Dwight Pinkney ... credited with setting high standards over time. - File

Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

Soup and song, and dinner and dance, were blended in the courtyard of the Oakton Park Complex, Half-Way Tree, as guitarist and producer Dwight Pinkney presented his single rhythm Love and Peace album recently.

The album launch was an addition to the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates' (JAVAA) monthly 'Family Evening' and there was a sense of pride in Pinkney, JAVAA chairman Frankie Campbell saying, "Dwight Pinkney has set the standard over the years with good music and tonight is no exception".

And before the performances of single songs to recorded tracks, Junior Sinclair, who hosted the event along with singer Bob Andy, adjusted Sizzla's lyrics to sing "he is as solid as a rock, they just can't stop him now". A cry of 'Dwight Pinkney' left no doubt about whom he was singing.

Love and Peace has 15 tracks, with Shinz 'Di Chick' Hewitt, High Quality, Oliver Smooth, Charmaine Limonious, Bunny Brown, Pam Hall, Capital D, Tinga Stewart, Gavinchi and Tony Tuff being among the featured performers. A number of them performed on Thursday evening, Mary Isaacs adding Inseparable and Tubeless delivering a few rib-ticklers as stand-up comedy was added to the mix.

Guest speaker Astley 'Grub' Cooper, drummer with the Fabulous Five Incorporated Band, commented, "I went through the album carefully, no bias. It took me back to a time when songs were clean, people were respectful, especially towards women, nice lyrics."

And lyrics were on Cooper's mind as he said "there is life after music. A lot of people don't understand."

Cooper said that over the years there have been artistes who have changed from secular to gospel music, but "they cringe when they hear the music they put out when they were in the secular world. Papa San, to some extent Lt. Stitchie, to some extent Rev. Junior Tucker. The fact is that they have laid a foundation".

Tasteful and airworthy

Pam Hall - File

He said that on Love and Peace "all the songs are tasteful and airworthy". However, Cooper pointed out that airworthiness does not mean airplay, saying, "I hope by some miracle Dwight gets some airplay from this album. The fact is that money talks". And it seems "the people who spend the least money, put the least in their production, get the most airplay".

Cooper said that there are any number of topics to write songs about, but some people only know four: gun, under girl clothes, sex (in the most brutish way) and violence.

"We have to cultivate a culture now of putting out good things. If we do positive music, the nation will reflect positive. If you do negative, itwill have the opposite effect," he said. "Pop music is not about preaching, it is about how you put things over."

"We are a society, not a government. We, as musicians and songwriters, have the responsibility of putting out good music. We cannot change the world all at once, but every little bit adds up," he said, closing with best wishes for the success of a 'good album'.