Diary of a Ghetto Priest | 50 years of music: Now we honour you with the new Isaiah!

My good friend Paul Quinlan was such a brilliant musician, I couldn’t help but feel a little jealous of him. But then he turned to me and said: “You’ve got to write and have confidence.” Paul’s ­brilliance in music came forward in a burst of never-ending ­melodies and lyrics drawn from the Psalms and the New Testament. He wrote from the same era of the 1960s that brought to the world Peter, Paul and Mary, Simon and Garfunkel, the Mamas and the Papas, and the brilliant Beatles. Paul Quinlan, a ­marvellous ­guitarist and is known in the United States as the first ever to have written hymns for the new era of church music in the Western world. His sense of rhythm was varied and ingenious, his melody flow was poetic and brand new, his lyrics are modern yet derive from the ancient vision and sentiments of the great King David.

He helped me with my first LP album, Caribbean Bread and Wine, and, Marianna. Thereafter, I was in Jamaica, where I came upon a new burst of art that was ­indigenous, such as the National Dance Theatre Company, the Jamaican Folk Singers, Louise Bennett, the University Singers, and L’Acadco. Wow! What daring, what confidence, what strength, what inventiveness.

CREATIVE ENERGY

Amazingly, I found myself drawn into a pool of creative energy in Jamaica but had no formal training except for my exposure to the very artists themselves.

Little did I know that I’d be blessed by such a broad range of artists that it would lead to me writing hymns; staging concerts about my experience with God; putting on plays about Jamaicans struggling in the ghetto for a daily living and survival, biblical stories, and my life in ­community – ­tragedies and comedies. Some 395 concerts ensued, some 30 CDs, LPs, and tapes. The years 1959 and 1980, the early days, produced some ­amazing singers and musicians: Mark McLaughlin, Lee Martin, Jonathan Burke, Darcy Tulloch, Anna Masters, and Marva Ropers. Then between 1981 and 1999, the incredible talents of Jon Williams and Wynton Williams, Renee Rattray, Rose Cameron, Grace Jervis, and Alwyn Bully in theatre directing and Paula Shaw as choreographer ­encouraged me to write dramatic musicals such as Amazing Grace, Ruby, Sugar Cain, Isaiah, Spirit, The Rock, Listen Man, and God’s Family Life. The Little Theatre was packed the turnout never ceased to amaze me. Then the 1980s to 2019 brought forth many new ­productions. I can’t begin to ­enumerate the ­tremendous talent we found in Jamaica: singers, dancers, actors, and actresses. Now the turnout over two weekends at the National Arena began to grow, estimating about 50,000 over the period.

Now, after 50 years of Father Ho Lung and Friends, I feel that an era has been completed. The poor all over the world are fed and cared for. The poor and destitute have homes in Jamaica, India, the Philippines, Kenya, Uganda, Haiti, Indonesia, East Timor, and United States, all run by Missionaries of the Poor and supported by our musical ­production group, Father Ho Lung and Friends. This year, we have something of great power and beauty to present again in Isaiah.

What’s in store for the future? That is in God’s hands. There are 20 different production pieces. The crowning jewels given by the Lord are Jesus 2000, Moses, Jam-Reggae Opera, Acts of the Apostles, Queen Esther, Candles in the Dark, King David, The Parables, The Messiah, Ruby, Sugar Cain, Amazing Grace, and once again, Isaiah.