It was a journey 50 years in the making. After months of anticipation The Jolly Boys made their electrifying Big Apple debut to a jam-packed audience at the Hiro Ballroom at The Maritime Hotel in New York on February 24, 2011. Performing songs from their repertoire of classic and modern mento hits The Jolly Boys made an exceptional impression on an audience that had never before seen the Jamaican sensations in action.
( via Chad Batka for The New York Times )
Upon arrival in New York, an appearance on East Village Radio with DJ Max Glazer of Federation Sound got the buzz going for American fans who might not yet have known The Jolly Boys were in town. While interviews with Jesse Serwer of Largeup.com and Sherman Escoffery of the Jamaica Observer made sure the fans back in The Caribbean got their slice of the pie as well. So by the time ‘the boys’ took the stage (at around 10pm) their big day had already seen a lot of activity, though judging by their energetic performance one would not have been able to tell.
Their set featured songs from their recently released and widely acclaimed Album “Great Expectation” and included raspy-voiced renditions of the Stranglers’ “Golden Brown,” the Blondie hit “Hanging on the Telephone,” Amy Winehouse’s “Rehab”, the Doors’ “Riders on the Storm,” New Order’s “Blue Monday,” Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire,” Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger,” and Lou Reed’s “Perfect Day”.
Adriana Kaegi of the New York based Pop Culture Video Magazine describes it best in her article “Jolly Boys Jamaican Style” with the words “they rocked the HIRO ballroom and impressed even the most blase New York hipster”. For a taste of what she saw watch this captivating video feature recorded at the event:
Following the event, which saw rave reviews from the American press including an article in The New York Times, The Jolly Boys also made an appearance on WNYC Radio’s “Soundcheck: Live in the Green Space”. For those who might have missed that broadcast here is footage of The Jolly Boys performing the soothing traditional mento classic “Immanuel Road” on that program:
To see photographs of The Jolly Boys in New York visit our Flickr Page here! Be sure to keep following us on Facebook and Twitter to see what other exciting adventures The Jolly Boys have in store.
Tags: dj max glazer, east village radio, federation sound, Great expectation, hiro ballroom, immanuel road, Jamaica, live in the greene space, mento, mento music, modern mento, Music, new york, the jollly boys at hiro ballroom, the jolly boys, the jolly boys immanuel road, the jolly boys in new york, the jolly boys in the new york times, the jolly boys on east village radio, the jolly boys on live in the greene space, the new york times, WNYC radio
