The Ninth Annual Sierra Nevada World Music Festival

The Ninth Annual Sierra Nevada World Music Festival held on June 21, 22 & 23, 2002 began with an announcement by MC Tony Moses that Jamaican artists Coco Tea, Sizzla, Turbulence, Leroy Sibbles and Marcia Griffith would not be performing as scheduled. This was a big disappointment to fans since many made the journey to Angles Camp, California early on Friday, June 21^st just to catch the explosive performances of Sizzla and his protégé Turbulence and the soulful vocals of Coco Tea.

Easing any regret and to the delight of many Reggae fans a musical rescue came with surprise performances by the great Don Carlos who rocked the crowd in his always inimitably fine style, singing songs from his latest CD release, Seven Days A Week on Ras Records. A truly "Broader than Broad" performance came from the one and only Barrington Levy who brought a dramatic and awesome close to the Friday night show, flawlessly spiraling through his most treasured songs "Too Experienced", "Murderer", "Black Roses", "Under Mi Sensi", "Living Dangerously" and "Work." Each song left the audience breathless and screaming for just one more encore.

Mahotella Queens

Friday night also highlighted an exceptionally fine performance in the spirit of three incredibly energetic grandmothers’ Hilda Tloubatla, Mildred Mangxola and Nobesethu Mbadu know as Mahotella Queens from South Africa. Adorned in colorful tribal attire, the amazingly youthful Mahotella Queens performed their inventive style of urban South African music called Mbaquanga (a Zulu expression for a sort of dumpling suggesting the homespun flavor of its origin). Mbaquang is strongly influenced by the traditional music of Zulu, Sotho, Shangaan and Xhosa and mingled with the unmistakable hint of African-American R&B and Gospel. Their incredible stage performance explodes with a vitality that fills the air with the true soul of Africa and displays a joy for music that is young at heart, inventive and emotionally moving. During a break in their performance they spoke poignantly about the members that they have lost through the last few years and their decision to go on with their music. They playfully added that their new musicians (backing the Queens on keyboards, guitar, bass and drums) are now very young, handsome Zulu warriors. The Mahotella Queens remain prolific recording artists but unfortunate for us, only a mere handful of their recordings are available outside of South Africa. If you’re as fascinated as I am about Mahotella Queens, be sure to look for their albums Phezula Eqhudeni (1983), Thokozile (1988) and Women of the World (1993). Their latest release on the Harmonia Mundi label, Sebai Bai (2001) includes the work of Xavier Jouvelet, percussionist for Papa Wemba and Salif Keita. Sebai Bai evolves Mahotella Queens' unique musical expression to even higher heights. Sebai Bai is also graciously dedicated to their lost comrades in music, Simon "Mahlathini" Nkabinde (who during the apartheid era the Queens spent over three decades with and is distinguished as South African’s greatest vocalist of the 60’s and 70’s), West Nkosi (saxophonist and producer) and Marks Mankwane (guitarist). This was the Mathotella Queens first performance in the States in 6 years and one of the shining stars of this year’s Sierra Nevada World Music Festival. The Mahotella Queens are also scheduled to perform at the 65^th Anniversary Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco on Sunday, August 18^th. To obtain more information about Stern Grove Festival and the Mahotella Queens go to www.sterngrove.org.

The music continued on Saturday, June 22 with performances by world artists Fidel Nadal, Hassan Hakmourn, Les Yeux Noirs (Black Eyes), Hassan Hakmourn and tabla and electronic percussionist Karsh Kale (who also records with and performed at this year’s Sierra Nevada World Music Festival with Tabla Beat Science). Uniting the soul of Mexican indigenous music with the zest of the Caribbean and the high voltage energy of Rock was Quetzal. Other performers included Quinto Sol, John Brown’s Body, DJ Cheb I Sabah, Sultan32 and MIDIVal PunditZ. Excellent house music was provided by the BrazilBeat Sound System and from Jamaica, "the best sound system in the world" Stone Love.

Abijah

So, Youth Promotions is still there and we still need help because there’re a lot more youth trying to go to music school and all different kinds of skills to take them off the street ‘cause nuff of dem gone to the guns and things like that. We also took Hip Hop and Reggae you know, I knew that Hip Hop and Reggae was gonna be like that long time still ‘cause Reggae music is struggling and if Hip Hop is selling then the artist are going to do Hip Hop. So, if Wycleff Jean call me and say ‘come on Sugar Minott you ready?’ I say, yeah man, I’m ready! Because it’s all about survival here! Because Hip Hop originally a Jamaican ‘ting same way but nobody talks about the Black father of Hip-Hop, Cool Herc, the Godfather.

A clearly disgruntled attitude dominated Sugar Minott discussion on his disappointment in the music business saying "…it is a struggle for most Jamaican artists right now, nowhere to leave the music we have" and he spoke candidly about the commercial climate for releasing Reggae music saying,

"…It’s like the Internet and MP3, they are giving away our music on the Internet and they are selling it on CDs, so this makes it hard to survive. Reggae is such a small market, how can we survive that? So that is one thing that people have to be aware of. Most Reggae artists are not rich, it is a very poor music from poor people who have been singing for twenty years with no good representation. So, right now, as far as I am concerned, Reggae music has really let me down. I am not happy, I am truly disappointed after all the years we spend in this music and still nobody cares and we get no respect. We need the people in the media, people in the high offices, if they want to do something for Reggae music they should try to help us in this struggle all over the world. They live in some tenement yard you know? That’s not right. Give thanks for little festivals like this!"

"It’s not the music that disappoints me…it’s a lot of crooked and mean people that gather around this music. On the stage I forget about all these people, I don’t remember them. When I see you people. I don’t remember them. But tomorrow, I have to go back to reality…I can’t collect my royalties, I can’t get a publisher, I can’t get my kids in university, that’s real! You see me? For thirty years in the business and everybody saying ‘I’m sorry’ but I can’t even get a show. Those people will tell you that ‘he don’t have nothing coming, ‘where’s your hit?’ But they don’t remember, I done so much hit before. Like in R&B, I was in Miami and they have one weekend of Barry White! One weekend! When last Barry White make a song ‘ere, but they have a weekend of Barry White and the people calling, ‘my mama use to listen to him’. But they never have a weekend of Alton Ellis in Reggae music."

"Their just hard working kids, 9-to-5 kind of people who put together their little money and started this company. I was amazed because they are so young and they love my kind of old stuff. So, that was the first thing that attracted me to them because most people don’t deal with the veteran things. So, I figured that was an outlet for some of this music that I have that nobody would hear."

You can also contact Sugar via email at youthpromotion@jamaicans.com or for more information go to the Youth Promotion’s website Sugar Minnott is also scheduled to perform on Saturday, August 31^st at the Annual Monterey Bay Reggae Festival.

Also delivering a fine performance on Saturday, June 22, was saxophonist Dean Fraser (originally scheduled to play with Marcia Griffith) who rocked the house as he teamed up with the talented group Beniah and also displayed his talent with newcomer Abijah.

Sweet harmonies and an emotionally charged performance came from Roots, Rocksteady and Lover’s Rock legends Brenton Dowe, Trevor McNaughton and Tony Brevett of The Melodians. The Melodians made their debut performance at this year’s Sierra Nevada World Music Festival and this was their first appearance in California in over 36 years. The Melodians opened their showcase with the well-known spiritual anthem, "By The River Of Babylon", the soulful "Sweet Sensation" (1970) and the bitter-sweet songs, "Everybody Bawlin’ (for love) recorded in 1966, "You Don’t Need Me" and "Swing and Dine". As the audience danced and sang along to The Melodians beautiful songs, an enthusiastic fan matched my sentiments when he joyfully said, "It just doesn’t get any better than this!"

Providing the musical structure for a true "World Party" was the incredible Fab Five, one of the most accomplished Jamaican dance bands on the scene today. Guiding the Fab Five are foundation members Frankie Campbell on bass, Harold ‘Jr’ Bailey on guitar, flute and saxophone and Grub Cooper on drums and lead vocals. Fab Five effortlessly moves from Reggae to Soca with a versatility that is nothing less that phenomenal. They clearly displayed this versatility not only in their own outstanding performance but also in backing a number of performers including Sugar Minott, The Melodians, Johnny Osborne and Ninety the Observer. I asked Fab Five member, Samuel Grant (trumpet) how they could perform and also back so many artists and still maintain such stamina. He smiled and warmly said, "We’re accustom to performing sets that extend more than 3 hours and the longer they go the better we sound." Other members of Fab Five include Sidney Thorpe and Donovan Lee Palmer on keyboards, Romeo Gray on trombone and Glenroy Samuels on guitar. Big up to Fab Five for a great performance at this year’s Sierra Nevada World Music Festival.

Truly epitomizing their song, "Ras For A Reason", the brilliant St. Croix Reggae group Midnite created and sustained a tidal wave of enthusiasm on the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival’s Village Stage on Sunday, June 22^nd. A purely Roots Reggae conquest took place as Midnite’s impressive band directed by Ron Benjamin on keyboards, visionary lyrics and the spellbinding voice of lead singer Vaughn Benjamin weave a kind of Rastafarian magic. Midnite performed songs from their groundbreaking album, Unpolished (Originally released in 1997 and re-released on the Rastafaria label in 2001) and their latest release, Seek Knowledge Before Vengeance. Both Unpolished and Seek Knowledge Before Vengeance are worthy of high praise and if you don’t already have them in your library you should make a special trip to your record store. Midnite’s tight rhythms and intellectual lyrics reflect pure brilliance of mind and demand deep penetration. Their performance at this year’s Sierra Nevada World Music Festival was truly a pinnacle of perfection. If you missed their performance, you can catch Midnight at the Annual Monterey Bay Reggae Festival on Sunday, September 1^st.

Blessed Love