Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer
Revellers get down at Vintage Meets Soca, held at the Jamaica Pegasus hotel, New Kingston on Saturday, March 29. At left, The Mighty Sparrow and The Dragon (with guitar) onstage. - Winston Sill photos
Although it was not included in the title dancehall, what was originally a place but has come to be applied to the most recent incarnation of indigenous Jamaican music, was not left out of Saturday night's 'Vintage Meets Soca', which featured the Mighty Sparrow.
For while Merritone Disco played calypso before Byron Lee and the Dragonnaires took the stand, Oscar B marshalling the unit in starting out with 'Blame it on the Music' and commenting musically that "what happens in the party stays in the party", dancehall soon made an appearance.
Still on the soca beat, BL&D went 'RDXish' with a "ring ding ding" before instructing all just how to 'Hol It Dung'. And before the break, after appealing for "a little more oil in my lamp" they dropped a distinctive "a weddy weddy weddy" into Hear My Cry Oh Lord.
And sure enough it was an 'Elephantine' moment, complete with hand in the air jigging and many a 'rebuke dem'.
The hands went up in the large number of persons in the prime dancing spot just before the stage, who had long abandoned the chairs provided in acknowledgement of the vintage of many who made the party at the Jamaica Pegasus' poolside. But while many a bone may have been old the flesh was not cold and dancing by the majority of the substantial audience was the order of the night.
Merritone kept the party going with Peanut Vendor and the soca version of She's Royal in the break, before BL&D warmed up for Sparrow's introduction with 10 minutes of soca. Sparrow also had his dancehall moment ahead of the culinary classic Saltfish, riding the mix as he near deejayed the added introduction "dem is a lia, big big lia, one a dem day dem going en' up in fia".
Legendary duo
In a historic get-together Francisco 'The Mighty Sparrow' Slinger and Byron 'The Dragon' Lee combined late in the musical legend's performance, the pair embracing and Lee strapping on the guitar to play as Sparrow showed his vocal range and genuine singing ability on Only a Fool Breaks His Own Heart.
Sparrow not only sang in his own voice but also did good imitations of Billy EcKstine, Nat King Cole and Louis Armstrong, before ending with an extended "heart".
The classics, including Conga Man, Mr Walker, Saltfish and Jean and Dinah, were all delivered, but Sparrow also saluted black US Presidential hopeful Barack Obama in song, singing "he say stop the war, stop genocide in Darfour." And there were giggles when Sparrow sang that Obama was "not like that one, he has experience, look what he's done."
There was also laughter when Sparrow went into stand-up comedian mode about golf lessons, commenting that the instructor had it wrong, as it was the club, not the ball, which is supposed to go in the hole.
He also lamented Willie Dead and "they change your name from hardly hard to softy soft" before hitting a Drunk and Disorderly closing note.
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