Boys are truly timeless. With new members Donald Waugh on banjo, Lenford “Brutus” Richards on guitar and Dale Virgo on percussion, the group has a new sound and is ready to take yet another generation–and their bacchanalian excesses–by storm.

Mento was the music of the Jamaican dancehalls before ska, rocksteady and reggae came along. A people’s music typically played in the countryside on acoustic–often homemade–instruments, it dates to the late 19th century. Its lyrics often dealt with rude or slack topics, or addressed the social issues of the day. Although often confused with calypso (largely because calling it “calypso” was a handy way of marketing it to tourists who didn’t know any better), it has a rawness and rhythmic feel that is uniquely Jamaican.

Hour Glass by Nordia Witter (Tribute to Oneil Edwards of Voicemail)

Dale — Thu, 27 May 2010 17:07:36 +0000

This is a song I produced at Geejam Studios for Forward Recordings. The singer is Nordia Witter, check her out at www.myspace.com/nordiawitter

Also we are dedicating this song to to the family and friends of Oneil Edwards. RIP Oneil, you a one of the good yute dem. Also I want to also dedicate the song to my friend Nicole Barton who also died this week also.

Hour Glass (Tribute to Oneil) by Nordia Witter
To download the song, click here

Video director defends gangster plot (Drake “Find your love”)

Dale — Thu, 20 May 2010 19:22:17 +0000

Krista Henry, Gleaner Staff Reporter

Anthony Mandler, the director of American rapper Drake’s Find Your Love video, which was shot in Jamaica in April and features singjay Mavado as the ‘villain’ of the plot, has come out in response to Minister of Tourism Edmund Bartlett’s comments last week, warning local acts to be careful in how they portray Jamaica.

In defence of his video, Mandler said: “I’m not trying to make a statement about Jamaica. What we created was completely dramatic, completely scripted and not restricted to Jamaica. A lot of what happened in the video could have happened in 50 other countries. We used Jamaica because of the relationship Drake has there (in Jamaica), he’s recorded there and we wanted to use Mavado in the video.”

struggle

He added: “Jamaica, like a number of places, has a two-sided struggle within the country. There is the beautiful side with the beaches and the history and then there is the social struggle like other countries and we’re not trying to make a statement about that. The point is anything can happen which is true of anywhere.”

According to Mandler, he wrote the plot for the video along with Drake, with Mavado and others just acting.

He said: “I wanted to tell an anti-love story. The song is unusual for Drake and the album so we didn’t want to do the typical story. We wanted something that had danger in it and consequences, arrogance, the flip side of forbidden love. The reaction to the video on the international market has been crazy and that’s because of a lot of the visuals, the faces, the streets; all that you don’t see on a regular.”

This isn’t the first time the director has filmed in Jamaica but he described the experience as ‘incredible’, saying he got a lot of support from locals especially in Cassava Piece. On YouTube.com in one week, the video has almost three million views.

As to why subtitles weren’t included in the parts spoken in the local dialect, Mandler commented: “We didn’t want to take away from the beauty of the language, the mystery of what they’re saying, I’d rather have people watch it five times and then get it. The message is different to different people, the subtitles would have changed the meaning.”

The video stars Drake as a foreigner who falls in love with a woman who is romantically linked with a ‘gangster’ called Puffy played by Mavado. Drake is warned in the beginning of the video by an elderly Rastaman about not fooling around with Puffy’s girl. Drake, however, declares his affection for her and as the video progresses there are shots of him attending parties and getting intimate with her.

Drake soon introduces himself to the girl and is spotted by one of Puffy’s minions who then instructs his “dogs from the gully” to kidnap Drake. Drake is then confronted by a group of men and taken to an undisclosed location. Puffy tells Drake that he is out of place for coming to Jamaica and trying to get with his girl, saying “Anyting de a Jamaica belongs to the gully gad”, in reference to Mavado’s title as the ‘Gully God’.

Puffy instructs his woman played by video model Maliah Michel to “done him”. The video ends with the lady pointing the gun at Drake’s head before three shots are heard; Drake is not actually shown being shot.

However, Bartlett in his statement last week said: “We just have to say that care has to be taken by all including our creative artistes in portraying images of our destination and people.”

He also added that the message that is conveyed about Jamaica is wrong: “Gun culture, while not unique to Jamaica, is not enhancing.”

Mandler is one of the top commercial and music video directors having worked with acts such as Rihanna, John Mayer, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, T.I. and others.

The video was premiered internationally, more than a week ago.