Beres Hammond
Don't be deceived by Beres Hammond's cool profile. The playful smile, the unassuming demeanor, the beard, the cap and the spectacles might lull you into forgetting that you're in the presence of an awesome musical talent, Jamaica's greatest practicing singer/songwriter.
Beres remains cool, though he knows that he's one of a handful of people responsible for maintaining a mighty legacy of soulful reggae music a select group of Artistes like Toots and Gregory, like Dennis and Bob. "Father bless me with a song," he pleads on the last cut of his album, 'Music Is Life,' "to make the whole world sing along. Regardless of the race, regardless of the taste."
In the year 2001 the blessings just keep coming, the world keeps coming, and is just starting to catch on. Over the course of a 30 year career, Beres has poured his smoky-sweet voice an instrument of subtlety and power reminiscent of an Otis Redding or a Teddy Prendergast over every kind of riddim track, from the funked up reggae jams of the '70s fusion band Zap Pow to the lush instrumentation of his 1976 album 'Soul Reggae' to the spare digital beat of his 1985 dancehall breakthrough "What One Dance Can Do."
In 1990, his album 'A Love Affair' for Donovan Germaine's Penthouse label raised his popularity to new heights. Cuts like "Tempted To Touch" and "Who Say" with Buju Banton are still effective in the dancehall today as they were as pre-releases.
The '90s proved to be Hammond's decade, during which he blazed a trail of modern classics for a variety of Producers, from the strugglers' anthem "Putting Up Resistance" (Tappa) to lovers' laments like "Come Back Home" (Star Trail) and "Double Trouble" (Steely & Clevie). The rub-a-dub groove of his current hit single "They're Gonna Talk" (track number two on 'Music Is Life') was recorded right there in the home studio by Flabba Holt and Style Scott of the legendary Roots Radics, whose riddims are clearly as powerful today as when they were the backing band for giants like Gregory Isaacs.
No computer can rock quite as steady as these veteran musicians. "I personally don't believe in a whole heap of technology business," says Beres. "It's all about what you have to offer. As long as your vibes are there, that's what the people feel." Beres sophisticated musical taste is well suited to translate easily across cultural divides, yet the international reggae massive has remained his most loyal fan base. He did collaborate on Maxi Priest's first American hit, "How Can we Ease The Pain," in 1990.
A brief encounter with Elektra Records in 1994 yielded the excellent but under-appreciated album 'In Control' with its R&B-flavored single "No Disturb Sign." But for the rest of the decade, Beres has focused his attention on his own label and production company, Harmony House, distributed by VP Records. (A sampling of some of the label's finest recordings to date can be found on the VP Compilation Harmony House; verse one.) In the last few years, Harmony House and VP have released memorable albums like 'Love From A Distance' and 'A Day In The Life', which have in turn yielded chart-topping hits like "Can You Play Some More" and "Can't Stop A Man."
Indeed, Beres appears to be unstoppable. And with the release of 'Music Is Life', he is poised to share his considerable gifts with an ever-larger audience. The new album ranges widely over styles and themes: from the rock-solid reggae of "Ain't It Good to Know" a plea for peace and unity amongst his brethren to the quiet-storm consciousness of "African People" and the tasty Spanish accents of "Honey, Wine and Love Songs" (produced by Philip "fatis" Burr and featuring a tasteful guitar solo by the great Earl "Chinna" Smith).
Beres Hammond>>>>>(PAGE 2)
