Talking blues with Ambassador Bridgewater

WHILE doing diplomatic service in Jamaica during the 1980s, American Pamela Bridgewater remembers listening to local radio stations and feeling a sense of home.

“Jamaican radio and entertainment were full of the various types of US music, especially soul, that I thought I was listening to local US radio stations,” Bridgewater, United States Ambassador to Jamaica since 2011, told the Sunday Observer.

On July 27, the Virginia-born diplomat accepted a citation from King Omar Productions, promoters of the annual Tribute To The Greats show, recognising the influence American pop music had on the development of reggae.

Bridgewater, 66, says it was during her first Jamaican assignment, that she became aware of the impact American soul performers had on the early years of the country’s music.

“The influence of the American dance and soul music in the ’50s and ’60s throughout Jamaica, I learned, included artistes like Fats Domino, Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Chuck Jackson and Ben E King. They were particularly strong,” she recalled.

Pioneer Jamaican music producers such as arch-rivals Clement ‘Coxson’ Dodd and Arthur ‘Duke’ Reid, used artistes like Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson and John Holt to cover numerous songs originally done by American acts including Chuck Jackson, Wilson Pickett, the Four Tops and The Tams.

Many of those covers are today considered rocksteady and reggae classics.

Around the time Ellis and Reid were establishing themselves in the 1960s, Pamela Bridgewater’s father, Joseph Bridgewater, was making a living as a musician in Ray Charles’ band. Previously, he played in the bands of jazz greats Count Basie and Duke Ellington.

Bridgewater adopted her father’s passion for music, playing clarinet in high school and while attending Virginia State University. The appreciation for different sounds and cultures grew during her professional career, especially when she lived in Africa .

“Having travelled throughout the world, I have collected wonderful offerings from Cape Verde, Ghana and South Africa, from the Soweto Strings to Sibongile Khumato,” she said. “I thoroughly enjoy jazz, especially Miles Davis, (John) Coltrane and Dexter Gordon.”

The US Ambassador says she listens to Jamaican music including ska and reggae. However, she lists mento and bands like The Jolly Boys from Portland as her favourites.