Let’s meet Jamaica’s treasured mento icons, The Jolly Boys.
“Mento” is Jamaican “country” played initially in rural areas with a simple guitar/drum/sax and/or banjo accompaniment in which vocalists sang mainly humorous lyrics about rural life. In the 1950s, Mento’s “Golden Age,” the style embraced Trinidadian calypso (though it remained distinct) and become popular in urban dance halls. The Jolly Boys have been at the heart of Jamaican mento since their formation in 1945. Though they continue to tour and record, they remain loyal to their main local gig as the house band at GeeJam, a Port Antonio, Jamaica, hotel. As of their appearance in this video, they’re sure at the top of their game.
We are revising the AllAroundThisWorld.com site — the information you’re seeking may still be here, but a lot of links are broken and details may be out of date. We are currently using a new (better!) site — ExploreEverywhere.com — to tell you all about our class offerings, our “pen pal” program and how to become one of our teachers, and will eventually be moving all the goodies from here over to there. So, GO TO THE NEW SITE!
