Entertainment

The new and the old

( LEFT )Burru Banton performing at '10 Giants of the '80s' held at Mas Camp last Sunday. - Carlington wilmot ( RIGHT) Bounty Killer - FILE

OVER LAST WEEKEND, I went to two sessions that straddled different eras of dancehall music.

And, they both went on until daylight.

On Saturday night into Sunday morning it was the 'New Jersey Link Up' at La Roose, Port Henderson Road, Portmore, where Bounty Killer and Vybz Kartel performed. On Sunday night into Monday morning it was the '10 Giants of the '80s at the Mas Camp Village in New Kingston, with Brigadier Jerry, Charlie Chaplin, Burru Banton, Sugar Minott and many more.

The music at the Portmore session was, of course, much faster, but in the main part it was snippets of lyrics which were delivered. At Mas Camp, the lyrics were rolled out at length.

One of the differences that struck me most, though, was the volume at which the lyrics were delivered. Over at the 'New Jersey Link Up' the deejays were loud - very loud. At '10 Giants', however, the emphasis was on melody, with the volume being restricted accordingly. Peter Metro was the loudest deejay of the night, even though Burru Banton's voice was the most gravelly, while at times Admiral Bailey held the microphone low and people at the back were calling for 'volume'. They still jammed to him, though.

At La Roose, there was hardly any time for the selector to do any 'mix down', as it was deejay, rail and move on. At Mas Camp, though, the man named Tolouse (whose name I have heard on so many cassettes over the years but had never seen in person) was an integral part of the session on the legendary 'mixing key', chipping the bass in and out and adjusting the overall volume of the music as required to enhance the performances.

The differences were especially striking because the eras are not that far apart. Put it this way ­ Echo Minott, who opened the live performances at Mas Camp, sang Unda Me Fat Ting on the Sleng Teng rhythm, while Bounty Killer is on the 2005, 20th anniversary remake of the same rhythm with the singer of the original title song, Wayne Smith.

Also Ninja Man, one of the last deejays who came up on a sound system (Kilamanjaro), was on the Mas Camp show, but he would have fitted in nicely at the La Roose party with the younger guns.

So why the difference in the pace, style of delivery and volume of the vocals at the two sessions? There must be some underlying cultural dynamic, because things do not change that dramatically so quickly all on their lonesome.

It is a matter that bears investigating, if we are to somehow 'manage' our cultural expression thorough music, which is a very lucrative field if we can properly harness it.