A feeling of family on Dean Fraser’s ‘Nyabinghi Christmas’ - Arjana makes her debut
Published:Tuesday | December 15, 2020 | 12:13 AMYasmine Peru/Senior Gleaner Writer
A Jamaican Christmas is one like no other, especially when some of those uniquely Jamaican Christmas songs are factored into the equation. The essence of it will always surround the word ‘family’. And that ‘irie’, familial feeling is exactly what is warmly conjured in Dean Fraser’s just-released Nyabinghi Christmas album, on which he liberally sprinkles a collection of traditional favourites with the recognisable, Jamaican beat.
For his first solo project of this nature, the acclaimed saxophonist teams up with Nyabinghi drummers and a cadre of musical maestros for 16 tracks on which the instruments speak eloquently the language of love, through Christmas melodies. Actually, there is in fact one tiny voice. It is heard in the intro on the third track, Little Donkey. The voice belongs to little Miss Arjana Fraser, Dean’s daughter.
Fraser, in ‘proud dad’ mode, shared with The Gleaner how this came about. “Well, Miss Arjana came to the studio while we were working. Incidentally, the Little Donkey is a song I never knew,” he confessed.
“The first [time] I heard it was in the studio. It was brought to me and arranged by Michael Fletcher [upright bass player]. It’s a British kind of folk Christmas tune like. Arjana came in and was listening to the music and while she was there, I said, ‘The song is called Where’s my Little Donkey’. And she kept saying ‘Where’s my little donkey’, so we recorded her and used it at the beginning and end of the song,” Fraser explained.
Amusingly, the little donkey again takes centre stage, this time on the album cover. A cute cartoon illustration by legendary cartoonist Clovis paints a picture of a smiling Dean Fraser in a red, green and gold Santa hat, riding a happy, little donkey attached to a cart pulling three dreadlocked Nyabinghi drummers.
For Fraser, this is an album that has long been in the making. He said that he seized the opportunity during the downtime from touring, owing to the pandemic, to bring to life something that is colourful and agreeable to the ears. “It was a thought that had been lingering for some time. I even told my departed brother, Denver Smith [Feluke], about it and he was enthused. So I decided that the time is now. I got together with Tads and said, ‘Let’s do it’,” Fraser shared with The Gleaner. He is thankful that Feluke was able to play on two songs, and the credits list him, Kirk Bennett, Congo Billy and Hector Lewis on the Nyabinghi drums.
Those drums are integral to the entire project and is Fraser’s way of adding that authentic Jamaican flavour to Nyabinghi Christmas. “We were able to ‘Jamaicanise’ the album through the instrumentation, and that is important. Jamaicans love Christmas, and it is all about family. People from all walks of life haffi mek it home from foreign for Christmas. So this is an album that the entire family can enjoy listening to and sing along with the songs that they know. Now, more than ever, people need music to heal. This is our Christmas present to the people,” he said, adding that he is looking forward to the free virtual Nyabinghi Christmas Special on December 21 at 9 p.m.
In addition to the drummers, the instrumental album incorporates the talents of musicians such as Andrew Marsh, Dario Morgan, Lamont Savory, Andrew Marsh, Mikey Fletcher, Dwight Richards, Zoe Brown, Okeil McIntyre, Everton Pessoa and, of course, Dean Fraser.