After the heavens rained on Grand Cayman for an hour early Friday evening, 13 May, the self-styled king and queen of Reggae reigned at SafeHaven.
Ken “Mr. Smooth” Boothe croons a tune for his appreciative audience. |
Though Ken Boothe and Marcia Griffiths did not play to as large an audience as had been hoped, the crowd that heard them acknowledged their mastery of their musical genre.
The evening got off to a late start, but the 11:15pm beginning did not stop Cayman-based Jamaican singer Morvin Brooks from providing energetic entertainment for the audience.
Mr. Brooks is a hard-working performer who knows how to involve his audience in whatever he does onstage.
Ken Boothe, at 59, is still a bundle of physical energy and possesses the soulful voice and suavity he had in the ’70s, when he enthralled Reggae fans worldwide.
With the vitality of a 20-year-old, he cavorted across the stage, pulling out all the stops in an effort to please his fans, who begged him for more of the vintage fare they knew and loved.
Marcia Griffiths, resplendent in a regal outfit, showed that she had lost none of the mellifluence or sheer vocal power that made her the leading light of Bob Marley’s back up singers the I-Threes.
Ms. Griffiths turned in a solid performance, her most appealing features being the power, range and sweetness of her voice.
As a composer, she likes to sing her own songs, but obliged the screaming fans with a song from Robert Nesta Marley. The crowd showed their approval.
For more than an hour, Ms. Griffiths reached into her vocal bag of tricks, producing fantastic gutturals and high-register notes that showed off her amazing voice control.
Maybe hers should have been the high note to end on, but Mr. Boothe had that honour and did well to follow her truly outstanding performance.
Both of these fine singers, ably backed by Lloyd Parks and We The People band, gave memorable performances and are probably guaranteed a larger audience should they return to Cayman on a less rainy night.
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