'Sonny bradshaw's music to be preserved'

Saturday, November 21, 2009 6:23 AM

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

(JIS) - Jamaicans from all walks of life gathered on Monday to bid farewell to Sonny Bradshaw, described as a pioneering multi-instrumentalist, band leader, composer, arranger, producer, teacher, journalist, broadcaster, musicologist, activist, social worker and cultural vanguard.

It was a fitting and musically colourful presentation, interspersed with delightful and sometimes tear-jerking tributes.

Great memories. what we must cherish, Prime Minister Golding tells the wife of sonny Bradshaw, Myrna Hague (third right). Sharing in the moment are Minister of Culture Olivia 'Babsy' Grange (second right) and members of the Bradshaw family. (Photos courtesy of Jamaica Information Service)

The thanksgiving service at the Mona Chapel, University of the West Indies to celebrate Sonny Bradshaw's life was described by Prime Minister Bruce Golding as a farewell to a 'musician's musician' and a perfectionist.

Mr Golding promised to have Sonny Bradshaw's music recorded for the benefit of posterity and for those who appreciated his music so that it will live on long after today. He bemoaned the fact that Sonny Bradshaw did not spend a lot of time in the recording studio. However, with the assistance of Minister of Culture Olivia 'Babsy' Grange and Sonny's wife, jazz performer, singer, Myrna Hague, the Prime Minister is determined to have his music preserved through recordings of some of his private works.

Of Sonny Bradshaw's work, the prime minister said; "Music was not to be noise and it had to be more than just sound. It had to have form and structure. His stubborn insistence on high standards and on good music played well, was often misinterpreted as arrogance. It wasn't arrogance..it was the perfectionism which had become for him, a way of life."

It was therefore not surprising that he was always sought after by some of the greatest international musicians and performers of his time, the prime minister said. These music greats included Sarah Vaugh, Johnny Mattis, Brook Benton, Sam Cooke, and Lou Rawls. Mr Golding recalled the assembling of the 'Big Band, which Sonny Bradshaw formed bringing together the best of Jamaica's musicians including Ernie Ranglin, Joe Harriet, Dizzy Reece, Marjorie Whylie and more recently Dean Fraser and Jackie Jackson.

Prime Minister Bruce Golding paying his last respects to Sonny Bradshaw - multi-instrumentalist, band leader, composer, arranger, producer, teacher, journalist, broadcaster, musicologist, activist, social worker and cultural vanguard.

He noted that Sonny was the leader who brought these musicians together to provide us with our own Jamaican version of Count Bassie, Benny Goodman, Duke Ellington and Les Brown, all wrapped in one.

Prime Minister Golding also reflected on the other areas to which Sonny Bradshaw made his contribution to the exposure and evolution of Jamaica's music which helped to build the springboard that launched our music internationally. These included the Teenage Dance Party on JBC radio, the Jamaica Federation of Musicians which he served as president for 14 years, the 30-year-old Tastee Talent contest- his brain child, and the 19-year old Ocho Rios Jazz Festival.

'.. Sonny Bradshaw will never really leave us, the richness of his music, the enormity of his contribution and his dynamic personality, will always remain with us..not even death can take that away . Gabriel is the master trumpeter in Heaven.today he has company," Mr Golding concluded.

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