Fresh from a West African tour, Anguilla’s trio musical band, British Dependency, is now to perform in Cuba early next month – the band’s first performance in a Spanish-speaking country.
Joyah Gumbs (bass-guitarist), and Jaiden Fleming (drummer), both of Anguilla, and Ishmael Levi (lead vocalist and guitarist), of New York, are the three members of British Dependency. They have as their mastermind and coordinator, Davon Carty, who travelled with them to West Africa and will also accompany them to Cuba.
“We left Anguilla for Abidjan, West Africa, on the 3rd of March and stayed there for about two weeks,” Joyah told The Anguillian. “We went there to play for the Massa Festival where there were about two thousand performances by various musicians from many parts of the world. We were the only band from the Caribbean and the event was held over a period of five days.
“While our main purpose was to play music, we had a very awakening, stimulating and beautiful experience – just having the opportunity to touch the Motherland that we all grew up hearing so much about. We heard stories about our forebears coming from Africa and crossing the Atlantic Ocean but, for us going to Africa to see it for ourselves, words really cannot convey our experience.”
Asked to define the type of music the band plays, Joyah replied: “That’s the most incredible question because we don’t stick ourselves in a box or a particular genre. We play how we feel and therefore we just play any kind of music. If you listen to our songs, you will hear jazz, reggae or soul. That’s the uniqueness of our band.”
Questioned about how the band got the opportunity to perform in Abidjan, Jaiden Fleming responded: “We got the link through our New York Booking Agent, Alex Biocel, who is in contact with the African market and we were the only group from the Caribbean. There were other groups from Europe, Africa, Egypt, Canada, and all over the place. We were received very well. The people in Abidjan are very addicted to music, whether you speak their language or not. We couldn’t be happier. We have gained more musical experience and more life experience and we are indeed grateful.”
Both Jaiden and Joyah are thankful to Josveek Huligar of Anguilla Access whom they described as “a mutual friend”, for arranging for them to be band members of British Dependency.
“Do you think it is exceptional for you to be playing the bass guitar?” Joyah was asked.
“Of course,” she laughed. “I feel so very accepted that I don’t have to speak. I just have to stand on the stage with my guitar and everyone just goes wild.”
For Ishmael Levi, his entry into British Dependency was influenced by Victor Lewis (an American jazz drummer) and one of the band’s managers. “He brought us together,” Ishmael recalled. “Before I joined British Dependency I was doing music, performing solo in New York. I stopped what I was doing and he said I could do something great with British Dependency, and that’s how I got on board.”
The three musicians, who are soon to release a new album called “A Conversation”, are now all wound up for the trip to Cuba. “We are going to be in Cuba from the 9th of May until about the 12th and the performance was arranged by Victor Lewis. The event is called “Caribbean Dreamers”. According to Jaiden Fleming, “it is a live/online show that Victor created and will be widely broadcast.”
The British Dependency band members are excited about the coming Cuban trip, saying it will be their first performance in a Spanish-speaking country. They will be playing among other musicians from the Caribbean region and elsewhere. They are aware that music is a universal language, so to speak. For Joyah, it will be a cultural experience performing in Cuba.
“I find myself coming into contact with different people and various cultures from time to time,” she observed. “For me, those are not barriers anymore because I learn that once you show love, you get love; and love is a language that anyone can understand anywhere you go. We play music and that, too, is again another language; so languages, cultures and differences, are not barriers.”
Both Joyah and Jaiden are grateful to all persons in Anguilla who continue to support them and follow their music; and Ishmael Levi is also grateful to be a band member of British Dependency and a recipient of that support as well.
