By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
Skatta Bonnick, the former lead singer of The Bloodfire Posse, gave a rousing performance at the tribute to Carl Ayton. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
IT WAS a wonderful walk down memory lane when several musicians gathered together to celebrate the life of the late Carl Ayton, drummer, engineer, producer and creator of the band The Bloodfire Posse.
The evening, which took place last Wednesday at the Grog Shoppe, was organised by Gibby Morrison, and the proceeds went to starting a trust fund for Ayton's son Liu. Morrison also performed as a bass guitarist in what was a great evening filled with wonderful music being played by some of the best Jamaican musicians.
As a part of this tribute, Skatta Bonnick, former lead singer of Bloodfire Posse, also spent some time at the microphone. By the time he got to the stage in the latter part of the evening, the musicians who had graced the stage had gone through several rotations. The audience was already aware that with the number of musicians who had already made their way to the stage, they were a part of something that does not happen very often, and seemed very eager to enjoy what was left to come.
When Bonnick was on-stage, there were Junior Byrd Bailey on drums, Nigel Staff on keyboard, and Rupert Bent Jr. on guitar. Bent was making his second appearance on the stage, having started off the evening with Bowie McLauglin (keyboards), Gibby Morrison (bass) and Randevon Patrick (drums).
Their performance brought back the heydays of The Bloodfire Posse and the audience loved it. When Skatta yelled "Dubwise!" the crowd went wild. So began an energetic performance of Rub-a-dub Soldier.
Bonnick then followed up with Get Flat. For this song, he interchanged the chorus 'Everybody get flat' with 'Everybody just clap!' and the audience willingly went along with him.
He rounded off his performance with a great party song from the latter Bloodfire Posse years, Can't Stop Rocking Tonight. It was a highly energetic performance, the kind which makes one want to throw both hands in the air and yell "Bloodfire!"
Desmond Young, the president of the Jamaica Federation of Musicians, also paid tribute to his former first vice-president. Although many people today are more used to hearing him talk at one function or the other, he demonstrated that he can sing. Young said he met Ayton at the Jonkunnu Lounge in the '70s 'before AIDS invent', before he went on to sing Love Won't Make Me Wait.
Another musician who many had not seen for took to the stage. It was Charlie Chaplin. One of the last persons to take to the stage, Chaplin performed an ode to marijuana, Long Time Man a Lick Chalice. From there he moved to Rescue Me, which is based on the hymn-like tune Let it Be.
Throughout his musical career, Ayton had worked with numerous artistes, many of whom came to show their support. Other artistes and musicians who performed were A. J. Brown, Karen Smith, Christopher McDonald, Dean Fraser, Desi Jones, Glen Brownie, Seretse Small, Sabrina Williams, Maurice Gordon and Peter Ashbourne. As a result, the evening lasted for close to three hours without an intermission.
