Sonny Bradshaw and me - JamaicaObserver.com

Saturday, November 21, 2009 7:43 AM

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Sonny Bradshaw and me

By Errol Lee

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Sonny Bradshaw, the professional musician and President (Emeritus) of the Jamaica Federation of Musicians, JFM, didn't think much of part-time musicians like those of us in the Bare Essentials Band.

It was the early '70s and "live music" was under threat from two sources - the big sound systems like Peacemaker, Merritone and Mellow Canary and the little "electronic" bands like ours that didn't even have a horn section. He sent word to us that we should come in and register as individual members of the JFM and as a band or risk the ignominy of being "thrown-off" union bandstands.

As a "unionised" bandleader, I attended several AGMs and listened keenly as Sonny B laid down the law and tightened up loose clauses on the standard JFM contract. Bands performing at functions should be provided with a "band table" at which the musicians and their guests may sit during breaks; one meal and two drinks should be provided for all musicians and technical crew; overnight accommodation and breakfast if the performance is more than 30 miles away from Kingston; adequate bandstand and power supply; maximum of four hours performance including two breaks. These and other terms and conditions which present-day musicians take for granted were bargained for, debated and voted on in those early days.

As I discovered from talking to the older heads, the musicians of the "big band" era were often treated like second-class citizens, to be heard at show time but shuttled in and out through the back entrance of the Myrtle Bank or Tower Isle hotels. They could have their meals at the staff canteen or a dining area adjacent the kitchen but not in the ballroom. Thanks to Sonny and his "upittiness" we didn't have to put up with that kind of treatment. One New Year's Eve, with wives and fiancés in tow, I led the Bare Essentials out of the ballroom at the Americana hotel in Ocho Rios because the ball was over-subscribed and they had ensconced the last-minute attendees at our table. They quickly arranged another table inside the ballroom, despite telling us earlier there was "absolutely nowhere to seat anybody else". I reported the incident to President Bradshaw and he picked up the phone and hauled the entertainment manager at the hotel over the proverbial coals. I'm sure it never happened again at that property.

Even so, Sonny felt that with our electronic organ, synthesiser, guitars and bass rig we were putting "real" musicians out of work. Besides, we were full-time students, broadcasters, accountants, junior doctors and engineers doing music part time and in his opinion would have been better off sticking to what we did best, instead of competing with "working" musicians.

In his Star column, "MUSICMAN" he scathingly referred to us as the "Barely Essentials" in describing our performance at a show he attended.

But while he tolerated us, he was contemptuous of the big sound systems that emerged in the seventies. They were loud, raucous and no replacement for the melodious and soothing sounds of a "live" band, especially a "big band".

Over the years, as Bare Essentials evolved, added a horn section and became one of the longest-surviving bands in Jamaica, Sonny and I became friends and neighbours, living as the crow flies, about 200 yards from each other. He counted us among the few surviving standard bearers of good Jamaican "live" music and incorporated us in his "Ska Revival" during the annual Ocho Rios Jazz festival for which he has never been fully recognised or rewarded.

From time to time he would brief me on the perils of trying to be true to what you believed in and would feign disbelief at the level of sponsorship "pop" music festivals received when compared to the "peanuts" corporate Jamaica contributed to the staging of an authentic Jazz festival. He would also give me advice on the performance levels of my horn players, all of whom featured in Sonny's big band. This one needed to practise more.the other wanted to improve on his fitness level.that one was wasting his talent on vocals when his real gift was the trombone.

I will miss my impromptu meetings with Sonny B and, of course, his larger than life outings with the big band and his sensuous cabaret accompanying the fabulous Mrs Bradshaw (Myrna Hague). I never did tell him, but after that "Musicman" column 30 years or more ago, in which he said we were "barely essential", we set about trying to prove him wrong and maybe that's why the Bare Essentials Band is still around today, horn section and all.

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