Recently, singer Peetah Sancho had what he describes as an “holocaustic vision” in which black people rose against the system and challenged worldwide racism. That celestial burst inspired When The Trumpet Blows, his latest song.
Released this month, it is driven by the apocalyptic horn intro of Peter Tosh’s Burial. According to the New York-based Sancho, When The Trumpet Blows was written amid the killing of George Floyd and the Black Lives Matter protests that erupted throughout the United States, following that incident.
“At one time it (racism) was under the carpet but now it’s clear that there is systematic racism an’ di people can’t tek it nuh more,” he said.
Sancho produced When The Trumpet Blows for his Tri Yard label. It features Derrick Barnett of Sagittarius Band fame on bass, and is his first song since 2016.
It is the follow-up to the acoustic ballad, Roses, which he did with guitarist Andy Bassford.
From the Lyndhurst Road area of Kingston, Sancho was born Peter Ingram. He has experienced the rigid racial code of the United States, having migrated there in the late 1970’s and settled in Paterson, New Jersey.
He began recording in the 1980’s, cutting a version of Jimmy Cliff’s Sitting in Limbo for producer Clifton Lawrence. Most of his time in the music business, however, has been as producer; over the years, he has produced songs by acts such as Mr. Lex and Redd Foxx for Tri Yard.
After over 40 years living in the US, Sancho has mixed feelings about the land of the free and the brave.
“There is good but it didn’t take me long to see it wasn’t all people made it out to be. There is a lotta broken buildings an’ ghettoes, an’ of course di racism,” he said.
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