Many Jamaicans still carry on the tradition of nine-night activities for the life of the dear departed.

The recent passing of actor Charles Hyatt saw many of his friends and theatre family holding nine-night celebrations for him on Friday night at the Little Theatre parking lot, Tom Redcam Avenue in Kingston. It began at 11:00 p.m. All the familiar faces from the world of the theatre came out to join the journey into what traditional nine-night is all about.

Elements of the nine-night

It had all the elements: from a leader (master of ceremoinies) who was wickedly verbose to the singers tracking songs from a sankey and their accompanying voices totally lacking in harmony (on purpose) plus the grumbles from dissenters of, "a no so i go."

The place filled up by midnight and the band laid out drums, tambourines and the longest 'pipe' you ever saw - from this came a bass-like sound.

The set was complete with lit candles and the bottle of 'whites' Charley's spirit was rewarded with liberal sprinkles of gungus and sent on its way by dancers who formed a line of traditional dances through the crowd and back on stage.

Old fashion

It was all there: dinki-mini, kumina, gherreh, bruckins and more. Intermission saw a selection of ska and rock steady tunes and everyone took the time to enjoy hot chocolate tea, fried fritters, hard-dough bread and jerked chicken.

There were two groups of singers and dancers from Portland and St. Ann. The women were costumed in ill-fitting dresses, high-heeled shoes and socks.

The men wore suits from another era. The young dancers wore brightly coloured costumes. As they sang chorus after chorus, the grunts came from deep inside the men's throats. It was a rich cultural feast.