Singer Luciano, right, speaks with Jack Scorpio at his first album launch locally. He introduced his seventh full-length set, 'Serve Jah', on Monday at the Livity Vegetarian Restaurant on Old Hope Road, St. Andrew. - Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer AMIDST NEWS that his tour of Europe would go on, Luciano had his first album launch locally when he introduced his seventh full-length set Serve Jah on Monday. Serve Jah was launched at Livity Vegetarian Restaurant on Old Hope Road, St. Andrew. With the bantering, jokes from MC Ibo Cooper and an excellent set by Luciano, the persons who turned up were certainly moved to offer support.
Luciano's manager, Copeland Forbes, who gave the vote of thanks, disclosed that the tour would go on despite reports in parts of the media that the trip to Europe was in doubt. "A lot of people were speculating as to whether we would tour or not. Artistes are out there doing their thing. We are here and we have a work to do, so we will be heading on a month-long tour of Europe this week," he said.
Mr. Forbes disclosed that there would be shows in England, Denmark, The Netherlands, Belgium and France. In addition, Luciano will perform alongside Warrior King, Coco Tea and Capleton at various points on the road. While that was possibly the most revealing bit of information of the night, what was also interesting was the disclosure that Serve Jah was the first album launch for Luciano in Jamaica.
The album, which was largely produced by Jack Scorpio, had the endorsement of the veteran record maker himself. "The album has everything that is happening today. I feel proud of this album and what it is about," said Scorpio. In the same breath, he chastised disc jockeys for not exposing more 'message music' on radio. "Fi know seh yuh help start the music fi spread and a message and it reach here so... From yuh a do message music yuh not getting much recognition on radio," he continued.
Praise for Luciano's latest effort also came from President of the Jamaica Federation of Musicians (JFM) Desmond Young. Endorsements also came from Minister of State in the Ministry of Tourism, Wykeham McNeil, who praised the singer's work, as well as other artistes, describing them as reggae ambassadors.
The high point of the night came when Luciano performed several of his old hits as well as three songs off his current album. The performance reached a high when he called up Capleton to help him perform Never Want To See The Youths Dem Cry as well as We're All In This Thing Together.
