Historian argued that the "Mento" is a supplement to dances copied from the slave gangs that is symbolised by the sound and music of the banjo mixed with meringue and Cuban rumba. It's close similarity to the calypso made it popular amongst Jamaicans between the1940's and the 1950's. Traditionally, Mento-folk-calypso bands played constantly in hotels all over the island of Jamaica. At the end of the 1950's, jazz, rhythm & blues, meringue and Mento. The Mento lyrics is as similar a method in music to the calypso songs instigated in Trinidad. These rhythmitical influences were merged into a new style of music described as the "Shuffle" given the name of Blue Beat in the UK; a form of music that is comparable to the 1950's American style of rhythm & blues. The "Shuffle" dance music gained popularity through the vocal artistry of the Cuban born: Laurel Aitkens. The "Shuffle" was a dance craze brought to popularity through the sound systems and recording artistes such as Laurel, Owen Grey, Lassells Perkins, and the Overtakers.
Record Producers all over Jamaica used the in house bands for their
recordings, as these musicians were always available on request. The
Mento flavour is still within the Jamaican music today. All the changes
that took place since the Mento blended in combination with the New
Orleans Rhythm, the Mento still flavours the Reggae beat. However, the
most celebrated house band of all, was the Skatalites their services
were always in demand by nearly all record producers, and of all the
musicians of Jamaica the tunes that the Skatalites band recorded are
habitually accrue by most record collectors. Development of Jamaica
music began when proprietors began seeking out new youthful talents
to perform the recording studios mainly to make records for their sound
system dance hall crash. |
