Della Manley was one of the performers at 'The Art Of Jamaican Music', at Weekenz, Constant Spring Rd, last weekend. - RICARDO MAKYN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
THE SKILLS of Della Manley and Home T combined to paint a musical tapestry at the June instalment of the Art of Jamaican Music series at Weekenz on Constant Spring Road.
Della Manley, with a black acoustic guitar which somehow seemed too big for her, led off the evening with her soulful ballads. Backed by Rupert Bent Jr. on guitar, Donald Waugh on bass, Christopher Tyrell on drums and Richie Foulks on keyboards started off the night with songs of love, loving and other things.
SPARSELY POPULATED
Manley delivered pieces from her debut album, Ashes on the Window Sill and from her upcoming work, scheduled for the end of summer. She allowed one song to ease into the other, with hardly the briefest pause and groove over the sparsely populated grounds. Most of the pieces were delivered without introduction and a light thank you, a smile or a grin was given in response to the audience's enthusiasm for each piece.
She broke this form when introducing Peter Pan. "I think I wrote this when I just turned 40 and I didn't want to face that number," she said. "But I think I've gotten over it." She also performed Moon Dance, Bitter Sweet, Ashes and Barbican Square which she later revealed may be the title of her forthcoming work.
PRAYER FOR THE COUNTRY
After a brief intermission Home T came to the stage. The trio began with heavenly father creator of all things which they dedicated as a prayer for the country. Beginning from different points in the song, the members of the group entered from different areas of the stage.
After that dramatic beginning they moved into Johnny Be Good before promising the audience a night filled with an "eclectic type a ting". Backed by Laurel 'Bird' Baille (drums), Karl Gibson (bass), Andre Carter (guitar), and Andrew Young and Jerome Tulloch (keyboards), they kept the promise.
Just Friends was then slipped into the repertoire before the trio turned to their own music. For this they pulled out the title track of their upcoming album Stronger Now. The audience was advised not to take the lyrics of the song too seriously, which may have been necessary so that the musicians could distance themselves from the shunned lover who was trying to get a second chance on the premise that he is "stronger now".
The group then turned to 'You Are So Beautiful' followed by 'For You'. They returned to their original work with 'Believe in Yourself' which was one of the weakest pieces of the night as it was bogged down by motivational clichés.
Fortunately, better times were still ahead as the group then pulled out a slew of songs from the 1980s moving from the 'Pirate's Anthem' through 'Turn it Off', 'Single Life', 'Don't Throw it Away', and 'Love is Where You Find It'.
Another night of the art of Jamaican Music is scheduled for July with Mickey Hanson, Dean Fraser, Hugh Pape and Luther Francois, revealed Seretse Small, series organiser. Later instalments of the series will also see Marjorie Whylie and Desi Jones taking over the Weekenz stage.
