Boy, could Jimmy play!

James Moss-Solomon, whose death on Tuesday shocked Jamaicans and drew encomiums for his contributions to national development, was not only revered as an influential businessman and patriot.

He was also a “consummate musician” with the “ear of a composer and the fingers of a concert pianist” said long-time friend and former bandmate Dr Aggrey Irons.

What began as a hobby for Moss-Solomon, Irons, and about nine other colleagues shortly after they graduated from university turned into a side gig from their corporate professions. The band perfected its craft over time and received rave recognition locally, playing at hotels, fundraisers, and other events.

Moss-Solomon, who was a founding member of the band, was dubbed a musical genius by Irons, a respected veteran psychiatrist.

The business stalwart passed away in hospital on Tuesday after undergoing hip surgery late December. He was 70.

Lead singer

Moss-Solomon, musical director of 50/50 Band, also had the privilege of singing lead for the band Alley-Cats, which included keyboardist Michael ‘Ibo’ Cooper and Steven ‘Cat’ Coore, a guitarist and cellist.

“There was no song or melody that he could not master,” said Irons, whose recollections of Moss-Solomon’s interaction with his bandmates was filled with laughter.

Moss-Solomon’s talent extended across percussion, wind and stringed instruments. He played the piano, the trumpet, keyboard, the guitar, and the drums.

Reflecting on the character of the man he described as his best friend, Irons remarked that Moss-Solomon “literally invented the word kindness [as] there was no individual ... whose first response was always, ‘What can I do to help?’”

That attribute, said Irons, endeared Moss-Solomon, affectionately called ‘Jimmy’, to many in the music industry and corporate Jamaica.

Michael Burke, a fellow Jamaica College alumnus, knew Moss-Solomon for more than 60 years. They attended Priory Prep (now Liberty Academy at the Priory), where ‘Jimmy’ was in the same class as his older brother, Paul Burke.

Michael Burke recalls the trio’s good-old days of fun and excitement.

“Jimmy always remembered attending Paul’s 10th birthday party in 1962 and running in a race down the very large lawn of what was then our family home in Kingston,” Michael told The Gleaner. The Coore siblings – Michael and Ivan (now deceased) – each won a race.

Paul Burke enrolled in Jamaica College along with Moss-Solomon in 1963, and Michael Burke transitioned to the institution the following year.

Burke recalled ‘Jimmy’ being one of the first people to ever call him a historian because in many conversations when they were not discussing politics, Burke would reel off bits of Jamaica College history to anyone who wished to hear (and even to those who did not want to hear, he said).

Moss-Solomon was head boy of Jamaica College from 1969-1970, and he became chairman of the school board in 1989.

asha.wilks@gleanerjm.com