By Tanya Batson, Staff Reporter
Desi Jones
THE ROUND of the Philip Sherlock Centre for the Creative Arts, University of the West Indies, Mona, was stretched at the seams last Monday night. The stretching was not caused by the audience, which was modest - in size, at least; it was the amount of talent.
Several of Jamaica's top artistes who have worked with drummer extraordinaire Desi Jones came to the centre to pay tribute to the man and his work.
The evening of tribute was the June instalment of the Griot Music's monthly Storytellers series. The event was titled the 'Desi Jones Story' and it was a tale told with the drum, the piano, the guitar, the bass and the voice. Of course, the beat of the drum dominated, as it was demonstrated that Jones is as prolific with rhythms as the number of groups and persons he has performed with.
Between the bouts of music Seretse Small, the major force behind Griot Music, read bits of Desi Jones' biography, which served as the foundation on which the evening' presentation was built. Along with his drumming, Jones also plays the roles of father, producer (he has his own production company -- Reality Check) and composer. Small revealed that Jones was regularly 'under the influence' -- of other great musicians that is. He stated that the main influences were Toni Smith, Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace and Calvin McKenzie.
Another of Desi Jones' influences was in the house to pay tribute. Marjorie Whylie, a legend in her own right, was one of his drumming teachers. For his benefit - or rather, at his command - she conceded to play Freeze. Before taking her seat at the keyboards, Ms. Whylie pointed out that she was glad to see that they respected her seniority by providing a chair.
The beautiful instrumental piece is a Whylie original which she had not played in a while. Ms. Whylie, on the keyboards, was accompanied by Dale Haslam on bass and, of course, Desi Jones on drums. The piece began by being dominated by the twinkling ivories. However, lead was soon ceded to the bass guitar and later to the drums.
Along with starting his own band, Skool, and being the first drummer with the Jamaica Big Band, Desi Jones was also one of the drummers with Chalice. As such Wayne Armond, lead singer with Chalice, also came to lend his talent to the evening, along with Jones on drums, Christopher McDonald on keyboards and Dale Haslam on bass. Additionally, another set of drums was allowed to speak when Denver Smith brought the jembe to life half-way through their performance of Praise Him.
The audience, which was suffering from a strong case of wonderful vibes brought on by good music, were quickly singing along with Armond, providing him with back-up vocals for the very popular song. However, the singing was thrust to the back seat when Denver Smith moved from his place at the back to centre stage and began his solo. It might not have been his night, but the voice of his drum was well heard.
The evening's performances were brought to a close with Stay Together. This song featured Dwight Richards on vocals, McDonald on the keyboards, Haslam on bass and Desi Jones remaining in place behind the trap set. Let's Stay Together was another of the songs that had the audience involved almost as soon as it began. By the end of the performance, most of the audience, realising the night was at an end, got to their feet to add further enjoyment to the close of a great evening of music.
Earlier in the proceedings, Mutabaruka and Peter Ashbourne had also added their skills to make the evening as good as it was. However, the thing that was most clear was the skill which Desi Jones possesses. Almost every performance included a drum solo, which were all different yet excellent.
The calibre of music that was produced at the UWI on Monday night proved that while many people beat the drums, Desi Jones masters them.
