Conducted by Steve Barrow

Johnny Clarke + Mafia & Fluxy / Baobab / Paris, December 9th 1998

The venue for this show - Cabaret Sauvage in the Parc de la Villette, Paris
- is a former circus training school, constructed of wood throughout.  The
layout is circular, lined with booths against the wall; there's a long bar
by the entrance and a big round dancefloor.  This particular Wednesday night
it was packed with over 800 of the Parisian reggae massive, a turnout which
gives an indication of the drawing power of reggae in France.  The first
part of the show featured Baobab, a nine-piece band from Ivry-sur-Seine
whose debut cd is out in France on February 20th.  Although their material
is (naturally) largely in French, they are still a wholly convincing reggae
band, at whose core is the rhythm section - Thomas Join-Lambert (drums) and
Daniel Moustin (bass), plus Jimmy Zacandelli on keyboards, Benoit Trante on
guitar and Willy Roots as percussionist.  Over their tight playing, the horn
section - Ouafi Djakliou (tenor sax), Guillaume Briard (alto sax), and
Didier Bolay (trombone) - delivered crisp, sonorous arrangements with elan
and warmth.  On top of that, lead singer Manuel Manlot ensured that the
temperature got hotter - he's a soulful and musical vocalist, although at
this stage, a little lacking in stage presence.  Baobab's set - all original
material - progressed smoothly with tunes like "La Music Frappe", "Je Suis
La"  "Sensimillia", and Bonnes Nouvelles" and more, finishing strongly with
"Releve la tete" (Lift up your head) and "Jah Travail" from the forthcoming
album. They sound good, and have improved in the year since this writer
first saw them.
If they can keep the nine pieces together, they can only get better.

Billtopper Johnny Clarke was part of the triumvirate - alongside Dennis
Brown and Gregory Isaacs - of solo singers than ran the Jamaican dancehalls
hot in the period 1974-1980.  Although he had releases on a major label,
Virgin, in the 1970s, he is the least recognised of the three.  This is
partly because of his low profile - in Jamaican terms such a profile amounts
to a virtual absence - on the scene during the eighties, and partly because
he is often saddled with the tag 'do-over man', reflecting the number of
covers he cut for producer Bunny Lee in the 1970s.  Setting aside the fact
that Lee's do-overs were incredibly successful at the time, this tag not
only ignores the fine roots and dancehall originals Johnny actually made, it
also underestimates the quality of his singing.  Happily today this has
resolved firmly in his favour; not only has he been underexposed to an
international audience, but also both his flexible tenor voice and vocal
control have matured superbly.  If anything Johnny Clarke is a better singer
today than he was then; more importantly, he seems to have rediscovered his
appetite for singing, both in person and on disc.  He recorded a new album
for Niney a couple of years ago; more fresh product will hopefully be
available in 1999.

Johnny had last played Paris in late 1997 and 400 unlucky people had to be
turned away because the venue in the Paris suburbs was completely rammed.
This time he'd just flown in from London, after playing a huge festival in
Kenya, appearing on a bill, which included Maxi Priest, Jah Shaka, and Lucky
Dube.  There, as in Paris, he was backed by the quartet of Leroy 'Mafia'
Heywood (bass), Dave 'Fluxy' Heywood (drums), Carlton 'Bubbler' Ogilvie
(keyboard), and  Prince Stanley Andrew (guitar). Gussie P handled the live
mix, completeing his fine tuning during the introductory instrumental from
the band. 

Due to a problem with drinking water in Africa, Johnny wasn't feeling too
well - he'd actually vomited just before going on stage - but such is his
professionalism that no one in the crowd noticed a thing as he jumped into
his opener "King In The Arena".  From then on, it was literally hit after
hit - his second tune  "None Shall Escape The Judgement" provoked an instant
'wheel up'  - after which he took the crowd through a brief
call-and-response pattern with his well-known vocal 'slurs'.  The set
continued with several covers including Marley's "Crazy Baldheads", the
Heptones' "Baby", and Delano Stewart's "Rock With Me", with Mafia and crew
delivering their propulsive version of the flying cymbal sound behind him.
That led into a brilliant "Enter Into His Gates" that seemed to this
listener to better the original record.  With the crowd by now giving
maximum encouragment, Johnny launched into "Move Out Of Babylon" - and
another wheel-up  - complete with live dub section.  After that, "Roots
Natty Congo", "Every Knee Shall Bow", and "Babylon".  At this point Johnny
left the stage briefly, the audience screaming for more.  He returned with
his soulful cover of the Paragons "Left With A Broken Heart", one of the
first songs he recorded for Bunny Lee 25 years ago.  Then it was back to the
originals - an extended "African Roots", sung with the crowd supplying
backing chorus, an excellent "Play Fool Fe Catch Wise", with Johnny soaring
beautifully over the tough steppers laid down by the band and mixed
perfectly by Gussie P at the soundboard.

"Johnny Clarke and Mafia and Fluxy ROUGH!" said the singer, before his last
song, a heartfelt "Blood Dunza".  Then with a shout of "Guidance and
protection!" he left the stage to prolonged applause.  Mafia & Fluxy,
Stanley and Bubblers finished up with a crowd-pleasing display on the same
rhythm, with Fluxy playing on Mafia's bass strings with his drum sticks, and
it then was all over for this time. As Johhny said to me after the show as a
French TV crew filmed the muiscians packing up their instruments, "Next time
in Paris gonna be greater!"  Given his performance and the warmth of his
audience's response to it, that next time will be sooner rather than later.

Steve Barrow / january 1999