Barba Papa

Dropped in to the Casbah to check out Barba Papa and was very glad I did. This 10 piece band out of Strabane already had the floor filled with happy dancers and the atmosphere was as good as I’ve ever seen it in there. Musically I kept thinking of Bedouin Soundclash but as the gig went on the styles changed subtly keeping the interest high. There were two lead singers, with the male, David, obviously doubling as band leader and definitely had the stronger voice, but the female singer did beautiful harmonies and kept the happy vibe high. When called on to carry the show herself it seemed her voice was a bit weak and it definitely worked best when coupled with his but its still early days for the band so we’ll see how it pans out. The brass section could come to the fore a bit more as well and the bongos were lost in the mix, indeed a talented, and attentive sound engineer could make so much more for this band than happened on the night, with ten on stage there’s no excuse not having someone on full time sound duties. Having said that I’m splitting hairs, the gig was good, the punters very happy and we all, I included, look forward to seeing them again, soon.

Earagail Arts Festival

yes we got the Earagail Arts Festival launched in the Radisson last Tuesday, this year its from the 7th to the 22nd July and as usual over the next few weeks I’ll be previewing my personal must see shows. Here’s a quick run down of what I’ll be going to see: The O’ Neill, Jaws, Luminarium, Sclavi, Joan as Policewoman, Circo Ba Rumba, Fidget Feet, Berkeley, Optimo, Gringo & The Pony Girls, The Skatalites and An Cosan Glas. Make any sense to you? Well over the next few weeks hopefully it will all become clearer, of course you could pick up one of the 50,000 brochures that are out there or surf the web to www.eaf.ie.

Here’s my first highlight: The Skatalites.

A personal thrill for me as heroes of the Jamaican music scene, the scene starters indeed, The Skatalites are to Jamaican music what Booker T and the MGs were to American Soul, the house band and originators of so much of what we now take for granted. The original line up reads like a who’s who of Jamaican music: Roland Alphonso tenor sax, Lester 'Ska' Sterling alto sax, Tommy McCook tenor sax and flute,(the leader of the group) Don Drummond on trombone, Johnny 'Dizzy' Moore on trumpet, Lloyd Knibb on drums, Lloyd Brevett on bass and on piano and organ Jackie Mittoo, Jah Jerry Haines on guitar. At times, other musicians played on the studio sessions, Ernest Ranglin on guitar, keyboards Lloyd Richards, Aubrey Adams. Trumpet Baba Brooks and Raymond Harper. Dennis "ska" Campbell played tenor sax on many sessions and added to the the pace and flavour on many tracks. Skatalites also featured vocalists on some recordings and when they played live. This included Tony DaCosta, Doreen Schaffer and Lord Tanamo. Jackie Opel also performed very well on stage and made some fine recordings with them. They started recording in June 1964 and only recorded for about fourteen months until the late summer of 1965. They were primarily a session band working in the studio during the day. They recorded for both Clement Dodd and Duke Reid, who both had sound systems; Sir Coxsone's Downbeat and Duke Reid the Trojan. Ska was played at all the dance halls and house parties. It is remarkable that during such a short period the Skatalites recorded so many tunes, when you consider that during the evenings most of the musicians played with other bands. When the band split in 1965 they became the Soul Brothers under the leadership of Roland Alphonso, later changing the name to the Soul Vendors, which also included Jackie Mittoo on organ. Tommy Mc Cook formed the Supersonics and joined Duke Reid at Treasure Isle. Naturally this current line up has changed somewhat form the early days , with not all original members still alive but they keep the spirit and more importantly the urgent rhythm, of ska alive. Put on your dancing shoes.... The Skatalites play the Hotel Clanree on Friday 13th July at 9pm, tickets now available from 074 91 20777.

Jerry Dammers

It seems appropriate when talking about ska to talk about the man who championed the second wave of ska in the late 70s. Jerry Dammers was the main songwriter and keyboard player behind the Specials, and the owner and manager of Two Tone Records which gave the ska movement in england, and across Europe and America, its identity. Since the specials split in the 80s he has kept his hand in as a producer, and mainly as a d.j. Every Jerry gig is a dancing party as he blends tunes from 60s ska, reggae, roots, dub, soul, funk into a seething dance floor melting pot of happiness, and occasionally he will delve deep into his sound effects records or over to hip hop and drum n bass to elevate the mood. He may even throw in some Two tone gems, with a particular fondness for the Selector, they were the best dance group out of all of us, he reckons. We Specials fans may argue but there’s no doubting his talent! Jerry is the man. Jerry Dammers, with support from Daithi, will play the full moon party at the Orchard on Saturday 30 June. Tickets are 12 Euros and on sale now from Universal Records in the Square in Letterkenny.

Celtronic 2007
Here’s the full line up for the Derry Festival

Wednesday 27th June @ Sandinos, Water St, Derry
Jerry Dammers (The Specials)
Joe Driscoll (Buttercut Records - New York - Live)
Move (Live)
Wile Man (Live)
Sirocco Allstars featuring Era 2, M3 and Underdog(Live)
Daithi (Fubar)

Thursday 28th June @ Masons, Magazine St, Derry
Radioactive Man (Dex n Fx)
Phil Kieran (Novamute - Skint)
Boxcutter (Planet Mu - Live)
The Crimson Underground (Live)
Friday 29th June @ Masons, Magazine St, Derry
Alan Williams
Mezzanaesia (Live)
Stephen McCauley (Electric Mainline)
Cathy Taylor (Blend Social Shakedown)

Friday 29th June @ The Nerve Centre, Magazine St, Derry
Erol Alkan (Mustapha 3000 Beyond The Wizards Sleeve)
Riotous Rockers (Liars Club Fabric)
The Japanese Popstars (Live)
Darren Allen & Blee (Micro Error)
Zutekh DJs
Aaron Shim

Saturday 30th June @ Bound 4 Boston, Waterloo St, Derry
When Pilots Eject (Live)
Lateral Cut Groove (Live)
Hago & Johnny Boy (Global Virus)
Kwame (Bounce)
Gav & Oddie (Kreep)
Vincent O’Callaghan
+ Movida Corona DJ Competition Final

Saturday 30th June @ The Gasyard
Jimpster (Freerange Records The Bays)
Mark Jennings & David Campbell (Deep Fried Funk)
Chaz and Johnny (Beats Ahoy)
Doors: 9.30pm til Late Adm: £10/12 (Bring Yer Own)

Sunday 1st July @ Sandinos
Tom Middleton (Cosmos Amba)
Reverso 68 aka Peter Herbert & Phil Mison (Eskimo recordings)

check out more at www.celtronic2007.com

ARTLINK:
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‘Darkroom to Digital’ exhibition launch: Saturday 9 June 2007 at 2.00pm. The exhibition will kindly by opened by Mr. John Hume. Artlink, Tullyarvan Mill, Buncrana, Co Donegal. The Gateway to Opportunity project is a cross-border project encompassing the catchment area of Derry/Londonderry, Limavady, Coleraine and Inishowen in County Donegal that aims to deliver a host of opportunities to young disabled adults aged 18-30 years through a variety of mediums including training, signposting, encouragement and by offering Peer support. Darkroom to Digital is an exhibition and arts programme completed by members of the Gateway to Opportunity project. In Artlink the group explored aspects of black and white photography in the darkroom, and in Derry Bytes (in conjunction with Janeen Whiteside) the group created images using digital and electronic media, assisted by Julie Mc Grory, Project worker. The Gateway to Opportunity Programme is being funded by the Cross – Border Consortium under the European Union Peace ll Programme and part financed by the UK and Irish Governments. Artlink is supported by The Arts Council and Donegal County Council. The Darkroom to Digital exhibition is open to the public from the 11 – 14 June, 9am to 5pm.

Balor Country

Hank Williams Musical Returns To the Balor Theatre. This musical will be presented in the Balor Theatre, Ballybofey on Sunday 10th June (Gala night in aid of Finn Harps FC), Tuesday 12th and Wednesday 13th June. It is filled to the brim with the cream of local musicians. Damien Duffy (Ramelton) excels in the title role as Hank Williams, ably supported by Pat Muldowney (Letterkenny) as Tee- Tot. Hanks backing group the “Drifting Cowboys” include Denis Bonnar (Stranorlar) as Hoss, Seamus Curran (Stranorlar) as Jimmy, Damien Doherty (Convoy) as Loudmouth and Jo McAuley (Donegal Town) as Shag. Marion Muldowney (Letterkenny) plays Audrey Williams, Hanks wife. His controlling mother Mamma Lilly is played by Mary Laverty (Stranorlar).Peter Wharton (Ballybofey) as “Pap” Hanks long suffering agent, Caroline Coyle (Ramelton) is the frustrated waitress and Aidan O’Sullivan (Letterkenny) plays the radio announcer. DQ . This show has all his hit songs “Jambalaya”, “I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry”,“Your Cheatin’ Heart”, “Hey, Good Lookin’”, and “Lovesick Blues” which will have audiences singing along. To book contact the Theatre on 0749131840.