Nostalgia fills Folk Singers concert

Michael Reckord, Gleaner Writer

Patrons headed for the Jamaican Folk Singers concert at The Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue, on Friday night, might have seen an ominous sign of the times nearby - armed police and soldiers conducting stop-and-search checks of selected passing motorists.

Happily, any tension occasioned by the sight should have dissipated inside the theatre. The tension would have eased, if not because of the jovial chatter and laughter of the audience waiting for the start of the ensemble's 2010 concert season, then certainly because of the journey back in time the singers took their audience on - to a simpler, gentler Jamaica.

Starting with the national anthem just minutes after 8 o'clock and ending at 10:15 p.m., the concert comprised more than 40 items, including songs, medleys, instrumental pieces and dances.

Add to that varied mix an unusual but informative lecture on some traditional song and dance genres.

Add, too, dozens of colourful costumes - because the 30 or so singers went through several costume changes, and at one stage their number was augmented by 15 or 16 maypole-dancing children from St Theresa's Prep School.

Then, for good measure, toss in a superb six-man band, with master flautist Albert Shaun Hird playing sublimely.

Entertaining evening

The sum total was a wonderfully entertaining evening of theatre which should not be missed by lovers of folk music.

Actually, some college students who prefer the dancehall music they have grown up on also admitted to enjoying the concert.

Unfortunately, unless the show is mounted again, it might be too late for readers of this review to attend. The too-short (three-day) season was scheduled to end on Sunday.

Led by artistic director Christine MacDonald Nevers, the ensemble served up their aural and visual feast in five segments. The first, Holy, Holy, consisted of religious items; the second, War, introduced sorrow and death, but only in a limited way; the third, Folk Forms, contained even more dance and talk (in the form of the lecture by MacDonald Nevers) than song; and the fourth, Nobody's Business But Me Own, offered a pot pourri of events in the life of a small community.

The fifth segment, titled As It Was in the Beginning, gave the audience two genres of song under the one heading, perhaps because the segments were short. Offered as 'rasta' songs were Rivers of Babylon, Hard Road to Travel, O Let the Power, and Wings of a Dove. The 'revival' songs included Daniel Saw the Stone, Keyman, Someday and Wonderful Thing.

While the glorious singing was perhaps the most outstanding aspect of the concert, another was Paula Shaw's choreography. It had the singers continuously moving around the stage, sliding, twirling, hopping, running, etcetera, and generally creating interesting floor patterns.

Every concert, for years to come, will probably make reference to the group's founder, Dr Olive Lewin, and tribute of a sort was paid to Dr Lewin with the choice of excerpts from her Folk Mass in the opening segment.

The printed programme informs the reader that the Folk Mass was composed in honour of Dr Lewin's mother and "is deemed one of her most precious works".

Interestingly, the writer adds that the mass "reflects the influence of many of Jamaica's folk forms - revival, Rastafarian, Indian culture and kumina".

INFORMATIVE TALK

MacDonald's talk gave information on various folk genres. Mento, we heard, was probably influenced by the movements of men at work; Maroon music can assist in the summoning of ancestral spirits; Bruckins began as a celebration of emancipation from slavery; Goombeh concerns itself with physical and psychological healing; Dinki mini is associated with wakes.

By its enthusiastic applause, the audiences showed its appreciation of the singers and musicians, but clearly it was a good idea by the arrangers of the concert to include the intricate maypole dance by the St Theresa children.

The audience's applause showed the St Theresa act was loved as much as any other.

Those who missed the nostalgia-laden concert should keep checking the media to see if it will be remounted. It deserves to be.