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LATEST NEWS. BY ALICIA DUNKLEY
Observer staff reporter
dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com Tuesday, October 13, 2009 FORMER Prime Minister Edward Seaga says that unlike the
United States and other developed countries, a financial stimulus to
banks would not be the solution to the current economic crunch facing
Jamaica. Instead, he suggested that there be openings for wealth and employment creation at this time. "There is a beginning in every problem and the beginning
is in the United States and other rich countries; there is a financial
stimulus that they give to the banks who then lend to persons. "In our case, that's not a stimulus; if you give money to
the bank it's going to stay in the bank because people are not looking
to borrow because they don't know how they are going to pay back,"
Seaga told Observer editors and reporters at the newspaper's weekly
Monday Exchange yesterday. "What they need are the opportunities for work or the
opportunities to turn over that money to some investment so you can
create a repayment; that is the stimulus that is needed. The real
people who are hurting are the people who don't have an outlet that
they can use for that purpose," the former prime minister said. In the meantime, he suggested that commercial banks could
lend at lower interest rates if the country were to go the route of
dollarisation (adoption of the United States dollar as the official
national currency). Governor of the Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) Derick
Latibeaudiere has, however, dismissed the suggestion that the country
should consider dollarisation as a monetary policy. According to Latibeaudiere, such a move would make the
country too reliant on the flow of US dollars and very susceptible to
external shocks. He said that this would be exacerbated by the fact
that there would effectively be no central bank to intervene. But Seaga said that dollarisation would protect savings and pensions by negating the effects of devaluation and inflation. "If you dollarise, what it means is there is no cross
border rate so that dollars can flow in and out of the country without
any risk of devaluation catching one party or the other; loans can come
into the country without any of that consequential outcome by the rates
changing," he said. Added Seaga: "If you do that, you fix the exchange rate
and once you fix the exchange rate you stop issuing all those bonds
that you're issuing that all the brokers sit waiting to hawk up because
you don't need to issue bonds to soak up the liquidity because
liquidity is not a necessity to keep the exchange rate stable, the
exchange rate is already stable." Under such a situation, he said, banks would have no choice but to lower interest rates. "If you don't have to keep the exchange rate stable you
don't have to issue bonds anymore, and if you don't issue the bonds the
banks will have a lot of money that they used to lend that they can't
lend, so what you going to do; when you have a basket full of mangoes?
You lower the price," the former prime minister said. He said while such a decision may not always appear to be optimum in the current circumstance, it was more than fitting. "Everything depends on time. A solution today may not be
good for tomorrow, but in this depressed situation you can do it
because there is no rush to get more dollars to spend. "So if you do it now while the market is in this
condition... if you do it now while you're in a crisis, it's one
result; if you don't do it now, people will use the opportunity to
distort the economic outcome," he added. The Jamaican dollar, which has depreciated by some 24 per
cent against its US counterpart since September 2008, has been fairly
stable over the past months. Dancehall music lacking, says Seaga BY ROLAND HENRY
Observer lifestyle co-ordinator
henryr@jamaicaobserver.com Tuesday, October 13, 2009 Former Prime Minister Edward Seaga yesterday damned the
recordings fuelling the 'gully vs gaza' debacle, saying the tracks lack
any form of musical standards. "My love for Jamaican music does not incorporate the
latest form - dancehall," Seaga said yesterday during the Observer's
weekly Monday Exchange meeting of reporters and editors. "Dancehall music lacks components of classical music, which includes lyrics, melody and rhythm." Seaga has long been a cultural expert, having pioneered
various anthropological efforts that relate to the arts, religion and
politics. Speaking to what has become a steadily rising and
potentially volatile sub-culture spawned from a lyrical war between
rival dancehall artistes Vybz Kartel and Mavado, Seaga outlined that
their brand of music, though undeniably powerful, is verbal nonsense. "Things come and go, but I don't know why, for the love
of me, this one won't go," he added. Seaga noted, though, that
dancehall music remains incredibly popular because of its enduring
appeal to youth. "It doesn't have melody, and forget lyrics, but what it
does have is rhythm and that has made it hugely popular," Seaga pointed
out, alluding to the 'riddim-driven' culture that obtains in
contemporary Jamaican music. The gully/gaza conflict recently received international
attention after the world's fastest man, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt,
endorsed Vybz Kartel during an interview with New York radio station
Hot 97. There is, too, the ubiquity of graffiti strewn across Kingston
that heralds the fictitious locales of 'gully' or 'gaza'. "Our music is very powerful. we can just hope that
somebody comes up with a tune once again," Seaga told the meeting, "and
every now and then you get it." The former prime minister's comments come at a pivotal
time - during National Heritage Week - when many are questioning if the
recent deaths of several of the island's cultural icons will mean a
redefinition of national identity. Asked if he felt confident about the next generation of cultural guardians, Seaga could not give a definitive answer. "There must be people around who will eventually mature
to take up the mantle, but I can't readily think of anyone," he said
adding that, "it's not every day society experiences icons like those." The cultural community has lost music producer Wycliffe
'Steely' Johnson, who died on September 1; playwright Trevor Rhone, who
died on September 15; media professional and elocutionist Wycliffe
Bennett on October 5; and the most recent master trumpeter Sonny
Bradshaw, who died on Saturday. Sonny Bradshaw is dead Fourth cultural icon to pass in a month BY KARYL WALKER
walkerk@jamaicaobserver.com Monday, October 12, 2009 Master trumpeter and keyboard player Sonny Bradshaw
passed away in a London hospital Saturday night, plunging Jamaica's
artistic fraternity into mourning for the fourth time in just over a
month. Bradshaw had been ill for months after suffering a
debilitating stroke while visiting the United Kingdom in August and was
hospitalised in that country since then. In mourning Bradshaw's passing, Prime Minister Bruce
Golding hailed him as a pioneer whose contribution to Jamaica's music
industry could not be quantified. "We are losing the creators and promoters of our music,
arts and culture all at once," said Golding. "It has indeed been a very
sad period for Jamaica these past few weeks as we receive news of so
many of our cultural icons departing this life, one by one." Bradshaw's passing comes on the heels of the deaths of
cultural icons, Wycliffe 'Steely' Johnson on September 1, Trevor Rhone
on September 15, and Wycliffe Bennett on October 5. Yesterday, Jamaica's High Commissioner to London Burchell
Whiteman said Bradshaw's death has left a gaping hole in the country's
cultural landscape. "It is almost impossible to imagine modern Jamaican music
without the presence of Sonny Bradshaw. He was a true musical pioneer
who dedicated more than six decades of his life to ensuring that
Jamaican music and especially jazz was always kept in the forefront and
accessible to all," Whiteman said in a press release. Bradshaw was 83 at the time of his passing. He is
responsible for the formation of the big band, which included stalwart
musicians like Dwight Pinkney. Yesterday, Pinkney was crestfallen by the news of
Bradshaw's passing and reflected on his life and contribution to
Jamaica's popular culture. "We have suffered a great loss. His contribution to music
and media is insurmountable. We shall miss him and we love him,"
Pinkney said. Boris Gardner was also hard hit by news of Bradshaw's death. "He inspired me with his music. He moulded some young musicians and made them into real professionals," Gardner said. Bradshaw was for many years president of the Jamaica
Federation of Musicians, and according to veteran guitarist Glen
Browne, he stood up for the rights of musicians who plied their trade
on the cabaret circuit. "He lived a full and cheerful life," Browne told the
Observer. "Sonny Bradshaw was a man who stood up for principle. That
man taught me a lot of things. I was a young musician playing on the
North Coast and he always tried to ensure that we got what was due to
us." Observer columnist Charles Campbell was also full of
praise for what he dubbed Bradshaw's sterling contribution to the
country's global music appeal. "People, all with valid credentials, have at various
times been given the credit of being the dean of Jamaica's music
industry," said Campbell. "Truth be told, this master trumpeter, band
leader, composer, arranger, the conductor and proprietor of the big
band, is in truth the quintessential musician. He is the musician's
musician." In the 1950s, Bradshaw formed the Sonny Bradshaw Seven,
which became the training ground for many of Jamaica's prominent
musicians. Besides the trumpet and piano, he was also skilled at
playing the clarinet, trombone and saxophone. Stellar present-day musicians like saxophonist Dean Fraser and drummer Desi Jones benefited from his tutelage. Bradshaw was the driving force behind the world-acclaimed
Ocho Rios Jazz Festival and also hosted the radio programme, Teenage
Dance Party, in the 1970s, which was aired on the Jamaica Broadcasting
Corporation radio and has been hailed as one the first local programmes
to popularise indigenous Jamaican music. New Michael Jackson single debuts online Tuesday, October 13, 2009 LONDON, England (AP) - Michael Jackson returned to the
airwaves Monday with a new song - the first from an upcoming musical
documentary featuring the troubled superstar. It is the first new material by Jackson to be released since his sudden death in Los Angeles on June 25. Jackson sounded confident and almost playful on This Is
It, which features his trademark breathy vocal style, perfected over
the years since he was a child sensation with the Jackson Five. He is
backed by lush vocals from his brothers, giving the recording a
nostalgic, familiar feel. The mid-tempo song with orchestral backing is played
during the closing sequences of the documentary of the same name, which
opens worldwide October 28 for a limited two-week run. It features
rehearsal footage shot shortly before Jackson's death. "This Is It," goes one verse on the new song. "Here I stand. The light of the world. I feel grand." The song is available on Jackson's official website and
was being sent to radio stations. It will also be part of the two-disc
CD set that will accompany the movie in a worldwide marketing blitz
expected to capitalise on the surge of emotion that followed the
singer's death. The posthumous release of This Is It and the forthcoming
album follows a long-standing pattern in the popular music world dating
back to Elvis Presley's early death in 1977. The same was true, to a lesser extent, after the deaths
of rock icons like Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison and Janis Joplin. A
number of John Lennon solo albums were also released in the years
following his shooting death in 1980. Jackson, one of the most commercially successful artistes
of all time, is expected to sell millions of albums in the coming
years. His death already brought some of his classic records back to
the top of the charts. The new Jackson documentary shows the singer rehearsing
for his planned 2009 London concerts, which were to mark his return to
the stage after a lengthy absence. Jackson's death at age 50 is still being investigated. Int'l director and dub artist returns to her roots Monday, October 12, 2009 "Something gripped me and just wouldn't let me go," says
internationally acclaimed director and dub artist ahdri zhina mandiela,
during her recent visit to the Edna Manley College of the Visual and
Performing Arts (EMC). After 36 years of being captured by the arts, the
Jamaican-born mandiela has never looked back but has blazed trails in
places such as Canada, Australia, South Africa and Europe, as the
director of numerous critically acclaimed productions such as the Dark
Diaspora and William Shakespeare's A Mid-summer Night's Dream. Her
productions are often reviewed by Canadian and international newspapers
and draw nightly audiences of over 1000. In 2006, this daughter of the Jamaican soil was
commissioned to produce a project for the 50th anniversary of the South
African Women's Liberation Movement (SAWW) in honour of Winnie Mandela
and four other female parliamentarians who had made significant changes
in their country. Her creativity has crossed over into the electronic
media as one of her admired works is the 1997 critically acclaimed
documentary on/black/stage/women, which covered the contributions made
by black women in Toronto's theatre scene. "It was the artistry of the
piece that really grabbed me. It took five years to make and creatively
it stands out." Though she is more popularly known for her work in
theatre, she has fused various art forms such as dub poetry and dance
to engage others and make changes. "I am an artist. Everything, every
medium is artistic. I don't know how to be anything else and I don't
want to be. " Passing on her knowledge to the next generation has
always been important to her. In the early 90s she founded bCurrent, a
non-profit performing arts company that deals with developing,
discovering and honing the skills of emerging artistes. The former
School of Drama staff lecturer has returned to her roots to give back
to students in a series of workshops, under the EMC's Artist in
Residence programme, which exposes students to a wide range of
techniques in their field. The highlight of her visit to the college is the staging
of the internationally commended play Dark Diaspora at the Dennis Scott
Studio Theatre on the college's campus, starting on October 16. mandiela has noted that her being in Jamaica is timely as
she not only seizes the opportunity to give back to the next generation
but she gets the chance to honour her friend, the late Trevor Rhone,
whom she admired greatly. "I am largely affected by his passing. In
2006, I directed his play Two Can Play, in Canada by the Obsidian
Theatre Company. He was impressed as it was a different style from how
he saw his work." She believes that the local theatre is in good hands as
the students being trained at the School of Drama "want to grow as the
college gives them the space to do that..in its vibrant and artistic
atmosphere. This environment affected my growth as a young artist". She
also notes that in addition to her time at EMC, her involvement in
local theatre contributed to the well-rounded artist that she is today.
Some of the projects that she was involved in on the local theatre
scene included Ginger Knight's Whiplash and the 1983 Pantomime,
Ginneral B, written by Barbara Gloudon and directed by Bobby Ghisays. mandiela is currently working on a dub aria, entitled Who
Knew Grannie, which speaks to the common Jamaican experience of the
family returning to the country to bury Granny and the different
situations and spins that accompany this experience. "It's about the
pain and jubilation that come with a family reunion in order to bury
Granny." She notes that the play will be opened at the 40th anniversary
of the Canadian Factory Theatre on March 8, 2010. While she looks
forward to the opening of her new play, she is content to pour out into
the next generation of the country that has enriched her life in so
many ways by giving her so much. Cherine Anderson continues to climb Billboard with Michael Franti by Kevin Jackson
Observer Writer Monday, October 12, 2009 Jamaican singer Cherine Anderson continues to make gains
on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart stateside. Her hit Say Hey (I
Love You) with lead vocals by Michael Franti and Spearhead, moves into
the number 18 spot this week. It's been five years since the Billboard Hot 100 chart
registered an entry featuring a Jamaican female recording artiste. The
last female artiste from Jamaica to score a hit on the Billboard Hot
100, was Sasha in 2004, when she she teamed up with Sean Paul for a
remake of I'm Still in Love With You, which peaked at number 14. So you're wondering who were the other Jamaican female
recording artistes to have hit the Billboard Hot 100 chart? Well here's
a quick recap: It would take another 25 years for another Jamaican
female artiste to make any impression on the Billboard Hot 100. In
1989, Marcia Griffiths took a dance remix of her 1982 recording of
Electric Boogie all the way to number 51. Three years later in 1992 Chevelle Franklin contributed
vocals to a remix of Shabba Ranks' Mr Loverman from the movie Deep
Cover. The track peaked at number 40 on the chart. Franklin would
return in 1997 on the collaborative hit Dancehall Queen with Beenie
Man. That single stalled at number 90. Patra would find better success in 1994 when she guested
on Family Affair by Shabba Ranks which got as far as number 84. That
same year she scored a pair of hits on the Hot 100 with Romantic Call
and Worker Man. Thanks to a remix by the production duo Steelie and
Clevie, Dawn Penn's remake of No No No (You Don't Love Me) was dusted
off and repackaged and given a modern feel. The result was a massive
European hit which eventually took off stateside peaking at number 58
on the Hot 100. Diana King was quite prolific in the 1990s as she charted
four titles on the Hot 100, beginning with Shy Guy in 1995 which sold
gold and hit number 13. Her other titles included remakes of Ain't
Nobody I Say a Little Prayer, and Lies. Lady Saw also got some attention on Billboard. First, she
nibbled on Vitamin C's 1999 hit Smile which sold gold and stalled at
number 18. But three years later, in 2002, she became the last Jamaican
female recording artiste to hit the Top 10, as Underneath it All by No
Doubt on which she guested, stalled at number three. Barbra Streisand beats Mariah Carey in Billboard 200 race Barbra Streisand trumps Mariah Carey for the spot on the
Billboard 200 album chart. Streisand's Love Is The Answer becomes her
ninth number one opus, selling more than 180,000 copies in its first
week of release. Carey, on the other hand, had to settle for a number
three debut of Memoirs of An Imperfect Angel which moved 168,000 units.
This pales in comparison to Carey's previous disc E=MC2 which shifted
463,000 copies in its opening week in 2008. The number two spot on the Billboard 200 is occupied by
alternative rock band Paramore, which sold 175,000 copies of its third
studio offering Brand New Eyes.
Reeewind rocked Club Amazura Monday, October 12, 2009 A last-minute replacement of Sugar Minott to fill the
slot left vacant by Luciano, who was unable to make the trip to New
York, was one of the many pluses that helped to make Irish and Chin's
highly anticipated event, Reeewind, at New York's Club Amazura, the
success it was. Solid performances from King Stur Gav, Mighty Crown,
Brigadier Jerry, General Trees, Capleton, Beenie Man, Sugar Minott and
Santa Ranks were the hallmark of the event. The thousands of Reggae fans who filled up the venue
included those who had travelled from as far as Atlanta and Miami, to
be part of the landmark staging of this classic, one-of-a-kind
Rub-A-Dub event. Unfortuantely, in addition to Luciano, two of the
artistes originally billed for Reeewind - U-Roy and Charlie Chaplin -
faced immigration issues and were unable to perform. The promoters'
choice of sweet Sugar Minott as a quick replacement proved to be sound
judgement and the veteran gave a sterling performance. Reeewind got a jump start with an intense early warm-up
by the Far East rulers, Mighty Crown, who laced Amazura with Rub-a-Dub
classics. The crowd responded well as many in the audience held their
partners close to groove to the timeless hits. Mighty Crown boldly
displayed a side not often seen by the massive. Sami, Simon and Koji,
Mighty Crown's foundation guru, maintained great continuity and control
of the crowd until 1:30 am. Following Mighty Crown was the one-and-only King Stur
Gav, who unleashed an impeccable set. Once the bass line dropped,
artistes took centrestage and gave patrons their money's worth until
the wee hours of the morning. Amazura was officially converted into a
sweat-soaked, vibes-filled session. Every artiste on the ticket was a hot item. Born for the
stage, Beenie Man dominated the mic for quite a while, until he was
slightly schooled by Brigadier Jerry who later commanded the audience
with his relentless microphone skills. Often credited as one of the
forefathers of dancehall music, Brigadier Jerry proved that he is the
ultimate deejay. General Trees entertained the fans throughout the
night with his ability to ride 'riddims' continuously. Meanwhile, Santa
Ranks held it down for New York. Although Capleton's stints on the
microphone were brief, the crowd went wild each time he touched the
stage. It's not an easy road Groundings Charles HE Campbell Sunday, October 11, 2009 The customary summer tours for Reggae and Dancehall
artistes are now over. The general trend which began from the spring,
intensified during the mid to late summer. From talking to a number of
industry sources, the information reaching me confirms that the global
recession is adversely affecting concert tours and festivals in Europe,
North, South and Central America, the Caribbean and Asia. What is more,
this applies to all categories of artistes, from the most popular and
internationally famous, to the young emerging acts. There is a well known but false perception that I hear
constantly from laypersons. They say that the entertainment industry is
accustomed to troughs in the economic cycle. While this may have been
so in the past, during the current recession, nothing could be further
from the truth. The industry is impacted on three main levels. Firstly,
since the start of the year, there has been a significantly lower
percentage of carry through on queries. This means, that after the
initial contact by a promoter or his booking agent, to the management
of the artiste or musician, it has become much more difficult to
convert that interest into a firm offer. Consequently, the number of
offers for concerts, tours and festivals, have also fallen sharply. On
the third level, this has led to fewer confirmed dates. Many promoters
even pay the mandatory, non-refundable deposit and after having further
checked their market place, and the viability of the concert or tour,
they write off the deposit and cancel the contract with the artiste. This was the worst summer we have seen in five or six
years. In fact, maybe the last time we experienced such fallout was
between 1995 and 1997. Many festivals were cancelled or drastically
downsized. Some events that were normally staged or planned for
4,000-seater amphitheatres or stadiums were or have been moved to
smaller venues like 400 to 700 capacity nightclubs. In an effort to
reduce their overheads, promoters in their negotiations to fulfil
artistes' production rider requirements, are demanding that artistes'
cut their travel party. Many concert tours, have been cut short by
weeks, as well as suffered from cancelled dates throughout. Therefore,
in order to sustain their performance careers, some top artistes who
have traditionally frowned on performing to tracks, have now had to
resort to this means for their musical accompaniment. This is yet
another blow to many of our senior musicians and touring bands, who
under normal circumstances, are exclusively contracted to specific
artistes. The unfriendly economic environment has found them short or
out of work, and many are shopping around for temporary jobs to
supplement their income. In the last ten years or so, our industry standards and
practices have improved enormously; however, this organisational level
that has been achieved is being dangerously compromised on the altar of
expediency. Artistes, who traditionally rely on one booking agency to
conduct all their affairs, have suddenly put themselves on the roster
of numerous agencies and persons. Although, this is quite
understandable in some cases, objectively, this practice is a step
backwards, organisationally, and is in the long run, unsustainable
because it creates confusion in the market place and will make major
foreign promoters shy away from doing business with certain of our top
acts because they are never sure who really has the authority to speak
on their behalf in this area of their career. We have been down this
road before. This is one of the weaknesses that ultimately prejudiced
Dennis Brown's career. In this scenario, what is even more perplexing is that
some of our more popular and experienced artistes are virtually
shooting themselves in the foot, by refusing to reduce their
performance fees in keeping with the shrinking global market and lower
demand. Happily for our industry, however, the smarter ones have
compromised, taken a pay-cut and continued touring. During this summer
also, many musicians toured for per diems only. They had to sacrifice
and save out of these meagre earnings so that they would be able to
take something home. It nuh pretty out deh. The situation is so
delicately poised that I have deliberately refrained from giving
specific examples or identifying any of the artistes and musicians
affected, for fear of further prejudicing anyone's career. "It's not an
easy road, Yuh see the glamour and the glitter and yuh tink a bed a
roses." (Buju Banton) Who feels it knows. Music News
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Capleton crosses borders from St Mary into Portland
