Music mellowed UTech's soul-searching talks
LIGHT ENTERTAINMENT mixed with soul-searching talks, was the main focus of the 'reasoning' session held at UTech yesterday. The 'reasoning' session, put on by the UTech Students Union, had artistes such as Tony Rebel, Buju Banton, Luciano, Della Manley, Seretse Small and Mutaburaka in attendance. The performances were done in-between dialogue about possible solutions to Jamaica's crime problem. The 'reasoning' opened up with performances from the Utech student body, which included both drumming and singing. A moment of silence was offered for deceased UTech student Julie-Ann Maxwell. Following a few minutes of brain storming, Della Manley, along with Seretse Small performed. Her 10 minute performance thrilled the audience, especially with Seretse Small on the guitar who had the audience applauding with every note he touched. It was then time for another few minutes of 'reasoning'. It was moderated by Dr. Fred Hickling and Dr. Heather Little-White. Several solutions were offered with Dr. Hickling making the point that when he was in school at Wolmers he used to watch the boys fighting 'gully wars' nearby. He said even after 50 years, Jamaica still hadn't found a solution to deal with the violence. Dean Frazer followed the second round. His prowess with the saxophone had the audience spellbound. He performed a jazz piece before doing the instrumental to Morgan Heritage and Buju Banton's 23rd Psalm. When Dean was through, he received a standing ovation for his efforts. Buju Banton advised students at the gathering to come up with solutions to tackle Jamaica's social problems. He spoke before Tony Rebel's appeal for love and more reasoning among Jamaicans. "We need to love each other in this society. A part of the problem is that we aren't loving each other. We don't sit and reason anymore as a society or as a people," Rebel noted. His comments were well received by the audience, who applauded him for most of the points he raised. After several comments from the student body, some of which spoke about the need to create more opportunities and employment for the youth, Luciano performed. Luciano was his usual self - the messenger of peace. He noted that he was a better singer than a talker and said a part of the reason for Jamaica's current problem was disobedience. He performed It's Me Again Jah, which thrilled the fair sized crowd. He did If Mankind Could Unite before exiting. The final performance for the day came from students from the Edna Manley School of the Visual and Performing Arts.
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