LEFT: Yashemabeth McGregor, daughter of Judy Mowatt and Freddie McGregor (Contributed). RIGHT: Richie Stephens (left) and his mother, Mama Carmen, in concert. (File)

André Jebbinson, Staff Reporter

I want to be like my mother. More often than not that sentiment is not quite fulfilled by the offspring who wishes it. Whenever children follow through, it can be something special. And depending on the kind of mother they have, she will naturally be proud of the example she has set for her child.

Just ask Judy Mowatt. Nobody can deny the musical stalwart she is, after her reign with the I-Threes and a successful solo career. While the world was noticing her so was her daughter, Yashemabeth McGregor. Yashemabeth is now a talented singer who Mowatt said she could not be any more proud of.

"She is the only (child) who really took a liking to it. I saw the gift in her from early; I call her a musical genius. She has even taken it a notch higher. She plays the piano and the violin," Mowatt said of her daughter.

Yashemabeth is thankful for the opportunity her mother gave her. The most important aspect of her musical career came at birth, but it is other intangible things that Yashemabeth is thankful for, For example, the money Mowatt invested in training and fostering her daughter's love of music. Still, Mowatt's status had it effects.

"It was hard for me to balance her being an entertainer and a mother at the same. It was hard to say this is my mother and have her all to myself. But it is how we were provided for," Yashemabeth said.

Of course, Yashemabeth is almost living her mother's previous life with all the travelling and extended periods away from home. But whenever Yashemabeth is home or away, her mother's counsel will always fill her mind.

Respect

"The most important thing she tells me is to believe in and respect myself the way I want others to respect me," Yashemabeth said.

Things are almost a little different for the mother-daughter pair of Christine MacDonald and Marilyn Brice-MacDonald. It would have taken some weird genetic occurrence for two persons to be this similar.

Some of the choirs Christine the mezzo-soprano and Marilyn the contralto sing for include the Diocesan Festival Choir, the Operatic Society of Jamaica, the National Chorale and the Jamaican Folk Singers. Then there are concerts put on by them both. In fact, Christine is musical director of the Jamaican Folk Singers, of which her mother is a founding member.

"I always felt very proud watching her at the classical concerts and folk concerts ... She had an appreciation for music on a whole and would perform with equal passion with each group," MacDonald said.

This rubbed off on Christine. But according to Brice-MacDonald, it is not something that she consciously did.

"I didn't go out of my way to to to do it. You just do what you have to do and she sees it," she said.

Both Christine and Yashemabeth followed in their mother's footsteps and so too did Richie Stephens - in a sense. His mother, Mama Carmen, has a powerful voice that rang in Richie Stephen's ear while he was growing up.

Mama Carmen was under heavy stress, being a single mother, but that did not stop her from bellowing the notes as she wandered around the house. That resulted in Richie Stephens' earliest desires to become a singer.

"It was difficult, but she was a good parent. She was always fighting to keep food on the table. I watched her cry through the pressure, but she never gave up," he recalled.

Now, reflecting the words in one of his singles with his mother, Mama's Blessing, they are standing tall, proud of who they are. He said the feeling of standing on stage with his mother is one that cannot be described; it is simply magical.

Neither Yashemabeth, Christine nor Richie Stephens has any special plans for this Mother's Day. Mowatt will be at church participating in their celebration and Brice-MacDonald will be performing in Manchester, while Mama Carmen will simply spend the day with her son and his family.

Lessons go past singing

The Sunday Gleaner asked the three singers the best advice they got from their mothers, and the two mothers, the best advice they passed on.