Rocksteady pioneer Nerlin Taitt dead
Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Taitt
Nerlin ‘Lynn’ Taitt, the Trinidadian guitarist many musicologists credit with the birth of rocksteady, has died. The WACK 90.1 radio station in Trinidad reported on its website that he passed away at age 75 on Wednesday in Montreal, Canada.
No cause of death was given.
Taitt, who was born in Trinidad’s San Fernando region, emigrated to Canada in 1968. He first came to Jamaica in August 1963 as a musician to play in celebrations to mark Jamaica’s first year of Independence from Britain.
He became a regular session player in Jamaica during the ska era, recording with the genre’s biggest acts including The Skatalites and Derrick Morgan.
But it was the rocksteady sound that Taitt is most associated. He perfected that beat by playing in influential bands such as The Cavaliers, Comets and The Jets, which was the most prolific.
His bandmates in The Jets included guitarist Lynford ‘Hux’ Brown, keyboardists Gladstone Anderson and Winston Wright and saxophonist Headley Bennett.
Among the many hits Taitt played on was Take It Easy by Hopeton Lewis, which many argue is the first rocksteady song. He also worked on Girl I’ve Got a Date by Alton Ellis.
musicians
Taitt recorded with Jamaica’s biggest producers of the 1960s, including arch-rivals Clement ‘Coxsone’ Dodd and Arthur ‘Duke’ Reid, Bunny Lee, Sonia Pottinger and Leslie Kong.
Some of Taitt’s most appreciated work was done with Kong, a Chinese-Jamaican who was the first person to record Bob Marley. Taitt played on most hit songs by singer Desmond Dekker, Kong’s star act.
His jangly opening riffs helped make Dekker’s 007 (Shantytown) a classic.
Taitt also recorded several songs with African-American impresario Danny Sims and singer Johnny Nash.
In the 1970s, Taitt was part of a colony of rocksteady musicians living in Toronto. Others included Leroy Sibbles of The Heptones, and keyboardist Jackie Mittoo who Taitt worked with in The Skatalites.
Audrey Reid back to her roots
“One more dictionary! Unu see how me haffi buy one more dictionary fi me son? I don’t know why him caan stop lose tings!” This is the greeting from Audrey Reid, dictionary in hand, as she hurriedly alights her SUV, in an attempt to make up for lost time. The star of stage and screen is not typically late for appointments but this morning a meeting with her son’s teacher has delayed her arrival. Those who know her would not be surprised. Reid is a very committed mother of three, a fact which is underscored by her decision to join the cast of Passa Passa Daily, the latest comedic offering from Stages Productions. “I had other offers on the table but that would mean extended time away from my children. Passa Passa Daily presented an opportunity to remain at the top of my game while taking care of my family, so it was a win-win situation,” offers Reid.
Popularly known for her role as Marcia in the film Dancehall Queen, she reminds us that this is a minute fraction of her work having showcased most of her craft overseas, particularly in England. Her impressive repertoire includes Shakespeare, melodramatic and religious-themed productions and now having started her career in roots, she is excited to be back. “Establishing my own style has been central to ensuring my longevity as an actor. Audiences can expect me to be unpredictable but at the same time they know that I am going to be true to the character, nothing watered down. If I don’t think I can do justice to a role, I don’t do it. I ensure that even the costumes make a statement about my character”, says Reid.
This time around she takes on the role of Bibsy whom she describes as colourful, mouthy, cantankerous, inquisitive, coarse, a big “set-on”, even while being one of the biggest cowards in the community. Bibsy is the ‘out-a-road’ correspondent for Chu Chu (Cleve Warren) who is trying to establish herself as a reporter for the newspaper Passa Passa Daily. Bibsy manages to get her new employer Chu Chu in a world of trouble. They are both a match made in…well, definitely not heaven. Garfield ‘Bad Bwoy Trevor’ Reid, director of the production, is happy to have the star on board. “Audrey has excellent command of the stage and the ability to manipulate the audience without even saying a word. I articulate my vision and she’s good to go, it just happens. It’s a riot to see her teamed with Chu Chu.”
Written by Everton Dawkins, Passa Passa Daily is the third instalment of the highly successful Passa Passa series and places Reid in a cast including season favourites Chu Chu, Pearl (Suzette Barrett) and Officer Roy Lickshot (Stede ‘Jooky Jam’ Flash). The cast is completed by seasoned actors Orville Hall (Nyah), Patrick Smith (Mayor Blackwood), Felisha Lord (Darling), Luke Ellington (Stylish) and newcomer Evelyn ‘Carnival Mumma’ Forbes (Icilda). Passa Passa Daily opens on Friday, February 5, 2010 at the Green Gables Theatre.
CHERINE
MAKES JAZZ FEST DEBUT
Dancehall Soulstress to share stage with Babyface, Joss Stone and more…
A musical breath of fresh air, the young artist hails from the tough streets of East Kingston, Jamaica, and has spent the last two years building a reputation of hard-hitting songs and captivating live performances. Cherine became familiar to Jamaican audiences first as an acclaimed child actress, having starred in two of Jamaica’s most successful films, Dancehall Queen and One Love. She has been nominated for multiple awards and was named Best Actress in a feature by MTV2 for the film One Love.
Movies aside, the singer/songwriter’s debut recording “Good Love” appeared on Sly & Robbie’s Grammy Award nominated album Anniversary. Media and reggae music lovers both at home and abroad quickly took notice of Anderson’s powerful voice . She has been steadily rising with local hits like “Coming Over Tonight”, “Kingston State of Mind”, “Good Love” and more recently “Talk if Yuh Talking” and “Shine On Jamaica”.
When asked what we can expect from her performance on Jazz, she responds, “Come out and expect to have a good time. There is a lot going on in the world right now so this performance is more than just entertainment, it’s for a cause. Jazz & Blues has decided to donate to Haiti’s Earthquake Relief, and I’m gonna give it my everything. I’ll be performing something extra special for my supporters and those who will be seeing me for the first time.”
Last year was a big year for Anderson. She performed at three events celebrating the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington DC (The Green Ball, The Peace Ball, Rock the Vote/Calvin Klein inaugural party), as well as the World Games Special Olympics in Idaho, USA. In August 2009, Cherine made history by becoming the first Jamaican female singer to hit the Billboard Rock charts. She is credited as a featured performer on Michael Franti and Spearhead’s “Say Hey (I Love You)” single. The song peaked at #1 on Billboard Heatseekers charts as well as iTunes Alternative Charts. “Say Hey (I Love You)” also reached #18 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts, and simultaneously registered on six other Billboard charts (Digital Songs, Pop Song, Adult Contemporary, Adult Pop Songs and the Radio Songs charts).
Tyrical Gives Exciting Performance At Pepsi Rebel Salute
Fast rising deejay Tyrical who has been nominated by the Excellence in Music and Entertainment Awards in the Break through Artist of the Year category, gave a delightful performance at the just concluded Pepsi Rebel Salute which was held on Saturday night. Clad in a yellow outfit Tyrical came on stage sometime after 10:PM singing his big hit tune Want My Own, which immediately drew a very positive response from the large audience.
The very creative deejay showed off his versatility by performing a reworked version of Reggae King Bob Marley’s classic No Woman Nuh Cry, entitled No Haiti No Cry. His passionate tribute to the people of the earthquake stricken country was all also a winner with the audience. He closed out his short but entertaining set with Ghetto Prayer and World Lock.
Tyrical is currently enjoying good rotation on radio stations both locally and abroad with new singles such as Want Mi, Too Close, War Inna Reggae and Bless Mi Soul.
Protoje Collaborates With Don Corleon
2010 is shaping up to be an explosive year for talented new reggae artist Protoje, who is looking to take his career to new heights under the guidance of his cousin Donovan ‘Don Corleon’ Bennett. Since he began working with the topflight record producer last December he has been writing and recording a number of tracks to complete his upcoming album The Seven Year Itch. The first fruit of this wonderful collaboration is a haunting reggae track titled Dread which has been getting heavy radio play both locally and abroad since its release two weeks ago. Dread has been endorsed by the likes of top jocks such ZJ Liquid (ZIP FM), ZJ Elektra (ZIP FM) and DJ Wayne (IRIE FM) among others.
“A Don Corleon production will be very good to build on my current momentum,” said Protoje, whose given name is Oje Ollivierre.
“Dread was the one,” explained Corleon as he recalls listening to a selection of his kin’s tracks one day in his studio. After being told that the tune had been recorded and remixed on three separate occasions without the desired outcome, the prolific hit making producer decided it was time for proper execution. The first verse begins with a reminiscent reference to the recently arrested Buju Banton (“hockey jersey inna heat, Patrick Ewings on the feet / Buju Banton on the beat, uunu ‘member dat! / ’92 December dat!”), a mere coincidence since Protoje wrote the song a long time ago.
Don had been following Protoje’s music for much longer than most in the industry but wanted to give the artiste more time to grow and develop as a vocalist and a songwriter. However after watching Protoje perform at the Seven Year Wish concert last December at Weekenz Don was thoroughly impressed. Protoje who was the headline act for the event which was staged by his record label and management company House Of Diggy, had delivered a very exciting performance that left everyone in the venue in awe. Dread was among the songs he performed and Don was there to witness it up close.
Since then, industry insiders have been implying – indeed expecting – that Protoje is destined for international stardom. This has lead many to wonder why it took Don Corleon so long to collaborate with the artiste given the blood connection.
“Not because he’s my cousin means I was going to just give him a buss in the business. He had to prove himself first,” said Don. “Now his writing is better and his vocals have improved tremendously.” “He is indeed ready for the big break now.”
Timmi Burrell Scores His First Number One
After several weeks on the RETV MVP video charts Westside Konnection Records recording artist Timmi Burrell has finally jumped into the number one spot with his music video for his self produced single, titled Why Did You Leave. The Negril based artist and his management team is very happy about the response the video has received since it was released late last year. The music video is also receiving good rotation on other television stations such as HYPE TV, CVM, CVM PLUS and NTV.
“I am very happy that my video is number one right now on RETV.” “It’s my first of many to come, I am looking for great success this year and the year is young”, said the artist whose real name is Clive Timothy Burrell.
Timmy Burrell is also booked to appear on this year’s staging of the Miss Beaches Sand Bay beauty pageant. This event will be held at the Kool Runnings Water Park in Negril on Saturday the 30th of January.
Richie Spice Wows Negril Escape crowd
| Written by TORI SHAE | |
An overwhelming amount of patrons came out to see topflight reggae artist Richie Spice in performance on Tuesday the 19th of January at the Negril Escape Resort. The event was the weekly Negril One Love Reggae concert series, which is proving to be quite a hit amongst music lovers in the western end of the island. On Tuesday night Richie Spice delivered that could possibly be the performance of the series, which has had some very memorable performances so far from the likes of Sanchez, Tarrus, Riley, Jah Cure, Chaka Demus and Pliers, Etana, Freddie McGregor and Queen Ifrica. |
source: entertainment by Rallo, one876entertainment.com, jamaicagleaner.com, jamaicaobserver.com
Lady Gladys Bustamante died on Saturday in the Tony Thwaites Wing of the University Hospital. She had been ailing in recent years and was confined to bed. Tributes have since been flowing in for the stalwart who stood up for women’s rights.
Shaggy, who will be headlining the Ottawa Reggae Festival on August 23, was reportedly robbed last weekend in Dortmund, Germany, according to Germany’s BILD news. Following what was described as a vibrant concert at the club Rush Hour, Mr Lover Lover, who was said to be a little tipsy that night, reportedly invited two young women to his hotel room following the concert.
