By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari which performed at the Institute of Jamaica's lunch hour concert. - File
THE INSTITUTE of Jamaica focused their African History Month celebrations on Rastafari. In keeping with this theme, The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari performed at the monthly lunch hour concert, which took place in the Institute's Lecture Hall, 12 East Street, on Thursday afternoon.
Maurice Gordon on guitar and Zambo on trombone, joined the group of drummers, with Dean Frazer later adding his saxophone.
While music was the major offering, the students who gathered in the hall also got a minor lesson in different African languages, such as Yoruba and Ashanti. In fact, the first song was a Yoruba greeting, which was chanted. While many of the first lessons seemed to have gone unabsorbed, though not unappreciated, the audience soon caught on and began repeating what Mystic Revelation's Brother Sam said.
The performance of Psalm 137, The Rivers of Babylon, also went over very well with the audience. Brother Sam pointed out that it was chosen because "We were all carried beyond our borders in the Cari-beyond". The students sang along while keeping time with the music with light clapping and snapping. They were soon encouraged to add another dimension to the beat with louder rhythmic clapping, which they gladly did.
Encouraged by this, Sage, an up-and-coming poet, performed an impromptu dance (which was really more like hopping) at the front of the stage. The students seemed to enjoy his performance, short though it was, and cheered him along. The gathered students gave loud applause, both during and after the performance.
Another impressive piece, though much less known, Way Back Home, followed. This performance included another round of dancing, this time performed by Brother Sam. In the middle of the song, he told the students that Ethiopia is the only land mass that has never been colonised.
A more gospel-like flavour was then added, as The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari began a round of choruses which the students eagerly sang along with. They had to be told the words to the first chorus. They, however, needed no encouragement after that, as they all knew the songs very well, proving that they had not lied when they stated that they all went to church. They seemed to truly enjoy singing A Little More Oil in My Lamp.
The band's performance ended with When I Go Down Eena Egypt Land. During this performance, Brother Sam pointed to the use of amputation of the tongue as a method of silencing.
While the competence of the drummers must be noted, Dean Frazer's performance truly stood out. It was pointed out, however, that he had not been in rehearsal with the band and some of the pieces he had not heard before. Nonetheless, the screams and applause which accompanied Mr. Frazer's performance attested to the fact that, unrehearsed or not, the students greatly enjoyed his performance.
The end of The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari's performance did not signal the end of the afternoon's offerings however. The students were also treated to the poetry of Ras Jah Jah. Ras Jah Jah is also the graphic artist for the Institute of Jamaica. His poetry continued on the bent of a teaching process, his first poem dealing with the importance of education and the need for students to respect teachers as a part of that process.
