The way of Kenyatta Hill

Joseph Hill, the fallen reggae hero whose son Kenyatta and wife Pauline were in town a few weeks ago should be smiling from above.

There are several Jamaican reggae artists that have died. One that quickly comes to mind is Gregory Anthony Isaacs, a reggae legend who had released over 500 albums in his career. He lived from July 15, 1951 to October 25, 2010.

Of course before Isaacs, four years earlier Joseph ‘Culture’ Hill died after collapsing following a performance in Berlin on August 19, 2006.

Unlike Gregory Isaacs, Joseph Hill is one lucky fellow as his son is continuing doing the work he died doing on that fateful August day.

What is even more reassuring is that Kenyatta is performing with the original Culture members that include his Uncle Albert Walker and Telford Nelson.

Early June, the group performed at Mibawa Multipurpose Hall in Blantyre and Civo Stadium in Lilongwe a day later.

I attended the Blantyre show where in the process people who had entered the show venue with ulterior motives robbed me of my smart phone and a cash filled wallet right at the time when Kenyatta ascended unto the stage to perform.

If his performance was going to be a display of mediocrity then this would have been the longest night.

In any case the theft I suffered would have given me the perfect cue to exit the venue and drive back home. It was never to be and later after the show I felt more than compensated for my loss.

Kenyatta respected his fallen iconic reggae legendary father with dynamite packed performance. It dawned on those of us who exult good music that the legend of Joseph Hill lives on as he will continue bubbling on the top 100 forever and ever not only through his body of work but also through his son’s awe-inspiring musical performance.

Kenyatta has his father’s voice only that his has more clout and dynamism that he packages with youthful energy and electrifying stage presence.

For years, he has been his father’s sound engineer and this is also well demonstrated in the way he controls, not only the band, but the two elderly backing duo that has traversed the world with his father.

To imagine that he had only practiced with the band which had South African based members for a few hours, what followed spoke volumes of the kind of future that is in store for the young Hill.

He also displayed discipline that is only present in professional artists. If you must know, Kenyatta has three albums to his name, released after the death of his father. Never in a moment did he play any of the songs that he has done as a solo project.

When the sound was not coming out the way he liked he would stop the performance in the way that looked like it was part of the act. He was holding a short carved black stick that he was systematically using to tell one on bass what he wanted. He was in fact using the stick to communicate to the whole band.

Listening to his performance one would have thought it was Joseph Hill with improved rendition of his tracks. Under the prevailing circumstances he performed like the spirit of his fallen father had entered him, more so with his mother sitting right on stage watching her son.

Those artists that curtain raised the show like members of the Black Missionaries and Mr. Cool; I should believe learnt a lesson or two.

We have had children of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh’s son Andrew and even Garnet Silk Junior performing after the fall of their fathers. None has come so near to the perfection of the works of their fathers as has Kenyatta, he has his unique way.

  

Another Jamaican legend dies

Just some four years ago, these pages mourned the passing of Gregory Anthony Isaacs, a reggae legend known as ‘The Cool Ruler’ who had released over 500 albums in a career spanning four decades.

Now another reggae maestro John Kenneth Holt, who was born on July 11, 1947, died on October 19.

What is intriguing is that both Isaacs and Holt died in the city of London and in the month of October. What is even more fascinating is that these deaths come four years apart. Before Isaacs, Joseph ‘Culture’ Hill died after collapsing following a performance in Berlin on 19 August, 2006.

Today I will, however, talk of the legendary reggae icon John Holt who had been battling ill-health for a long time and collapsed on stage during a performance at the One Love concert in London, after which he underwent surgery and was recovering. Many Malawians knew Holt because of the track ‘Police in a Helicopter”.

However, those of you who like the UK band UB40 will remember how this band enthralled you with their hits including ‘Stick by Me’. This track was composed by Holt, no wonder UB40 mourned him by saying that Holt was a "massive inspiration and will be sorely missed".

This well-loved vocalist is also the one who composed the ‘The Tide Is High’ whose cover became a global hit for the American rock band, Blondie.

Described by The Guardian as the honey-voiced Jamaican singer and songwriter, John Holt - just like Gregory Isaacs and many Jamaican singers of his generation - came to lime-light through the island’s talent show circuit which put its contestants up on the stage and gave them national radio coverage.

Holt entered his first contest at the age of 12 and won 28 titles over the next four years before launching his recording career with a self-penned debut single Forever I’ll stay/I Cried a Tear released in 1963.
 
Holt first found success as the lead singer of reggae group, The Paragons, replacing original front man Leroy Stamp after making a name for himself on the talent show circuit.

He left The Paragons in 1970 to focus on his solo career. ‘Stick By Me’, his most successful solo effort, became the biggest selling Jamaican record of 1972.

The Guardian, however, says the reggae singer and songwriter will be remembered for his enduringly popular album ‘1000 Volts of Holt’ and for being responsible for some of the greatest moments in reggae during a career spanning more than 50 years.

Cover versions of easy listening hits from ‘1000 Volts of Holt’ still sell in great numbers today even though the album was first released in 1973.

“The enduringly popular ‘1000 Volts of Holt’, recorded in Jamaica and London, gave the reggae treatment to classic romantic compositions such as ‘Girl from Ipanema’, ‘Mr. Bojangles’ and ‘Touch Me in the Morning’. As a project it was, on the face of it, unlikely to meet with approval either from devotees of a music form usually given to addressing the harsh realities of Jamaican life, or from a more mainstream global audience, pre-Bob Marley, that was largely unfamiliar with reggae” reports The Guardian.

It is sad that within a space of four years since 2006 the world has lost iconic reggae legends. The joy, however, is in the fact that their legend lives on as they will continue bubbling on the top 100 forever and ever.

Rest in Peace John Kenneth Holt!