THE DENNIS EMANUEL BROWN TRUST
CELEBRATING A MUSICAL ICONPublished: Monday | February 2, 2004By Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer WESTERN BUREAU IT IS certainly not unusual for the introduction of a performer to be met with applause. Of course, the enthusiasm would normally be in anticipation of the person to hit the stage, not for the introduction itself. On Friday night, though, when Tommy Cowan reeled off the spiel which he used to pave the way for Dennis Brown on many a show across the world, there were cheers at the Jamaican Vibes Restaurant in New Kingston. And, obviously, the kudos were not in preparation for D. Brown singing Here I Come, even though Cowan said "when Bob Marley did Exodus he had already done No Man Is An Island, when Toots did Country Road he had already done Cassandra". The free concert, which served a double purpose of celebrating the Crown Prince of Reggae's 47th birthday and launching the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes' (JAVA) regular Friday jam at their new location, pulled in not only a bumper crowd but also a stellar crop of performers to pay homage to the late singer. They not only sang Dennis Brown's standards, but most also did hits of their own, much to the delight of the audience. The band on the stand, Lloyd Parkes and We The People, was the one which had played many a concert with Dennis Brown, and many of the performers were contemporaries of or had been influenced by the Crown Prince. In fact, Tommy Cowan's standout introduction preceded the man from 'Generation Next' on whom Dennis Brown had a tremendous impact - Richie Stephens. "Dennis Brown is my idol, everybody know dat," he said, after doing Love Has Found Its Way. From the easy lovers tune he moved to the rockers of Your Love's Got A Hold on Me, reminded the audience of the days when D. Brown would take Reggae Sunsplash to daylight, then switched to the infectious Cassandra, which was his final song. Next was saxophonist Tony Greene, who once made the trek with D. Brown as part of the backing unit, accompanied by Mallory Williams on keyboard. His slowed down version of Should I hit the audience smack in the 'soular' plexus, causing an expulsion of whooping at the end. "The shows would not be complete without the sounds of the drums. The man who would tour with us was Bongo Herman," Tommy Cowan said. The renowned percussionist asked the band for Drifter and proceeded to play the drums, as well as whip out instrument after instrument from his bag of sounds to rock the audience. "As D. Brown woulda sey 'yu cyaan come a Europe an' no do a tune like Mr. DC," Herman said, proceeding to do sing the Sugar Minott classic. "We have to start at the beginning," Johnny Clarke said and did just that with Dennis Brown's first recording, No Man Is An Island. He planned to do just that song, but the audience demanded more and he obliged with his own Rock With Me Baby and Move Outa Babylon. Michael Pinnock's Silhouette on steelpan was well appreciated and Daniel Brown brought Revolution to the JAVA gathering. "Here comes a family member! Tommy Cowan announced and Gregory Isaacs came on stage with the refrain "ragamuffin" from Big All Around. The audience exploded - and protested when he left the stage on the same refrain, after singing the song. The audience chanted for Gregory and their calls were rewarded with the nasal "they still want more". Night Nurse was a hit. "Dennis Brown and myself made this one popular," John Holt said of Wildflower and dared to leave the stage after the song. The people called for more and were rewarded with Ghetto Girl, Memories by the Score and Sweetie Come Brush Me. It seemed to have been 'real big man time', as Leroy Sibbles was next with Have You Ever (Been In Love Before), invited the audience to 'let's go dancing' - which they did, did Baby Be True and wrapped up with Feel Like Jumping. 'BIG MAN NIGHT' In fact, it was 'big man night' all night at Jamaican Vibes on Friday, from the moment Bunny Brown of The Chosen Few invited the Almighty's presence and the band's Howard Dean led off with Love and Hate and Silhouette. 'Deadly Headly' blew an exquisite Little Green Apples, Bunny Brown went the slow, soulful route, Boris Gadiner sang It's So Nice To Be With You and guitarist Dwight Pinkney used a cordless mic to get closer to the audience with How Could I Live and Should I. Bob Andy expressed his joy with the event and his smile became a sunbeam when he started For You and the audience exploded. "Ah gwine sing pure Dennis Brown song from now on!" he said, laughing, but went on to do Fire Burning and Unchained at the audience's urging. George Nooks combined with himself as Prince Mohammed for the original version of Money In My Pocket, combined with Ruddy Thomas on Make it Easy on Yourself, and then Thomas continued with Westbound Train. And while there were many performers at JAVA's base last Friday night, AJ Brown came the closest to Dennis Brown's voice, doing a spot on rendition of How Could I Live. |