South Florida has long been home to Jamaicans who once lived ‘up north’, but moved to the Sunshine State for its warm climate. A lot of them also grew up on Rock Steady music from the 1960’s and American soul music in the 1970’s.
That demographic was well-represented at the Reggae Meets Soul show at Coral Springs Center For The Arts on April 20. The Manhattans, Leroy Sibbles, Nadine Sutherland, The Cables and Ambelique gave strong performances that left a largely mature audience satisfied.
The Manhattans, which formed in New Jersey during the late 1950s, closed the show in style. The trio, led by Gerald Alston, thrilled fans with their crisp harmonies and snappy, co-ordinated dance moves.
The near full house sang along to classic songs like Hurt, Send For Me, We Never Danced to A Love Song, Kiss and Say Goodbye and Shining Star.
Backstage, Alston said the group never tires of playing South Florida or for Caribbean audiences. He described 2019 “as one of our busiest in some time”, as they performed in Japan and South Africa before coming to South Florida.
Sibbles never fails to disappoint. He rocked the house with songs from his time with The Heptones, kingpins of rocksteady.
Sweet Talking, Why Did You Leave, Book of Rules, Why Must I and Party Time got the joint jumping. Sibbles also gave the fans a history lesson, telling them he played bass on numerous hit songs while he was at Studio One in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s.
He took the bass guitar and played the famous Full Up rhythm (which drove songs like The Mighty Diamonds’ Pass The Kutchie), and Sata Masa Gana, originally done by The Abyssinans.
Sibbles followed well-received sets by the Code Red Band (who also did backing duties), The Cables, Ambelique and Nadine Sutherland, who is celebrating her 40th year in the music business.
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