Last revised: 12/16/12

Reggae is said to be played in virtually every country that has music. While that is far less true of mento, there are some interesting examples. Perhaps the most striking is below:

On Panama's Grecha  label, a 45 by Black Majesty & The Mighty Bamboo Band, who recorded from 1958 through 1970. "The Pony", and its unseen A-side is "Mon Cherie" was a hit, selling 45,000 copies. As can be heard from the clips here (Mon Cherie) and here (The Pony), it's sung in English and the music is indistinguishable from Jamaican rural mento. (Only if you are looking for it will you notice a slight Latin inflection.)

With the singer and band all Panama born, how should this be so? The answer is in the waves of Jamaicans that migrated to Panama to work on the Panama Canal starting in the 1860s. By the time the canal was completed in 1914, an estimated 90,000 Jamaicans has moved there. These clips make clear that they brought mento with them.

Black Majesty was born Claude Morant, 1935, in Panama City. By 1945, he was already interested in music. All his records were original songs. Carlos Garnett was the sax player.

On the Panamanian, Sally Ruth Records label, the Black Majesty &The Mighty Bamboo Band 45: "The Cherry Tree"  backed w/ "The Candy Man". Raucous rural mento from 1970, this was Majesty's last record.

On Grecha, the Black Majesty &The Mighty Bamboo Band 45: "Last Day Of Carnival"       backed with "The Good Advice".

Another a single by Black Majesty And The Mighty Bamboo Band on the Sally Ruth Records label: "The Portrait"      The unseen b-side is "Mr. Coffee Grinder". Described on the label as "Calypso Samba", The Portrait sounds like samba with the addition of banjo bringing the "calypso".

On the Sally Ruth Records label, a single not by Black Majesty, but by Rolandito And The Mighty Bamboo Band: "G. I."   b/w "Play Calypsoians". Both songs written by O. Gibbs and sound a bit less like mento.

Another a single by Black Majesty And The Mighty Bamboo Band on the Sally Ruth Records label. I have not heard "You Are My Queen",  but the un pictured B-side, "My Little Tommy", is rough and ready mento all the way.

 

In a tribute to mento's golden-age MRS label, "Jump Up", by  Count Kutu & The Balmers is a ten inch album package in a plain brown sleeve. The sight of it may cause a double-take from mento fan. So will the sound.

Its rural mento, undoubtedly, but from the Philippines , sung in the native Tagalog language.

Formed in 2002 in Manila by original members Count Kutu, Senyor Lucca, Don Ustollano, Lord Santadio and Doctor Turbo, the band plays strictly rural style Jamaican mento music, lead by Count Kutu’s nasal voice and vintage acoustic instrumentation ranging from low end guitars, Tenor Banjo, maracas, catacoo, sand block, bamboo drum and rumba box. Over the years, the band released a handfull of limited edition CDs that were only available at their gigs, and after a short period of inactivity they reformed in 2010 around Count Kutu and Senyor Lucca, adding members Cardinal Jones, Lord Francis, Bob Marlou and female sessionist Atty. Justin. The band performs and records their own renditions of old mento and calypso songs such as Linstead Market, Big Bamboo, Night Food, and Jamaica Farewell, as well as original compositions recorded in their native tongue. In early 2012, the band came under the radar of Chicago based JUMP UP Records – who immediately offered to release a new album. "Simply put, We were amazed at the band’s ability to recreate the rural style of Jamaican mento."

 

The 2007 double-CD "Pirates & Treasures" by French reggae band Orange Street ambitiously takes on reggae, dub, rock steady, ska, nyabinghi, calypso, and in "Sugar Cane", mento.

 

The Clash's "Junco Partner" gets a mento makeover by The Freshmakers (get it?). This one-off group is comprised of Americans Dan Neely and King Django along with Dr. Ring Ding of Germany You can hear the song on Dan's blog at: http://danieltneely.com/?p=1456.