Click on images to enlarge
Cramer's Park Beach
Asher
Massiah
Jah Rubal
Ancient King
Abja
Sistah Joyce
Ronnie Benjamin, Sr.
Ikahba
Dezarie
Dean Pond
Midnite
Photos by Mark Siebert
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The first annual Winter Reggae in Paradise
festival was held at Cramer’s Park on January 8, 2006. Located on
the eastern end of St. Croix, the sandy shores of
Cottengarden Bay gives
way to the park’s lush green field to create an ideal location for a
roots reggae festival. For days before the concert, this normally
sleepy island was abuzz with activities celebrating ‘Cruzian
Christmas’. Music could be heard everywhere, and the streets were
packed as locals lined King Street to see both a children's
parade as well as an adult parade the following day.
St. Croix is more peaceful than the other Caribbean
islands I have visited, with ‘hustling’ being virtually
non-existent. As I walked along the streets of St. Croix, I was
overcome by a sense of familiarity. Cruzians are very warm people,
greeting everyone they meet, often with a friendly look and a
smile. I felt a certain closeness to people I had never
experienced
before.
As the sun was setting over the horizon, festival
engineer supreme Dean Pond was putting the final touches on what
proved to be an amazing sound system. By 6:30, several thousand
people were on hand to have MC Bogle introduce the first
artist of WRIP: Asher. This young chanter controlled the mic
for some 15 minutes, being accompanied for a brief period by OC.
Massiah came forward next with a short set filled to the brim
with piercing lyrics including a big tune “Bun Dem”:
“Military forces, micro-chip and computer devices
Dem seh, dem a de secret society
But all I see is Illuminati looking for workers
Under the order of animosity, whoa
Under the order of brutality, brutality
Holding black people inna slavery
Look how dem live, no taste of the cake
You want to tell me say mi living free, you crazy
Look what is up with the Taliban
You gone an mash up Iraq
I said you find no nuclear weapon
So bun, bun, bun, bun, bun, bun, bun, bun, bun, bun, bun, bun, bun,
bun, bun dem”
Volcano was the next
artist to take the stage, spewing forth his fire-brand lyrics like
hot molten lava. As Jah Rubal (aka Daddy Locks) closed out
the first hour, it was evident that this was not going to be a
reggae festival. It was not going to be a roots festival. This was
a Rasta festival, with the message of H.I.M. resonating through the
voice of each singer.
In the summer of 2005, I Grade Records
released a trilogy of records representing fire, earth and wind;
these elements were in full effect during the next portion of
the program. Ancient King brought forth some blazing
“Conquering Sounds” followed by NiyoRah from the Star Lion
Family. Niyo blessed the audience with earthy songs from his
debut CD “A Different Age”, as well as from the forthcoming
“Purification Session” album. The roots man Abja was up next,
pleasing the people with his ‘red-eye blues’. The sweet sound of
Army’s voice permeating the air had the crowd swaying
with the breeze. He sang selections from all his albums including
the omnipotent “Rasta Awake”, with Larocque adding some
excellent background vocals. Bogle then announced the first of several ‘guest artists’ – Mada Nile.
Though small in stature, this lady belts out some massive lyrics.
Sistah Joyce closed out the first segment of the festival
singing “Blasphemus” from her “New Dae” album. In all, the Red-I
Band, which consisted of Kenyatta on bass, T-Rock
on drums, Tippy on keyboards, Whealan Masicott on
guitar and Harry Mo on percussions, played for more than 3
hours, pounding out rootical riddims for a dozen singers.
A brief set change allowed me some time to stroll
along the beach and bask in the glory of the moon shining over Buck
Island Channel. Throughout the crowd, I saw many of the faces
(mostly middle-aged women) who had previously told me they were
looking forward to seeing Ronnie Benjamin, Sr. sing in St.
Croix for the first time in 16 years. He was to have been the
headline artist, but because many of those coming to see him sing
had to be at work the next morning, and because of the time, it was
decided that Ronnie Benjamin would be the first Afrikan
Roots Lab artist to appear.
Songs like “Don’t Change”, “I Wanna Wake Up With
You”, and “You're Still In My Head” made it apparent why Ronnie
Benjamin was so popular with the ladies, though I prefer the
more militant songs such as “Enough Is Never Enough” and “Broken
System”. Ron (Jr.) and Vaughn Benjamin added their vocals
to this hour-long set, and it was obviously a very special moment
for the whole family.
Ikahba was the next
artist to grace the stage. He seemed to
project a much stronger stage
presence than he had demonstrated the year before, singing several
songs like “Jah Make Us” and “Truths and Rights” from his
forthcoming album. At one point Mash came up to join in on
the combination “Skylarkin”.
It was just about midnight when Dezarie was
introduced to the people of St. Croix for the first time in nearly
three years. She wailed a rousing rendition of “Hail Jah” and then
welcomed the masses with “Greetings in the name of the feminine
aspect of the godhead, and His Imperial Majesty I Haile Selassie the
First”. Though the crowd was not very animated, they were certainly
open and receptive to the message that Dezarie brings with
songs such as “Sing Out”, “Strengthen Your Mind” and “Poverty”. Her
final selection, “We Need”, came over an hour later:
"We need, we need, we need, we need
We want government
Loyal specimen
We want hospital
With herb medicine
We want doctrine
Preserve tradition
We want discipline
With self governance
We want the old thing
Bring back the old thing
The touch the sole thing
The ancient riddim
For the people
By the people
We need….."
Dean Pond demonstrated
his outstanding drumming skills backing the first 3 Afrikan Roots
Lab artists. Shortly after 1:00, he turned the reins over to
Sly and the full Midnite vibes were brought into “Zion
Pavilion”. As the moon was setting behind Buck Island someone asked
me what I thought of the music. My answer was simply “It's Midnite”.
Each musical communion is a totally new and unique experience.
Being along the Caribbean beach under a nearly full moon, amongst
loving people who are open to the message that Midnite
brings, takes the event to the highest of levels.
Reggae music emanating from the Virgin Islands has
developed a large following within the United States. Ronnie
Benjamin Jr. said the goal of Winter Reggae In Paradise
is to expose that talent to the people of St. Croix, where the
popularity of roots reggae is just beginning to catch on with
residents. And the thousands of locals who attended definitely got a
full cup, with nine hours of word, sound and
power.
At around 3:00, Vaughn called Xkaliba
out and he sang “United States of Ethiopia”. Most of the Cruzians
had departed by this time, but the hundreds of long-distance
travellers remained as Jah Rubal came on stage for one more
selection. Midnite finished a blessed night off with
"Wricta
Scale" followed by Vaughn coming forward with an accapela
version of "Stand Up". He
also thanked all those distant voyagers, noted
the love within
the audience, the conscious rasta message coming from all the Virgin
Island artists taking the stage, and the fact that there
was not a single incident during the entire festival. Respect was
given to the VIPD, who lived up to their motto “Working With You”,
and the first annual Winter Reggae In Paradise festival was
history. And what a blessed historic event it was!!!
Reflections on
the 1st annual Winter Reggae In Paradise
click on images to listen to reflections
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Click on images to enlarge
Stage being built
OC and Asher
Massiah
Volcano
Jah Rubal
NiyoRah
Army
Mada Nile
Ronnie Benjamin & Sons
Mash & Ikahba
Mash
Dezarie
Xkaliba
Photos by Mark Siebert
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