By Howard Campbell—
SEATED in his van as workmen put the finishing touches on Kingston 10 Sports Bar And Grill, Garfield Phillips keeps the proverbial eagle eye on proceedings.
He launches his latest venture (located at Hillview Avenue) on December 11 with a fish fry and dance featuring DJ Inferno.
The dreadlocked Phillips is known in music circles as Sampalue, head of Diamond Rush Productions, the record label that announced Lady Saw’s emergence as a dancehall force during the late 1980’s.
There are a number of sports bars in the Jamaican capital, but Phillips insists ‘Kingston 10’ will be different.
“Wi need live entertainment in Kingston on a regular basis. It shouldn’t jus’ be a now an’ again thing,” he told Splash.Though his base is the dancehall, Phillips plans to appeal to a broad clientele.
“Yuh have a band like Third World or Chalice, who people don’t si regularly in Kingston, yuh could see them on this stage,” he said, pointing to the platform at the complex’s forefront. “Wi want to get that mature kinda vibe.”
There will be a dancehall vibe at Kingston 10 on December 12, followed by a retro party on the 13th. Beres Hammond is booked to perform on one of those dates.
The 49-year-old Phillips took a break from music production and operated restaurants in upstate New York.
He has been around the music business since childhood. His father is music producer Phil Pratt whose numerous hits include Strange Things and My Heart is Gone by John Holt; Talk About Love (Pat Kelly) and Black Magic Woman and What About the Half by Dennis Brown.
Phillips followed his father’s path into production shortly after leaving Wolmer’s Boys School in 1983, releasing songs by Frankie Paul and Sanchez, among others.
Diamond Rush’s biggest success came with the risque Lady Saw. Phillips produced some of her major hits such as Give Me a Reason and Find a Good Man.
Next weekend, he will use Kingston 10 Sports Bar And Grill’s launch to debut as a performer. His first released songs are a cover of Brown’s Make It Easy on Yourself, and the original, Let Go.
For the stocky producer, after directing and writing songs for a number of artists, making the transition to singer was a long time coming.
“People ask mi ‘why dis time?’ an’ I sey ‘why not this time’,” he said. “There’s not a lot of singers out there saying anything, so to me it is the right time.”
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