Vin James

VINCENT James, the well known choirmaster, bass-baritone soloist and church music icon died in Miami this week, after a short illness.

At the time of his passing, James was choirmaster of the St Andrew Parish Church and a distinguished soloist known all over Jamaica for his bass-baritone renditions in oratorios and anthems by several choirs with which he appeared. As a lead singer with the National Dance Theatre Company from its inception in 1962 (first with the Camboulay Singers and after with the NDTC Singers), he toured several countries appearing to high critical acclaim in such concert halls as the Tchaikovsky Hall in Moscow, the Beethovenhalle in Bonn, Germany and Carnegie Hall in New York.

Before taking over the choir at St Andrew Parish Church, he was for many years director of the All Saints Anglican Church Choir in Kingston. Trained by the late George Goode, who, throughout the 1940s and 50s was a leading authority in Church music, James took every opportunity to upgrade his training on visits to the United kingdom in the 1950s.

His baritone, described by a colleague as one of 'incredible range', was put at the service of all major choirs and choral ensembles including the Diocesan Festival Choir and the St Andrew Singers working with such musical giants as the late Hazel Lawson-Street and Joyce Lalor, as well as with the still active Lloyd Hall, the noted music educator and leader of the NDTC Singers, Marjorie Whylie.

Outside of singing James had a very varied career ranging from supervisor at the old Kingston Industrial Garage (KIG) where his good interpersonal relations won him great affection among worker and much respect from many friends among clients. He later took to farming, working out of St Catherine; and finally on this return to Kingston, he became a partner with Ishwar Vaswani in the drygoods and jewelry business based both in Jamaica and St Croix, US Virgin Islands.

He is survived by his sister Mrs Millicent Townsend of St Andrew (Jamaica), a nephew Abdul Mushin and niece Mrs Cynthia Barnett, who reside in Miami. A Thanksgiving service will be held at the St Andrew Parish Church, Half Way Tree on Saturday, March 1, to be followed by interment in the Parish Church cemetery.

Trousers in Denim

Cream of the 'Crop'

Cheeky's World