By Mel Cooke, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
IT WAS a lot like old times for poet Malachi on Tuesday night, as he launched his latest album at the Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts, Arthur Wint Drive, St. Andrew.
He was the guest poet at the monthly Poetry Society of Jamaica fellowship in the school's amphitheatre.
It was also a reunion of sorts, since before he began his performance which signalled the launch of Middle Passage, Malachi, Tomlin Ellis and Tommy Ricketts gathered for a recreation of a seminal group in Jamaica's literary history, Poets in Unity.
When the group photo was taken, though, Malachi was left to deliver his work and speak about the project. However, although he was alone at the microphone, his stint still had elements of unity, as Malachi spoke to old pals like poet Cherry Natural and journalist Basil Walters in the audience.
After 17 years in Miami, Malachi has lost none of his rhythm and performance skill, as he showed in delivering cuts from Middle Passage. After three albums, numerous performances and many awards, including the '2003 ReggaeSoca International Dub Poet of the Year Award', he has not lost his appetite for performing.
Malachi beamed, bounced, 'skanked' and danced briefly with a young lady as he went through the poems to an appreciative
audience. He started out with Bob and Peter, which makes an a capella as well as rhythm-accompanied appearance on Middle Passage. He kept in the vein of the reggae singers, as he followed up an ode to the Wailers with a request by Basil Walters, in which he put out the ad: 'Wanted, one rebel reggae singer!'
There were chuckles when he said "We done know every colour panty we sister wear."
Malachi not only had dub in his voice, complete with echoes and illustrative sounds such as gunshots where necessary, he also had it in his actions.
MEMORIES
As he bridged the gap between his stint in Miami and his life in Jamaica, he slow motion-strolled on the stage as he recited walking the middle of a long hill and gully road. He invoked memories of some long ago but still so near times, speaking of 'Barry G and JB Blind', spinning 'Dennis the Menace revolution'.
As he walked and talked, his voice very expressive and his expression intense, Malachi brought back memories of a cold war that was hot in the Third World, saying "America is America, Russia is Russia, Jamaica is a lamb to de slaughter."
He ended the excellent piece with still walking this long hill and gully road/from Jamaica to Miami/still searching for did prophecy fulfil.
Blue Morning captured his feelings about violence, preceded by a statement which showed his personal involvement in the conflict in Iraq. "My son ended up one of the first soldiers going in. Don't like the war then, don't like it now," Malachi said. "A lot of sad, sad things happen to humanity," he continued, before starting Blue Morning, which makes three appearances on Middle Passage, in which he took a mental world tour even as he climbed a mountain looking for 'Massa God', from the United States to the Persian Gulf to South America and Haiti, where:
I see people stranded at a cross-roads
Waiting on a boat fi carry dem cross de river
ME AN ME CROCUS BAG
When he got to the mountain top though, there was No God, no conference table/jus' me an me crocus bag a trouble.
I Miss My Jamaican Christmas was a nice, humorous lift after that very long, serious piece, followed by a poem which declared his intention not to miss number 18 - and eat "17 breakfast, 17 lunch, 17 dinner, one for every Christmas me miss."
Another request from Basil Walters, Carl Stone, called for investigative journalism of the calibre of that late, great writer, and was followed by Driva for all the mothers in the Diaspora.
Malachi ended a good performance with the only love song on Middle Passage, Jungle Fever, during which he fetched a willing young lady from the audience to dance with him to the infectious words and beat.
With that, Malachi said his goodbyes to warm applause.
