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BIG YOUTH with Glen Washington
March 11, 1997
SOB's
New York City
Big
Youth, one of the originators of the deejay style, heated up a packed SOB's
crowd on March 11. Considering he ruled the Jamaican charts during the mid-seventies,
more than twenty years ago, I wasn't sure what to expect from him live--perhaps
a sedate elder statesman running through a short set? The truth was, apart
from a white beard and graying dreads, Jah Youth seemed more like an energetic
young deejay than an ageing legend. He skanked and jumped all over the stage,
at times smiling broadly like a Rasta Louis Armstrong. The large, racially
mixed crowd was eager to see him--anxious to see one of the deejays who
started it all.
Big
Youth let the band lock into a groove on each song, and then he would burst
upon the microphone in short, gruffphrases, repeating himself when necessary
to push a point home. He started the evening with "Satta Masagana,"
which gave him opportunity to praise the most high and get the show off
on the right foot. A medley of Sly & The Family Stone's "Every
Nigger Is A Star" and Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me" followed
that. On "Save The Children," his refrain of "Save the children/Save
the babies" rang out again and again over a jerking rhythm until the
command hung in theair even when he had stopped intoning it. The band was
a makeshift group featuring members from various New York area backing combos,
which host Simon Templar dubbed the "Unity Band" on the spot.
Because the band was thrown together on short notice, the set had a few
rough spots here and there; for the most part, however, Big Youth and the
Unity band were in synch, and would stretch out for long versions of songs,
which provided Jah Youth with the space to go in any direction he dared
During
the encore, Big Youth devoted some time to a Wailers medley, featuring a
song by each of the original members; though it was nice to hear "Black
Heart Man," by Bunny Wailer and "Chant Down Babylon," I was
a bit surprised that an artist of Big Youth's stature was covering other
people's material in his own encore. I know that as a deejay much of Big
Youth's material is made up of versions of other people's songs--my complaint
here is that he did these songs very traditionally, making them sound like
straight covers instead of the wild versions he normally creates. He ended
the evening with an extended rendition of his British hit "Hit The
Road, Jack." That song went on at least twelve minutes, with Youth
singing new verses (and even different songs entirely over the same rhythm),
before returning to the familiar notes of the Ray Charles classic.
The
night began a little late--it started with a brief set of songs sung by
Glen Washington, who later played the drums for Big Youth. Washington has
a sweet voice, and models his singing after Beres Hammond, whose songs were
featured prominently in the short set. Washington was a bit sabotaged by
technical problems during his time on stage. First, he was forced to delay
beginning when the drummer, Style Scott, failed to show. When he did start,
he had countless problems with microphones and monitors, but still managed
to get the crowd involved. Glen Washington's voice is almost as wicked as
his impeccable drumming and while his original songs lacked distinction,
he chose a good selection of covers to perform, from The Mighty Diamonds'
"Right Time" to Beres Hammond's "Heaven In Your Eyes."By Lem
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::
Sanchez :: Sugar Minott Dec 3, 2002 New York City ::
Jr Kelly ::
Frankie Paul ::
Sugar
Minott ::
The Meditations
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