So here we were, on a cool (for Kingston) evening, listening to a pick-up band called WildFire made up of musicians that tour throughout the world with Jamaican acts. It was a quartet: drums, bass guitar, piano, and trumpet. They turned out to be amazing together. I was fascinated by their communication with each other. They were a bit like a jazz ensemble, riffing and handing off to each other. The musicians here are really, really, really good.
So, imagine, if you will, the soft, humid air with a heavy bass reggae beat starting up. Then imagine a really good trumpeter blowing "Oh, holy night" on top of that. The effect was really nice. Esther and I found ourselves singing the words along.
A couple of local artists spent a set having fun on stage with the band, jumping around, laughing, singing, and generally having a good time. The sound system was really tuned nicely, thanks to the McDonald brothers. It was nice seeing them again. They have a soft, friendly aura about them. They do everything together, probably since they are twins. They look a lot alike, so we had a joke about light shirt/dark shirt. But Michael told us this time that Ronnie wears long sleeves and he (Michael) wears short sleeves. So we have a long term strategy to tell them apart.
Then, at the top of the evening, Uncle Paul's friend and protege, Tanice Morrison came on stage. She has a world class voice, but some of the enjoyment last night came from watching her move on stage and command the audience. She is a tremendous performer.
After the band broke up we met each of them and thanked them for their performances. That is one of the nicest things down here. I have always loved live music; it is a real treat to meet musicians who have it in their blood
Congratulations on the 33 years. I hope Reb and I will be able to do half as well.
ReplyDeleteWell most of the credit goes to E of course :)
What are you saying? ALL of the credit goes to Esther.
ReplyDelete