There were strong familial sentiments for reggae singer Maxi Priest and US rocker Lou Gramm at the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival in Rose Hall, St James at the weekend. On Saturday night, midway his tremendous set, Maxi Priest called one of his sons, Marvin, onstage to perform Childhood, his most popular single.

As Maxi Priest faded backstage for a few minutes and allowed his son to rock the audience at The Aqueduct with his smooth R'n'B style, the similarities between the two were obvious.

Wonderful feeling

The moment was also replete with a feeling of pride that Maxi Priest has become accustomed to.

"To see where they've come from as a baby ... I'm a proud, proud father when I see that happen," he said after his performance on Saturday.

"It's such a great emotion but I'm cool with my kids. Me and them bond a certain kinda way. We've been singing together for so many years, so it's normal. But obviously, when you see them put it out there in front of the audience and then the audience responds, you feel good."

While admitting there are similarities in the way they perform ("Marvin probably wouldn't like to hear that," Priest jokes), he said Marvin is his own artiste.

"He has his own (style) but there are few things that have fallen from the block," said Priest.

Lou Gramm, born Louis Grammatico, is also a chip off the old block. His father Bennie was a trumpeter and bandleader and his mother Nikki was a singer in Bennie's Big Band. Gramm's career has spanned 30 years, most of it spent as the lead singer for Foreigner. The band produced hits such as I Want to Know What Love Is and Waiting For a Girl Like You.

Wish from his parent

Following his parents' death and the eventual split of Foreigner in 2003, Gramm fulfilled one of his parents' lifelong wishes and formed the Lou Gramm Band with his brothers Ben and Richard.

"We've always played in separate projects and my father's dying wish was to see the boys play together. (Forming the band with them was) to honour my parents," Gramm told The Gleaner last Friday night.

"My brothers are excellent musicians, and my parents were musicians too, and I think that's why it's in the blood."

Gramm added that while the individual relationships in Foreigner were tumultuous at times, the fami-lial bond in his current band makes it easier to deal with conflicts.

"The band's been together five years now and it's just been awesome. It's much nicer to travel with people you are close to, and the other guys in the band (Don Mancuso and Andy Knoll) are good friends.

"Both bands, musically, are good, but there was always tension in Foreigner. We have our problems in the Lou Gramm Band but we face them a little bit differently and there's a lot more unity."

- LeVaughn Flynn

Lou Gramm in performance at the 2009 Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival. - photo by Janet Silvera