This Wednesday (April 11, 2012) The Jolly Boys were special in studio guests on RJR 94FMs weekly live music program ‘Wednesday Night Live‘. The mento maestros had the whole crew dancing and grooving to the sounds of classic and contemporary mento music as they performed selections from their catalog of hits.



Among those performed were the classic mento songs were ‘Emmanuel Road’, ‘Linstead Market’ and ‘Rukumbine’ and their modern mento hits ‘Golden Brown’, ‘Rehab’ and ‘Ring of Fire’. In case you might have missed the broadcast, enjoy the snippet of their performance of Rukumbine (posted above) and this clip of their rendition of Johnny Cash’s Ring of Fire!

On Saturday, November 12, 2011 Alexandra Palace in London, England will be transformed into Jamaica for one night only and The Jolly Boys will be headlining the transformation! Inspired by the island’s famously vibrant nightlife culture the Smirnoff Nightlife Exchange Project will be channeling the sights, sounds & tastes of Jamaica.



At the same time that a Jamaican venue will be hosting a London themed club night complete with black cabs, kebabs and events that celebrate old English pub traditions and the quintessential British summer festival vibe. These club nights are part of a series of world wide events, with other parties in the series including swaps between Sydney, Sao Paulo, Berlin and Cape Town, South Africa. In this video clip The Jolly Boys prepare to journey to London with a toast to all the fans in the UK and a rehearsal of the classic mento hit “Emmanuel Road”.
read more!

In February, 2011 Jamaica’s Jolly Boys made their long awaited New York City debut to the fans, media, cultuarri and fashionistas at the Hiro Ballroom at the Maritime Hotel. While there they were interviewed by the folks at LargeUp.Com!



Watch as lead singer of The Jolly Boys Albert Minott and Rhumba Box player Derrick “Johnny” Henry talk about their instruments, the history of mento music, Albert’s youthful days as a fire dancer in Port Antonio, Jamaica and the success of their hit modern mento rendition of Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab”.

Yesterday (September 29, 2011) with Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Hon. Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange in attendance the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ) held it’s first forum on The Legal Deposit Act which legally requires all Jamaican books, music and film to be deposited in it’s archive as a cultural record.



At the forum Jamaica’s mento music veterans The Jolly Boys presented a copy of their album ‘Great Expectation’ along with a Marumba box made by marumba box maestro Derrick ‘Johnny ‘ Henry of The Jolly Boys from Port Antonio. The marumba box will immediately go into an exhibition on early Jamaican music forms at the Music Museum of Jamaica. Pictured above: Valerie Francis of the National Library of Jamaica accepting the donation of the Marumba box from The Jolly Boys.

Jamaica’s Ambassadors of Mento music are once again preparing for the road. The Jolly Boys will be flying out to Hong Kong, China on Tuesday September 20, 2011 with a quick stop in New York on the way.




Though they will only be doing a single show in Hong Kong they will be taking the time out to shoot exclusive video footage around the Chinese province and do a photo shoot. They return to Jamaica for some local promotions on September 26, 2011. Look out for video uploads here and on our Facebook Page as we follow their journey!

Dave ‘Manpear’ Martin rejoined The Jolly Boys for a performance at the Geejam Hotel Bushbar on Friday night (August 26, 2011). Martin fondly recalled life in Port Antonio in the late fifties and sixties as he told tales of Errol Flynn and how he came to join the group. He remembers first as a youth picking up The Star newspaper on William Street, Port Antonio and running so he could throw it over the veranda to Errol Flynn who owned the Titchfield Hotel at that time and collect his ‘quattie’ (One penny and a halfpenny).



Later he would play the congas in the Kumina segment of the floorshow at the hotel where the original Jolly Boys would be playing their Mento set. After the show was over The Jolly Boys woud announce to all the guests that they were going to play at the Princess Club on West Street, one of the thriving bars and clubs that lined the streets at that time, encouraging any guest heading back to their cruise ships on the Boundbrook wharf to come and see them play again. It was while at the club in 1962 that the young congo player was invited to come and join the band. ‘Pappa’ who had been the Rhumba box player was leaving to follow a different path and Derrick ‘Johnny’ Henry who had joined in 1956 on maracas was taking over the Rhumba box position.
read more!

Fresh from their groundbreaking tour of Europe as R&B sensation Sade‘s opening act, Jamaica’s Mento Music Ambassadors The Jolly Boys are scheduled to perform at this year’s Escape to New York Music Festival. Set for August 5-7, 2011, the festival was started and inspired by the creative minds behind The Secret Garden Party, an independent arts and music festival which takes place every year in an estate near Huntingdon, England.



Last summer The Jolly Boys gave a memorable performance at The Secret Garden Party and fans can expect an even greater from the mento music giants in August. If you’re in New York missed out on The Jolly Boy’s Big Apple debut at the Hiro Ballroom in February of this year then here’s your chance to see them in action! The Jolly Boys are set to perform on Sunday, August 7 2011. For a taste of what’s to come enjoy this flashback video of The Jolly Boys in performance at The Secret Garden Party last year!
read more!

Jamaica’s Ambassadors of Mento began their month and a half adventure touring Europe as the opening act for grammy-winning R&B songbird Sade on Friday April 29, 2011 in Nice, France with a rocking performance at Palais Nikaia. Since then they have gone on to do the same everywhere from Zurich to Dublin, culminating in a stellar final performance at the O2 Arena in London on May 31,2011.



Along the way The Jolly Boys had a chance to return to their fans in Germany. Moments before taking the stage at Olympiahalle in Munich on May 19, 2011, lead singer Albert Minott sat down for this interview with Reggaeville’s Markus Hautmann! Now just in case any of you missed out on any of the action along the way, join us as we recap The Jolly Boys’ journey from Frankfurt to London on their tour as R&B singer Sade’s opening act throughout April and May 2011.
read more!

The Jolly Boys have been making strides and swaying crowds touring as R&B songbird Sade’s opening act in Europe, and all while celebrating the U.S release of their widely acclaimed album Great Expectation. The album, which features Mento interpretations of 12 contemporary classics including Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab”, Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”, Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” and Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire” has been getting reviews from the press all over.



The album was recently reviewed by Banning Eyre of NPR‘s “All Things Considered”. You can listen to the review (spliced with great samples from the album) here:
read more!

Jamaica’s mento music giants began their month and a half adventure touring Europe as the opening act for grammy-winning R&B veteran Sade on Friday April 29, 2011 in Nice, France with a rocking performance at Palais Nikaia. Since then they have gone on to do the same in Antwerp, Hamburg, Oberhausen, Milan, Stuttgart, Copenhagen and Stockholm. For all our fans who might have missed out on the action, here’s a short chronicle of Jamaica’s mento masters The Jolly Boys as they journey from Nice to Stockholm on their tour as R&B singer Sade’s opening act throughout April and May 2011.



The Jolly Boys have been making strides and swaying crowds and all while celebrating the U.S release of their widely acclaimed album Great Expectation which features Mento interpretations of 12 contemporary classics including Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab”, Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger”, Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day” and Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire”. The album is available for purchase on iTunes, ebreggae.com and Amazon. As a bonus The Jolly Boys have also made some of your favourite Classic Mento tunes like “Emmanuel Road”, “Dog War Inna Matthews Lane” and “Soldering” available for download and purchase on iTunes here.
read more!