All systems go! Nyabinghi chanting opens Rebel Salute

With the final sound check complete, Nyabinghi chanting signalled that the show was about to start at Rebel Salute in Priory, St Ann.

According to Unit Band keyboard player Evan Mason, the musicians were engaged in rehearsals with performers up to this afternoon and they are anxious to get everyone into the spirit of musical consciousness.

"We did about two to three solid rehearsals, so tonight we just expect it will be a good time and positive vibes," he told The Gleaner.

Unit Band, which is comprised of two keyboard players, one guitarist, bass player, drummer and three horn players, will back artistes like Lady G and Ernie Smith tonight.

While the band continued to fine tune their instruments, the Nyabinghi chanters, Indigenous Village, secured their position on stage to signal to 'saluters' it was time to start the show.

Recording artiste and lead chanter Izi Ions said that, unlike other musicians who will grace the stage, the Nyabinghi is not a performance.

"It's chanting, a time where we get connected and it comes more natural," Izi Ions stated.

He said that the members of Rastafari and musicians were not only from Indigenous Village but a collection of chanters.

"It's not a set group, we are family the way we live and we decide to chant together and it's the first time we do it like this. The beginning is always the most powerful and without the beginning there is no end. What we are doing is good and we are blessing the place," Izi Ions said.

Nordissia Wright, a return patron who resides in Montego Bay and stood close to the stage with her own calabash shakers, shared that the Nyabinghi chanting is one of the reasons she makes an effort to arrive at the venue early.

"I remember going to Rebel Salute from the time it was held in St Elizabeth, and it has always been important for me to get here early and have an up-close position in the crowd.  Nyabinghi it is a spiritual connection for me, bringing me close to my roots," she shared.

- Stephanie Lyew 

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