I don’t normally go to church, unless its Christmas or if a very special person passes.
Then I
go to be with their family.
This is not because
I am an atheist, but because I hate religion. For in my book, religion
is the root of all the evils in the world, having caused most of the
bloodshed over the centuries.
In
my search for a civilized, non-violent religion, I had even looked into Buddhism
one time. Then chaos reigned in Myanmar, and we saw the terrible images
of Buddhist Monks, chasing out Rohingya Muslims, killing them
and burning their villages.π‘
That
cured me instantly.
Obviously,
the common thread among most religions seems to be vicious dogmatism which dictates that only
my religion is the true one, so no one must enjoy this planet unless
they subscribe to MY particular religious beliefs!
However I make the exception about avoiding religion and go to churches during Christmas, because I love Christmas music.
In fact, not just Christmas music but Gospel
music in general…….a hangover from the days when I was dragged into boring church services and the music was the only respite.π
So, when in Jamaica, I even caroling with my friends in Lauristan, Spanish Town, on Christmas mornings.
The rest of the community has solid citizens
and my friend Audley Nain, formerly of the Jamaica Folk Singers who is
also president of the Citizens Association, started a Christmas ritual years
ago whereby we would start at 5 am on Christmas morning, knocking on peoples’ gates and singing carols
loudly.
Then we all converge at the Community Centre
where everyone would bring a dish, curried goat, jerk pork, turned cornmeal,
hot chocolate, roast breadfruit and on and onπ.
After a sumptuous meal, the kids have their entertainment
and we our dominoes, whatever.
How I miss those sessions, although I had the pleasure
of joining them to celebrate Jamaica 60 this year.
But I am rambling aren’t I?
This was just a preamble to say how much I enjoyed the Christmas Concert at United
Methodist Church in Plantation, Florida, which kicked off the season for
me.
This was a
Steve Higgins Production, in conjunction with the Consul General
of Jamaica, featuring the South Florida Caribbean Chorale.
Steve
Higgins as you probably know, is an excellent Jamaican tenor and cultural
ambassador.
I enjoyed the entire concert, the interaction between the MC and audience, the music, and even the bits that the Jamaican Consul General to Miami performed.
He seems to
be quite charismatic and talented.
I loved too how the choir and other performers switched from traditional Christmas Carols to Jamaican Christmas Carols written by the late, great, Noel Dexter and even one perforemd by Jamaican performer Pluto Shervington.
So, I have saved quite a few clips below for posterity.
3 comments:
Very nice that is just up my street , I wish I was there, my favourite time of the year.
I was there. Loved it especially the interaction between Steve and the audience.
Thanks for sharing these. I always look forward to this time if year and the music too. Nice to know that Pluto is still singing.
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