Jah B remembered

Arts Reporter
Lovers of Zimdancehall and reggae music braved last Saturday’s cold night and thronged Harare Gardens to commemorate the life of Billiard Sinclair, who was popularly known as Jah B.

The reggae star, who was 65, died at his Belvedere home in 2008 after a heart failure and was laid to rest at Warren Hills Cemetery.

Jah B who left his homeland in Jamaica to come and juggle vinyl in Zimbabwe and was part of a reggae group called Africa One Sound System.

Several chanters like Seh Calaz, Kinna, Cello Culture, Dobba Don, DJ Cables, Killer T, Dadza D, Hwindi President among others took turns to entertain music lovers.

The young chanters tried their best to keep their fans thrilled while others had a bad night in office.

Away from the usual names that have managed to make it big on the dancehall scene, it seems a new breed of chanters is winning the bigger ground.

Hwindi President thrilled fans throughout his performance and revellers demanded his return to the stage.

The young chanter excited ghetto youths that had to wave hands throughout his performance.

“Tambirai Monarch” singer set the bar high for chanters like Kinna who performed after him.

Kinna, one of the respected chanters from Mbare, tried his best to keep the momentum of the show though he found the bar set by Hwindi high.

DJ Cables turned the tables with tunes from the several chanters prompting hundreds of the youths to appreciate him. Not to be outdone was Seh Calaz who lit up the event with most of his yesteryear hits. At several shows Seh Calaz had become a victim of missiles on stage because of songs that mock fellow chanter Soul Jah Love but that night youth spared him as he dropped the songs from his playlist.

He was accepted and merrymakers were seen dancing to his music.

“Mumota Muri Kubvira” signed off his performance.

“I am still in the game. Don’t be fooled by haters who say I am no longer active in music,” he said.

Killer T failed to raise to the occasion despite playing some of his popular tracks from his singles collection.

His manager Kudzai Biston known as Super said the musician was tired.

“We came as a way of showing solidarity but he was tired and could not take long on the stage,” he said.

Dadza D became the darling of many on the night. Organisers of the event said they were happy that they managed to commemorate one of the celebrated musicians from the country.