Kenyatta Hill, son of the late Joseph 'Culture' Hill, rocked the crowd at Western Consciousness on Saturday. - Adrian Frater photo

Adrian Frater, News Editor

Western Bureau:

A dazzling Kenyatta Hill , the son of the late Joseph 'Culture' Hill, left no doubt about his capacity to carry on his father's musical legacy when he stole the spotlight at Saturday night's 'Western Consciousness '07' at the Llandilo Cultural Centre, in Westmoreland.

It was like the voice of the father coming through the mouth of the son, as the lanky 28-years old Kenyatta, nattily attired in full black, dug deep into his father's catalogue and came up with a generous offering of the hits, which made him one of the most revered voices in reggae music for over three decades.

Young Hill, who has been touring the world as the lead singer for the group Culture since his dad died last year, was most compelling and commanding as he had the fans in a singing and dancing frenzy as he belted out hits such as, Jah Jah See Dem A Come, Jah Rastafari, Money Girl, Zion Gate and Two Sevens Clash to stunning effect.

While young Hill was the undisputed star of the night, the other performances were also of a very high standard as the youthful power of the likes of Tarrus Riley, Queen Ifrika, Etana, Sasha, Little Hero, Chuck Fendah and X-Factor richly complemented the veterans such as Mackie Conscious, Ijahman Levi, Freddie McGregor and Luciano.

Perplexed audience

Mackie Conscious, who performed in the first of two segments alongside the likes of the House of Leeds duo X-Factor and Iyah Blazz, left the audience perplexed as to why he was not included in the second segment as he was most impressive in his set.

Etana, Queen Ifrika and Sasha showed that women are quite capable of holding their own. Etanasounded very much like an international star on the song, Wrong Address. Sasha was quite forceful on songs such Cheater and Informer and Queen Ifrica delivered with the likes of Born Free and Get yu inna de Mood.

The veteran Ijahman Levi, who was performing in Jamaica for the first time in 20 years, showed that time and distance have not robbed him of the capacity to please a local crowd. In fact, he evoked pleasant memories of the message-coated reggae era of the '60s and '70s with his authentic sound on songs such as I Am A Witness, We A Warrior and Carry Jah Heavy Load.

As he has been showing in recent times, Tarrus Riley is firmly on top of his game and definitely poised to go places as his songs are thought-provoking and his delivery is masterful. Songs such as Larger than life Battlefield, Nubian Queen and Stay With You were all expertly delivered and drew rich applauds for Jimmy Riley's son.

Freddie McGregor and Luciano, who performed as the penultimate and final acts respectively, gave a clinic on what it means to give fans exactly what they want. McGregor had the fans screaming, dancing and Luciano, fresh from a tour of Ethiopia, was in a mellow mood which reflected in his mature delivery.