The Jolly Boys, who came out for the second set to cheers from the very full house at Redbones Blues Café, 1 Argyle Road, New Kingston, on Saturday night looked strikingly different from The Jolly Boys who had taken a break after a take on Marley’s Three Little Birds.

It wasn’t only that the band was bigger, lead singer Albert Minott, Joseph Bennett on maracas and Derrick Henry on rhumba box augmented by Donald Waugh (banjo), Dale Virgo (drums) and Lenford Richards (guitar) to make up the new Jolly Boys, the touring outfit for a month-long UK stint. They looked different. Gone was the rural look that accompanied Kisilo and Talking Parrot; this was a slick-dressing (Bennett’s fedora literally stood out) bunch. More,

On Saturday, the new-look Jolly Boys welcomed a packed house of nearly 400 to Redbones for Geejam Nights, their debut Kingston performance and launch of the new modern mento sound. The show attracted an intriguing mix of young and old. (more…)

Even closer to home are the Jolly Boys.  This mento band from the richly green parish of Portland in Jamaica is actually over fifty years old, but its composition has changed over the years.  Headed by the charismatic Albert Minott, he of the rasping voice and piercing eyes, the Jolly Boys have just taken a sharp bend in the road in their stride, and as the road straightens out they have found themselves the unabashed purveyors of “modern mento.”  For the uninitiated, mento is the rhythmic forerunner of ska and reggae.  And what a joy it is in this, its latest incarnation. In the nurturing atmosphere of the uptown watering-hole that is the Red Bones Blues Cafe in Kingston, Jamaica, the Jolly Boys flourished, expanded, relaxed, danced, shook their maraccas like crazy and bonded with the mostly young, middle-class audience.  The masterful Albert strode out proudly after the intermission in a rose-pink shirt, suspenders and white loafer shoes - to which the Petchary’s attention was often drawn as Albert “stepped out” to the beat with increasing frequency.  Also up front, the maraccas player switched from a nice print Hawaiian shirt to a delightful ensemble – a leaf green shirt, black vest and a gorgeous top hat at a rakish angle (reminiscent of a New Orleans funeral musician) – and addressed the job in hand with new verve. More

We definitely had a blast performing for our fans last week Saturday night at Red Bones. I don’t know who had more fun, our fans or us performing.

In the first half of our performance, we did a traditional Mento set with songs like: Talking Parrot and Water the Garden. After our first segment we took a short break,during that break Dj Chris Sullivan from London kept the fans entertained with some very lively jazz tunes.

In our second set we performed Modern Mento which is the genre that we created and can be found on our upcoming album titled Great Expectations including songs like: Don’t keep me Hanging on the Telephone and our popular song Rehab that was originally done by Amy Winehouse.

Our fans had a great time and requested an encore, so we gave the people what they wanted at the end of our set we came back on stage to perform Rehab one last time. People came out in their numbers both young and not so young people, we were definately surprised to see how many people came out just to see us perform.

We must thank all of those who came out to see us and we can’t wait to perform for you again.

Until Next time Blessings and Respect!

Annie Paul | JollyBoys REHAB Ticket Giveaway Winner

WINNER: Annie Paul of Mona, Kingston Just popped by the Geejam Media offices today in New Kingston to pick up her ticket.  She’s going to see The Jolly Boys Live in Concert this Saturday July 3rd @ RedBones The Blues Cafe in Kingston, Jamaica.

She poses with a poster of Albert Minott the Lead Singer.

We’re giving away 4 more tickets starting at 1pm tomorrow on The Jolly Boys Facebook Fan Page.

For those of you who haven’t already checked out our Facebook Fan Page as yet. You’re missing out. We gave away 4 tickets today and have 6 more to go. Yes 10 tickets for 10 questions. We’re at it again on Friday starting at 1pm. We’re asking one question every hour on the hour until 4 pm. We’re giving away 4 more tickets to see the Jolly Boys Live in Concert on Saturday July 3rd, 2010 @ RedBones The Blues Cafe in Kngston,Jamaica.

So if you’ve been watching the Rehab Video, and have visited a few pages on the website, you could answer those questions correctly and win!

Big up to all our fans and a special big up to all our fans that won tickets to our show and we are looking forward to seeing you at our concert. Stay tuned for more exciting news.

The Jolly Boys, featuring Albert Minott and their new, modern take on mento, will be in concert on Saturday July 3, at the Red Bones Blues Café in St Andrew. This one-night-only concert event and party, dubbed Geejam Nights, showcases Jamaica’s “first-time” dance music.

Geejam Nights is the official launch for the Jolly Boys and their new modern mento sound; it will be filmed for international release. The group will begin their first set at 8 pm with a performance of classic mento tunes then at 10 pm, the modern mento experience will begin. The new-look Jolly Boys will play tracks from Great Expectation, their upcoming album of unique cover versions of songs made famous by artistes including Amy Winehouse, the Clash, the Doors, and others, which will fuse old-time Jamaican style with modern beats and a fresh international vibe. More