In terms of reviews, it's great to be able to start the year off with a fun event I attended last year- I'm not the person to post things instantly as in my view all good things last!
Delroy Wilson was a trail blazer and Jamaica's first child star. You can find more background information regarding this tribute in my previous post.
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| Myself and DJ Cabbage Man |
On to the event. I arrived early and having time to spare but not to waste, chatted with the DJ's who were busy setting up but still happy to give me their time- a must in this industry! I spoke mainly with DJ Cabbage Man- you read that right, and yes, of course I asked, 'why DJ Cabbage Man?' 'Well,' he said. 'You want a name that everyone's going to remember.' And that's the truth, I have remembered his name to this day. With that said, I'll just mention the other DJ on the night was DJ Rohan. With regards to the tribute, DJ Cabbage Man was the last person to interview Delroy Wilson, so having him there to represent was extremely fitting.
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| DJ Cabbage Man with DJ Rohan |
Devon Morgan hosted the evening and displayed his first hand knowledge of Delroy's family. For those of you who don't know, Devon is an extremely gifted actor and stand-up comedian who has appeared in many plays over the years, alongside other significant actors such as Oliver Samuels and Audrey Reid. That is only a superficial introduction and at some point I would like to interview Devon again. Here is Devon introducing Delroy's Son Konan, - please scroll through the playlist to enjoy a full flavour of this tribute.
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| Momo, Konan, Frederica, Zeena |
I really enjoyed the evening, especially since the artists performed in close proximity to us. You could feel how much this meant to everyone, which was partly the intention of the evening so we were blessed with very good performances.
Donna Michael set the tone for the tribute with a very relaxed, 'I Want to Love You,' a good reason to share her video directly to the blog. I'm not set on listing the performances in order, however, Frederica Tibbs was up next and sang 'I'm Still Waiting,' Acapella style, due to a little technical issue and was well received. I love Frederica's singing and she is a very consistent performer who used to open for Delroy back in the day.
Johnny Orlando- I can only say WOW! This man has incredible energy which I recalled from years ago when I first saw him perform in Balham. Watching Johnny's wonderful combinations of steps and slides with the occasional spin... and... wait for it... the splits, almost takes your breath away- I think he could out dance a lot of young people and he's singing at the same time- effortlessly. To witness the action check 'The Midnight Hour,' and 'These arms of mine' where Johnny speaks with Donna and Konan.
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| Devon and Johnny |
Funnily enough, I was with Zeena Banks when I first saw Johnny Orlando, which led to a little reminiscing. For the tribute, Zeena was invited to sing her own popular song, 'True Friends.' Zeena is a talented Dancehall artist with a huge personality- you can check us messing about here at Winsome Moncrieffe Mitchell's album launch!
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| Johhny, Momo, Little Roy, Donna, Frederica-Devon (back) |
I was not familiar with Momo Watt who, I've discovered, has quite a catalogue of great songs. I have two recordings on Its Braap TV that you can listen to: 'A Change is Gonna Come' and 'Rain From the Sky,' both very popular hits. Momo is extremely cool and I really like the way he delivers his songs, compelling you to listen. It is so good to hear singers who can be so easily understood, which is not the case with many of today's popular artists. So, from one excellent performer to a man who had his first hit at the age of sixteen with Bongo Nyah, Little Roy- who had just arrived from Luton. Little Roy is recognised as a founding father of Roots Reggae and has worked with so many of the people we revere. Tribal War was the only song of his that recorded well enough to share and sadly I only managed to capture part of it, which is a shame. I'll add that Tribal War is Little Roy's own hit song. I think it's so good of Little Roy to come all that way to pay tribute to a fellow artist, and we all appreciated the opportunity to watch the master perform.
The evening was rounded off as all the singers gathered together to pay tribute to Delroy, led by Johnny Orlando, who sang 'I'm in a dancing mood' leading into a medley including, 'Give me oil in my lamp keep me burning,' I think this song summarises the intention behind this wonderful event. For the record, the next show is being planned and will feature different artists.
Over to you!!! Do you have a great
story to tell? What have you overcome and how? Are you organizing an event that
you’d love to share? Have you written an article, poem or short story you would
like featured? If so, please contact me with brief info via my Facebook
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I will get back to you. And subscribe to our YouTube channel at Its
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Jaz McKenzie~ The Word Magician
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