Evening Time, the South Florida’s Jamaican Folk Revue and Tallawah mento band’s premier PANAFEST presentation – epic musical odyssey of what unfolded in Jamaica pre and post emancipation, will be staged at the Lauderhill Performing Arts Centre on June 21 at 6 pm.
Marking the 21st anniversary celebrations of the Tallawah band, it’s the feature performance by both groups that will be paraded in Ghana, host country of the 25th edition of the Pan African Historical Theater Festival (PANAFEST), being held from July 23 – August 2. The event is being staged by the PANAFEST Foundation under the auspices of the African Union and the Government of Ghana.
Evening Time is the name of a song written by Jamaica’s cultural icon Louise Bennet-Coverly and her friend Barbara Ferland – a beloved folk song about retiring after work to light up the fire to cook the evening meal…and to relax, enjoying the evening breeze; dancing, playing and engaging children with popular folk tales.
The concert therefore showcases the roots and journey of Jamaica’s indigenous folk music – life, love and social commentary. There’s also a catalogue of religious revival and nyabinghi and kumina music. There will be songs as well from the repertoire of the legendary Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Jimmy Cliff, with a poem of national hero Marcus Garvey done to music.
On stage as well will be Junior ‘Gabu’ Wedderburn, master drummer and percussionist who has played for years with the Broadway production of The Lion King. Acclaimed dub poet Malachi Smith, recently penning poems for PANAFEST, and children aged 5 – 10 years, in this festive family affair, will also be performing.
The concert, under the patronage of R Oliver Mair, Consul General of Jamaica to Miami and the Southern United States, serves as the major fundraiser before the group’s departure and tour ending on August 3. PANAFEST has long been a cornerstone celebration of African unity, heritage, and culture, providing a platform for Africans and the global African diaspora to come together in solidarity, creativity, and dialogue. The theme for this year’s event is “Let Us Speak of Reparative Justice: Pan-African Artistic Activism”.
On August 1, at midnight on Emancipation Day, Tallawah and the Folk Revue will be performing at the Reverential Night Concert, doing revival and market songs. They will also be performing at the Gate of No Return, now renamed the Gate of Return, symbolizing Africans returning home, and will be featured at both castles that were holding areas for slaves before the Transatlantic Journey.
The concert, says the venerable Colin Smith, one of the four founders of the Tallawah Mento Band, is about Caribbean culture and character…music identifying our very makeup throughout the years.
