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The 2025 staging of Bring Back the Love Cabaret Show, the fourth in the delightful series, paid tribute to master musician, musical director, educator, mentor, and percussionist of the highest calibre, Desi Jones.
“This year’s concert holds special poignancy as we pay tribute to Desi Jones, whose masterful drumming and musical direction have been integral to the success of the series since its inception,” patron of the event, former Prime Minister PJ Patterson, said.
Desi Jones passed away suddenly on May 11, 2024. He was 65. Skool, the band he founded, is now being led by his son Joshua, who, in tribute to his father, was wearing the beret, which was Desi’s signature piece of apparel.
“I am the leader of Skool band and Skool Jamaica, by extension, is my own little pet company. Skool Jamaica is all about doing for the next generation exactly what my father did for me ... mentorship and trying prepare them for the industry and teaching them what I know,” Joshua told The Gleaner in a post-performance interview.
Asked how he was feeling now that the first anniversary of his father’s passing was approaching, Joshua, who sometimes wore his emotions on his sleeves while playing that night, confessed that he was “feeling pretty sad about that”.
“I’m very cognisant of the 11th coming up. Mommy is not even here ... . She won’t be here for the 11th either ... so it’s just me one. It’s been a little tough. The emotion is there,” he said, trying to be brave.
Music is his solace and, last Saturday, Jeremy Ashbourne, Joshua’s god brother, son of musician Peter Ashbourne, took control of the drums in a manner that would certainly have made Desi Jones proud.
The concert at the Courtleigh Auditorium in New Kingston opened with Skool band playing the last arrangement Desi Jones did for Bring Back the Love, after which Harold Davis commanded the stage with his eclectic blend of jazz and reggae.
On Davis’s list of well-executed songs were Almost Like Being in Love, Lady Love, Satta Massagana, which saw Davis on keyboard, just as he did last time with Desi Jones. Davis thrilled with some of the songs Jones wrote for foundation reggae band, Chalice, among them, Marie, I’m Trying and Good to be There.
A comfortable Davis shared a hilarious tale of the ‘Wednesday Night Song’, which he said emcee Fae Ellington had already heard. As it goes, he was at an event and a man in the crowd requested the Wednesday night song, which Davis didn’t know. The man was aghast at the band’s ignorance and Davis called him up to sing it. The song turned out to be Ben E King’s Stand By Me, which starts “ When the night has come.” With the audience roaring with laughter, Davis did the ‘Wednesday Night Song’. He closed with Try Jah Love, a tribute to Desi Jones and all the fallen soldiers.
At 9:01 p.m., songbird, First Lady of Jazz, Dr Myrna Hague Bradshaw, elegant in white, graced the stage and gave her expected classic performance.
Hey, by Julio Iglesias; a jazzy, reggae-infused The Way We Were, by Barbra Streisand; and Tony Bennett’s Who Can I Turn to (When Nobody Needs Me), set the tone for her memorable performance. Always gracious, she took time to thank her audience profusely for their continued support, and paid tribute to Desi Jones while commending the band of relatively young musicians for doing an excellent job.
In her intro to the classic Send in the Clowns, Hague told the audience that it was “a song about relationships ,... and when relationships go awry we behave like clowns”. In between her songs, Hague shared stories about her mother, who is her biggest fan, and even poked fun at her own self, when introducing, What About Me?
“This one comes from an album I made at Studio One ... so I have some credibility,” she said laughing. Many fans didn’t know of her association with Coxsone Dodd’s pioneering ska, rocksteady and reggae label.
Canadian Reggae Music Award winner and Canadian Folk Music Award nominee, Jason Wilson, along with his Ashara Band, closed the show with “a joyful mixture of reggae, Scottish folk and global roots music”. Present were legendary Jamaican-Canadian guitarist Maurice Gordon, Marcus Ali, Laurel Tubman, Vince Reel, and Michael Shapinko. Having performed at a gig in Negril the night before, the band was thrilled to sing Kingston Town in city Kingston. They shared that they were pleased to honour their “friend Desi Jones who we rank as one of the best drummers of all times”.
English (US) ·