Fine Art Editor, Victor Forbes rocks out with Robert Topping
Music
Hylton Beckford, Mark Naftalin, Jon Paris, Richie Cannata
Shine At Fine Art Magazine 24th Anniversary Celebration
New York City’s heralded nightclub, Downtime, was the scene of Fine Art Magazine’s 24th Anniversary Party, October 29, 1999, at which reggae legend and pioneer Hylton Beckford was featured in his first New York performance in over twenty years.
Beckford didn’t disappoint a standing room only crowd which came to pay tribute to Fine Art’s honorees, among them Rocky Aoki of Benihana of Tokyo; Michel Roux, of Absolut art fame; Michael Lang, founder of the Woodstock Music and Art Festivals who were cited for their selfless service and dedication to the arts.
Hylton began his recording career in Jamaica in 1964 and struck gold with Johnny Too Bad, a #1 record in his homeland in 1971 for his group, The Slickers, and an international hit by them from the soundtrack of The Harder They Come. Johnny Too Bad has also been covered by numerous artists, among them UB40 and Taj Mahal and is a stage and internet staple of hundreds of more groups worldwide.
At the Fine Art Party, Hylton delivered material from his new CD, Full of Love, with an intensity and fervor that took the smooth-as-silk warmth of the recording a step further. His songs of love—found, lost and found again—in their live incarnations, carried an emotional depth and were delivered in a forceful style that slipped between silky, passioned seduction and blustery pugnacity. The crowd of invited guests was exhilarated by the warmth Hylton B’s voice and impassioned delivery of the Caribbean soul sound that is uniquely his. Backed by the ITES band, featuring Orlando’s Joe “Small Axe” Sinclair, on keyboards and New York-based guitarist Mike Ernst, Hylton performed six songs from the new CD. B.B. Seaton’s My Jamaican Girl opened the show and the arrangement had the people up and dancing from the introduction. From that classic, Hylton went into Leroy Sibbles’ Fatty, Fatty which included some fun audience participation. Just Wait, a new composition captured the crowd with its message of love and hope. “I know you want to go away from me,” he sang, “But I’m begging you, please, just wait until tomorrow…” This tune will certainly become a staple on the charts and in the repertoire of great singers everywhere.
Things turned somewhat lusty with the ribald Seven Days a Week (and twice on Sundays) with some high powered investment bankers in the audience jumping up on stage and adding their own verses as Hylton graciously passed the microphone around. Hylton had a special interpretation of Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry, breaking into the music to tell us that the famous Georgie, who “made the firelight and cooked the cornmeal porridge which I would share with you…” was a tall, handsome man who would set stones up in Trenchtown every night and cook. Since Hylton’s “auntie’s” house backed up on this street, and Bob and the Wailers would rehearse outdoors, in the next house under a “Coolie Plum” tree, Hylton was right there, making his own musical history and observing the rest.
The only possible follow up to this was a fired up version of Johnny Too Bad, the band was tight and the people finally were able to see the real deal as the writer and lead singer of the mega-hit from 1971 showed New York what real reggae was all about. The encore was an acapella version of Marley’s Redemption Song with Hylton B’s neice coming out of the audience to add a very beautiful harmony.
Following Hylton B. on stage was the pianist Mark Naftalin. Naftalin has performed with and produced some of the top blues, soul and rock and roll artists of all time—Percy Mayfield, Luther Tucker, Mike Bloomfield, Paul Butterfield, Eric Clapton, Elvin Bishop, B.B. King and Bo Diddley, among them—and now runs his own record label as well as The Marin County Blues Festival. Midway through his set, he created an impromptu composition and dedicated it to Hylton B. Some of us heard strains of Johnny Too Bad filtering in and out of it. Naftalin stopped time with his mix of artistry, history and stage presence and worked finished his set with Rose Gunter singing the Percy Mayfield gem Please Send Me Someone To Love with Mick Gaffney playing insightful and masterful lead guitar.
With this performance, and the forthcoming release of his new compact disc, Hylton B is showing the world that after a long absence from the music business, he is back on track, ready to offer his particular brand of inspired music for your listening, dancing and soul inspiring pleasure.
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REGGAE REVIVAL (Below)
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This track is a Jamiacan spiritual. Hylton Beckford's mother was a preacher in her native Jamaica and Hylton toured the countryside with her, often playing drums. Here he revisits a song he played countless times in church, accompanied by Liberty DeVitto on drums, Richie Canatta on sax, Juliop Fernandez on acoustic guitar and George Panos on bass, recorded at Canatta's Cove City Studios, Glen Cove, New York.
