by Teino Evans, Staff Reporter

Jack Scorpio got the party under way by introducing King Jammys onstage. The two played together and got into a lighthearted clash during Black Scorpio's 37th anniversary, at the La Roose Restaurant, on Saturday. - Colin Hamilton

It was something that many longtime followers of music and sound systems had longed for and something that the younger generation might never have experienced.

Black Scorpio and King Jammys squared off, live onstage for the first in a long time in Jamaica, while there was a healthy mix of old and new artistes that rounded of Black Scorpio's 37th anniversary celebrations held at La Roose, Port Henderson Road, Portmore, last Saturday night.

At 3:30 a.m. when Jack Scorpio interrupted the musical selections of Coppershot, no one could have anticipated what he was going to do. But after introducing his inspiration, King Jammys, on stage, idle talk led to a full fledged sound clash for old times sake.

The crowd immediately raced closer to the front of the stage as King Jammys and Jack Scorpio squared off in friendly battle behind the turntables. They both came armed with dubs and specials from the likes of Alton Ellis, John Holt, Bob Andy, Dennis Brown and Culture and with special combinations from Admiral Bailey and Josey Wales and Beenie Man and Barrington Levy.

Black Scorpio had the majority of the crowd cheering in the early segment, but by the time the battle reached the halfway mark, it was clear that the 'King' was the one that had the crowd jamming.

After the two senior producers in the business put on a fine show, however, Jack Scorpio felt it was fitting to kick off the stage show with a veteran female artiste, Lady G, who took the stage and showed her deejay prowess. She performed many of her hits from the past like Breeze Off.

Another musical veteran, Bongo Herman, was next to take the stage, as he not only sang but demonstrated why he was rated as the best when it came on to playing the drums and other percussion instruments. Needless to say, he was very entertaining and the crowd loved every minute of his antics around the drums.

Turbulence was the first to represent onstage for the younger generation of artistes, as he pumped up the vibe and energy inside of La Roose when he took the stage singing, 'we had the love'. He also performed We've Got The Love and Notorious.

Other artistes like Ras Ghandi, Lutan Fyah and Ras Myrhdack then joined Turbulence onstage and injected their bit of consciousness before King Yellowman was brought on at 4:50 a.m. singing Zum guh zum.

King step

The King, however, had to pull himself back together following a misstep and a hefty fall from the stage and immediately begged for the next track. Yellowman in no time had patrons jumping to his tunes again instead of giggling about his mishap.

Black Scorpio's son, Stretch, also got in on a piece of the action as he never fails to be himself, dressed in a costume and dropping gimmicks as he performed.

Just minutes after 5 a.m., the atmosphere inside of La Roose was about to change, as it was now time for some of the more hardcore acts to get in on the action. The original 'front teeth, gold teeth don gorgon', Ninja Man was first to appear onstage, claiming, "me a di youngest ole man inside yah."

No sooner had he said that, he was joined onstage by Buru Banton who challenged him to some "new tune". The two then squared off, showing their lyrical knowledge and creativity from the 'ole skool'.

At 6 a.m., Ninja Man called on 'the prophet', Capleton to join the mix onstage and as usual, the fireman ignited the venue with some of his current hits like Top A Tings before being drafted back into the 'ole skool' days as the likes of Ghost, Pinchers, Harry Toddler, General Trees and others all shared in the excitement onstage.