Each sound has a unique feature that defines it, its textures, the energy that emanates and how it vibrates within the eardrum produces exaltations impossible to describe, radiates emotions and extrasensory places us on another plane. That's the magic of music, there are also voices that permeate from head to toe, they subtly seduce you, they hug you and as if it were a vitamin they revitalize your soul, voices like that of Barrington Levy.
Barrington Ainsworth Levy was born in West Kingston on 30 April 1957, Although as a child he moved to Clarendon, south of the island, where from a very young age he developed his love for music and singing, mainly influenced by Dennis Brown and the great American Soul artists.
To the 14 year he first performed at a dancehall, singing in a band he formed with his cousin Everton Dacres called Mighty Multitude, with whom he recorded in 1975 his debut song “My Black Girl”. In these early performances her singing was often casually recorded and shipped to locations in England and the United States.. The first release outside of Jamaica was “A Ya We Deh”, followed by great success with “Collie Weed”, produced by Henry “Junjo” Lawes, who had heard him singing with a local Soundsystem and marveled at his talent opening the studio doors for him Channel One, where working together with The Roots Radics, with the mixture of Scientist and the effects contributed by the great King Tubby, would develop his unique style.
These first singles “A Yah We Deh”, “Shine Eye Girl” Y “Moonlight Lover” were later collected on their debut album “Bounty Hunter”, that appeared on the stamp Jah Life in the U.S. The album "Robin Hood" by 1980 continued to position him as the voice of a new generation. In the mid-1990s 80, Barrington strategically decides to promote his music through singles instead of recording albums and this is how a large number of songs are released, including hits like "Under mi Sensi" or "Black Roses", in addition to "Murderer" and "Here I come", and from then on his tedious musical production would not stop.
Throughout its almost 50 years of music career Barrington Levy has released more than 30 Albums, in addition to a large number of singles with the most important reggae music labels, since Jah Life, Greensleeves Records, Trojan, MCA Records, Island O Tuff Gong and has recorded extraordinary collaborations with immortals such as Bounty Killah, Beres Hammond, Beenie Man or Damian Marley, as well as artists from other musical genres such as Snoop Dogg, Prince paul, Aphrodite o Long Beach Dub All Stars.
Barrington Levy, “The Mellow Canary”, the voice that “Under mi Sensi” gave us, “Murderer”, “Here i Come”, “Living Dangerously”, just to mention some classic themes, meets 57 years and continues to be "Broader than Broadway".
By Otto Pereda, from Spain.
@otto.pereda
