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| Wingless Angels |
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Steertown |
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81 |
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Male |
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From the opening sounds of the night insects outside Keith Richards’
villa in the hills about Ocho Rios, where Wingless Angels was recorded
live in a spirit of devotion, this Rastafarian drum and chant session
embraces you in healing meditation.
Wingless Angels are a group
of five Nyabinghi Rastafarian drummers and their beloved Sister
Maureen, aided and abetted by their long-time friend, Keith Richards.
He coined the name Wingless Angels because, “They sing like angels, but
they can’t fly.” The call him “Brother Keith.”
Wingless Angels
all come from a remote, lofty village called Steertown, perched high
above the blue Caribbean. The best known member is ska legend Justin
Hines, whose Dominoes were one o the island’s greatest vocal harmony
trios back in the 60s, with songs like “Carry Go Bring Come.”
If
you dig Talking Heads or Bad Brains, you might be aware of another
Angel who’s performed with both bands; Winston Thomas, the man they
call Black Skull. But the remaining Angels are stars who have so far
only shone only within their community for their creativity and hearts:
drummaker and fisherman Bongo Locksie, his thick grey dreads tumbling
to his waist; the mellow Warren Williamson, who carves birds from
coconut shells; and Bongo Neville, the reliable guardian of the drums.
On
this recording, we also hear an angel who did take wing and fly, Bongo
Jackie, also known as Iron Lion, a crucial member of the group who
tragically passed on after this music was recorded.
The most
recent group member is Sister Maureen, who co-wrote many of these
traditionally-based chants. She first found her voice miraculously when
moved to sing with the Angels’ drums in a Steertown bar one night, and
adds a rich texture.
After Richards had laid down his subtle,
complementary guitar, fine as lace, he called in the wandering Irish
musician Frankie Gavin, who enriched the music with his soulful fiddle
and drones, tracing ancestral Afro-Celtic empathy that began in
prehistory. Rob Fraboni was the engineer whose sound savvy was able to
capture the depth and delicacy of this musical exchange in a living
room; even unto the affectionate chat between tracks that makes you
feel like singing along.
The intimacy you hear drawing you in to
their circle of prayer has been evolved over the years, since Richards
recorded the Stones’ Goat’s Head Soup in Kingston’s Dynamic Sound
Studio s in 1972.
Over the years, each time Richards visited the island, he would drum and chant with his Rasta bred’ren.
The
Nyabinghisect to which the Angels belong follow the Biblical laws and
prohibitions against the cutting of their hair that are common to all
Rasta sects. But they are best known for their solemn, one-drop
drumbeat, as distinctive as salsa’s Clave, over which they “chant down
Babylon” (the oppressive system), at “grounation” sessions lasting days
and nights.
The funde, the bass drum and kete repeater are the
African Drum trinity, of such potency that during the days of slavery,
those who made or played the drum could die for the offense. The
righteous power of the drums is presented here in a subtly different
setting, as Wingless Angels weave a very Jamaican blend of Africa,
Great Britain, and African America. The melodies and text of the
slavemasters’ Wesleyan hymns blend with the sonorous drumbeats and the
gospel tinge of “Roll Jordan Roll” and “Morning Train” so naturally
that it validates the Jamaican national motto, “Out of Many, One
People.”
Thus, even as they sing the praises of their King of
Kings, JahRastafari, on tracks like “Keyman” and the “Bright Sword,”
there is a universal spirituality on Wingless Angels. Our Rasta
brothers and sisters remind us to “Enjoy yourself, it’s later than you
think,” on the chant of that name, prompted by the Iron Lion’s passing,
a message Sister Maureen sums up as, “We should do all the good we can,
as long as we can.” The affirmation in “I Write My Name” is that all
our names may be written down in the Book of Life as chosen ones. And
we all can identify with the sheer joie de vivre of the effervescent
“Good Morning.” As Wingless Angels Sing of a heavenly light on “No Dark
There,” the listener instinctively understands the meaning that Justin
Hines Articulates: “When we feel we’re right with the Almighty, it’s
just a light all the way – happiness, y’know?” |
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