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He is considered Jamaica’s greatest
practicing singer/songwriter and anyone who has listened to his CDs or
experienced the fervor elicited by his live performances would undoubtedly
agree with that top-ranking assessment. His recent appearance at Jamaica’s
premier music festival, Reggae Sumfest, was unanimously hailed as the
finest of the three-night event as he tore through hit after hit, some
dating back to the mid 70s, consistently captivating an audience of nearly
20,000 who sang along so loudly to his beloved songs, they sometimes
threatened to drown him out. That Sumfest 2008 performance was but another
special moment in time within this adored artist’s enduring and truly
exceptional career.
The passionate singing, superb songwriting and consummate showmanship
displayed by Beres Hammond at Sumfest, which has distinguished his music
over the past 35 years, brilliantly shines throughout his latest release,
the aptly titled “A Moment In Time”. Estimated by Beres to be his 25th
album, “A Moment In Time” offers organically crafted rhythms, created by
Jamaica’s finest musicians, ranging from sultry R&B to rousing gospel
accents, avant-garde jazz to mesmerizing roots reggae. An almost entirely
self produced effort recorded at Beres’ Harmony House studio in Kingston,
“A Moment In Time” features fourteen new selections including the
devotional “I’ll Live Again”, a percussive driven homage to the motherland
“Talking Africa” and several lovers rock tunes reflecting the vicissitudes
of romantic relationships for which Beres sets the standard in
contemporary (Jamaican) music. “Reggae is my foundation so I give much
respect and love to it, but I don’t call myself a reggae singer, the
Father would never forgive me for that,” says the 53 year old
singer/songwriter/producer. “I sing what feels good, so any which form the
music comes in, a hard-core reggae vibe or a little more subtle, you find
a rhythm that complements what you are saying. When I started out, I never
saw R&B, reggae, ballads, no, I just knew I had a voice and I wanted to
make music that fits the voice.”
And oh, what a voice it is! Beres’ delivery, as rich and flavorfully
bittersweet as dark chocolate, embodies the spiritual passion heard in the
secular ballads of Sam Cooke, the laid back cool of Marvin Gaye and the
gut wrenching “Pain In My Heart” grit of Otis Redding. The aforementioned
soul icons profoundly influenced Beres in his youth, as did such Jamaican
greats as Leroy Sibbles, lead singer of the Heptones, velvety vocalist Ken
Boothe and legendary singer Alton Ellis, one of the pioneers of Jamaica’s
rock steady, reggae’s direct forerunner. It was Alton, Beres says, “who
reassured me that I should used melody in my style”.
That haunting melodic quality, which has kept Beres’ fans singing along
for decades, is strikingly evident throughout “A Moment In Time”. The
first single “Feels Good”, produced by Donovan Germain, the founder of the
Jamaican label Penthouse Records, is a delightful lovers rock gem
sweetened by Beres’ irresistible crooning “feels good to be wrapped up in
your arms, dancing to a reggae song”. The jaunty “No I Can’t” reworks a
vintage Jamaican rhythm, as Beres contemplates leaving a relationship but
upon deeper reflection, is unable to do so. “Still Will Be Heaven”
features Beres’ poignant musings on a union that has withstood the test of
time, as set to a sublime reggae beat, embellished with celestial violin
strains. The title track’s inference that life can offer instantaneous
changes (“it takes one moment in time to change your life forever”) was
inspired by the song’s jazzy rhythm created by Beres’ daughter Nastassja;
it marks the first time her music has appeared on one of her father’s CD.
“When she played the rhythm for me, this is the song that I heard in my
head,” explained Beres, “and now one moment in time changed her life. Its
like that’s what that rhythm was telling me.” Each track presents a
distinctive offering characterized by Beres’ nuanced, true-to-life lyrical
depictions and quintessential sweet-and-smoky vocals. “There is so much of
myself in every song I do,” Beres adds. “When you go into the studio,
producers say you have to get into this kind of beat but my thing is
different. I just record a song in the manner it comes to me. I don’t
change nothing, and it always seem not to be wrong, yuh know?”
For the past thirty-five years, despite inevitable career trials and
tribulations, the music of Hugh Beresford Hammond has yet to be wrong. The
ninth of ten children born in Jamaica’s garden parish St. Mary, on August
28, 1955, Beres, as a precocious child, made regular trips to Kingston to
mingle with the singers who frequented the downtown record shops.
After graduating from high school, Beres entered several local talent
shows including the Merritone Amateur Talent Contest, where several reggae
stars including vocal trio The Mighty Diamonds, Sugar Minott and the late
Jacob 'Killer' Miller also got their starts. He joined the fusion band Zap
Pow as lead singer in 1975 and remained with them for four years recording
the albums Zap Pow (Mango, 1978), and Reggae Rules (Rhino Records, 1980)
while simultaneously pursuing solo projects. But Beres quickly realized he
“couldn’t serve two masters” and decided to concentrate on his individual
efforts.
Beres’ 1976 solo album Soul Reggae (Aquarius Records) produced by his
friend Willie Lindo sold more than 2,000 copies in Jamaica during the
first week of its release. His subsequent single “One Step Ahead”, still a
favorite among Beres’ fans because of his signature impassioned vocals,
held the number one spot on the Jamaican charts for three and a half
months. Despite the popularity of his music, Beres failed to reap any
financial rewards. Frustrated, he dropped out of the music business, then
regrouped and formed his own record label/production company, Harmony
House, in the early 80s.
Beres’ Harmony House debut single “Groovy Little Thing” marked the first
time he reaped financial rewards from his music; a succession of hit
singles recorded for various Jamaican producers followed including 1987’s
“What One Dance Can Do” which entered the national charts in England and
elicited a spate of answer records including Beres’ own “She Loves Me
Now”. Further acclaim arrived in 1990 when Beres joined forces with his
good friend Donovan Germain whose Penthouse Records dominated the Jamaican
charts in the early 90s with hits by Buju Banton, Wayne Wonder and others.
Donovan asked Beres to record vocals over a rhythm track he had; Beres
barely remembered recording “Tempted to Touch” but the song shot to the
top of reggae charts around the world, as did the ensuing hits “Is This A
Sign”, “Respect To You Baby” and “Feeling Lonely”, all featured on his
Penthouse album “A Love Affair”.
Beres maintained his presence on the reggae charts as the 90s progressed
so it was inevitable he would attract major label interest. He signed to
Elektra Records for whom he released the outstanding CD “In Control” in
1994. The CD’s spectacular R&B flavored single “No Disturb Sign”, still
one Beres’ most popular songs, did not yield the desired international
breakthrough although Beres would have easily captured the same fan base
as Teddy Pendergrass or any other sophisticated soulful crooner, had “In
Control” been given proper support by Elektra’s publicity/marketing
machinery. “I never liked how I was treated; it was my first album on a
major label, I think they should have paid more attention to it,” Beres
declares. “There was a changing of the guard at the label which made
things worse. But still, there are many artists who have been on the
Billboard charts and don’t have the kind of fan base I have now so I am
alright!”
Undeterred, Beres continued to release music on his Harmony House label
with distribution through VP Records. He has maintained his hit-making
streak well into the 21st century while his incomparable, riveting live
performances recruit legions of new fans from 9 to 90 years old.
Beres’ heartfelt delivery reinforces his unique perspective on romance,
detailing everything from the sly antics of the philandering male on
“Double Trouble” to championing the overlooked female on “Show It Off” to
celebrating an inevitable relationship in “They Gonna Talk”, from his 2001
Grammy nominated album “Music Is Life”.
But Beres’ catalogue is also rife with uplifting anthems for the
downtrodden including the 1978 hit “Last War” (heavily sampled in Collie
Buddz’ 2007 breakthrough hit “Come Around”), the timeless “Putting Up
Resistance”, the most popular reggae song of 1990/91 and the viscerally
empowering “Not Over Until Its Done” from his 2004 release “Love Has No
Boundaries”. In this inspirational vein “A Moment in Time” offers “Picking
Up The Pieces”, its shimmering, R&B inflected rhythm underscoring a
clarion call for peace, as Beres sings: “Pull ourselves together, try to
sort it out, gather all peace makers, scattered all about/find a new
direction this one ain’t working out/ talking to all of those with the
clout.” The song was inspired by various global maladies from Jamaica’s
escalating crime rate to the never-ending war in Iraq, as well as the role
Beres ideally sees music playing in redirecting our individual actions
towards making the world a better place. “When I see so much bad news I
say Beres why do you keep singing so much love songs, are they listening
or what?” he wondered aloud. “That’s what that song is about; every time I
try, something else happens. Nevertheless I am still going to try because
when I see the smiles on peoples faces as I perform, that gives me
strength to keep going”
Those smiles reflect the many special moments in time that Beres Hammond
has brought to his fans, moments that have changed their lives, and
perhaps their perception of contemporary Jamaican music, forever. Beres
isn’t sure how he has maintained his lyrical freshness, vocal excellence
and sonic inspiration over the past thirty-five years, but he is not
questioning it, either. “I just see myself as one of the instruments who
come to do what they do. I don’t know what it is but it’s working and if
its not broken, you don’t mend it.”
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