Nelson fell out of character early in the show to announce that Dr Olive Lewin, the founder of the Jamaican Folk Singers, was in the audience. Also causing frequent laughter was Big Boy in short khaki pants and a too-tight shift, playing a rather stupid student.Ĭlearly a versatile primary-school educator, Nelson moved the class from 'arithmetics' to Bible knowledge to history and, finally, before school was dismissed for the day, to concert preparation.Īppropriate songs were sung during the different sessions, including Colon Man, Bedward, Seven Ribba, 11 Times Table, Noah, Likkle Samuel, Rio Grande, May Pen Bull, Manuel Road and Long Time Gal. She and her frequent malapropisms lent much humour to the presentation. When the scene shifted from home to schoolroom, a stern-looking, 'speaky-spokey' teacher, hilariously played by Lilieth Nelson, was introduced. During set and costume changes throughout the concert, the band provided interludes of applause-evoking instrumental music. The lighting (designed by Michael 'Rufus' McDonald) and the rousing of children from bed illustrated the opening song, Wake up Beeny Bud.Īccompaniment for the song, and for most of the others to come, was provided by an excellent band comprising Maurice Gordon and Damion McCarthy (guitar), Calvin Mitchell and Phillip Supersad (drums), Albert Shaun Hird (flute), and Richard Williams. The narrative, which gave the show a welcome coherence, began in pre-dawn hours. Alone in all history he estimated the greatness of man.Sign up for The Gleaner’s morning and evening newsletters. Drawn by its severe harmony, ravished with its beauty, he lived in it, and had his being there. He saw with an open eye the mystery of the soul. “Jesus Christ belonged to the true race of the prophets. To prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid world, for the truth of which we pledge a faith yet unsullied by falsehood. all of which have in direct object the establishment of an absolute tyranny over these states. “The history of his present majesty, is a history of unremitting injuries and usurpations. If people could deal with one another honestly, they would not need agents. His function is too vague, his presence always seems one too many, his profit looks too easy, and even when you admit that he has a necessary function, you feel that this function is, as it were, a personification of something that in an ethical society would not need to exist. “Throughout the history of commercial life nobody has ever quite liked the commission man. In 2006 dubstep producer Skream released a mento inspired track with the title 'Check-It'.įamous quotes containing the word history: Stanley Beckford and Gilzene and the Blue Light Mento Band also revived rural mento in the 2000s. It was repopularized by the Jolly Boys in the late 1980s and early 1990s with the release of four recordings on First Warning Records/Rykodisc and a tour that included the United States. Lloyd Bradley, reggae historian and author of seminal reggae book Bass Culture said that he felt Lee “Scratch” Perry’s 1976 album ‘Super Ape’ contained some of the purest mento influences he knew. In the 1960s it was overshadowed by ska and reggae, but it is still played in Jamaica, especially in areas frequented by tourists. The golden age of mento was the 1950s, as records pressed by Stanley Motta, Ivan Chin, Ken Khouri and others brought the music to a new audience. Previously recorded Jamaican versions of many Belafonte's classic "calypso" hits can be heard on the Jamaica - Mento 1951-1958 CD released in 2010. Major 1950s mento recording artists include Louise Bennett, Count Lasher, Harold Richardson, Lord Flea, Lord Fly, Alerth Bedasse with Chin's Calypso Sextet, Laurel Aitken, Denzil Laing, Lord Composer, Lord Lebby, Lord Power, Hubert Porter, and New Yorker of Jamaican origin Harry Belafonte, whose massive hit records in 1956-1958, including "Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)" and "Jamaica Farewell" were really mento songs sold as calypso. Although the treatment of such subjects in mento is comparatively innocent, their appearance has sometimes been seen as a precursor of the slackness found in modern dancehall. Thinly veiled sexual references and innuendo are also common themes. Many comment on poverty, poor housing and other social issues. The lyrics of mento songs often deal with aspects of everyday life in a light-hearted and humorous way. They subsequently incorporated some elements of these traditions into their own folk music. The influence of European music is also strong, as slaves who could play musical instruments were often required to play music for their masters. Mento draws on musical traditions brought over by African slaves.