Entertainment

Singers' field day at Vintage Showcase

By MEL COOKE, Freelance Writer

carlington wilmot - General Trees performs at Vintage Showcase.

Western Bureau: GENERAL TREES WAS alone, but certainly not out of his depth, as a billed deejay on Saturday night's 'Vintage Showcase' at the Mas Camp Village in New Kingston.

The singers were numerous and varied, from the calm of Jimmy London to the whirling of Ken Boothe, the smoothness of Cornel Campbell to Leroy Sibbles' near rasp. And even when one singer dropped out, as Sugar Minott did, he was replaced by two, in Little John and Tristan Palmer.

Jimmy London did introduce deejay Daddy Shark as one of his two guests, the other being Singing Bird. Shark put snap into his lyrics and delivery to earn cheers from an audience that was not so small as to tag 'Vintage Showcase' a flop, yet not large enough for the show to be called a crowd puller.

However, Trees and three of the singers, Dennis Walks, Ken Boothe and Errol Dunkley, did have a dancing mood in common. Trees' dancing was more of a spasm which sporadically engulfed him from white headband to his shoes, as he delivered tracks like Mini Van, Gone A Negril, Bashco and Negril.

Ken Boothe trotted backwards in a semi-circle in between and during songs, the nifty steps filling in the switch from When I Fall In Love to Artibella. He urged on the night's band, Bare Essentials, with a "let's go" to get The Train Is Coming on track, at one point leaping and landing with perfect timing to the crescendo of the band, and to the audience's delight.

Fast car

Errol Dunkley opened with Fast Car - and the reason behind his broad smile. "Is always a pleasure. Sing fi people all over the world, but nowhere no have da joy ya," he said. Dunkley also dismissed tribal politics, saying "we a no PNP an Labourite, we a Jamaican. Dis politics ting fi guh weh!"

"Instead a buy a yute a gun, buy him a big ride. Give him a business. Give him a kick start, instead yu a give him a dead start," Dunkley said.

The Whole Town's Talking and Black Cinderella were interspersed with some 'original skanks'.

In the earlier going, Dennis Walks also danced up a storm as he closed with Drifter, prompting MC Patrick Lafayette to consider renaming him 'Dennis Droplegs', as well as earning a special missile from Joe Lick Shot called the 'storm'.

Joe Lick Shot was also forced to intervene in the proceedings when Cornel Campbell was doing Queen of The Minstrel, chiding the band. "Hornsman, me a beg yu de real queen. A vintage an a Cornel Campbell dis," he said. The song was duly started again.

After Leroy Sibbles had gone through an energetic, crowd-pleasing set that included Book Of Rules, Toots' 54-46 and Delroy Wilson's Trying To Conquer Me, closing with a medley of Fatty Fatty, Freddy Jackson's Rock With Me Tonight and Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On, 'Vintage Showcase' ended unsatisfactorily.

The Bare Essentials played briefly, Carl Dawkins came on stage without an introduction, asked "what is happening in showbiz?" and did a trio of songs, closing with Satisfaction. With his back to the audience, Dawkins coached the band on how to finish the song properly, then gave his 'love' and left MC Lafayette to do the wrap-up duties.