Tuesday 26 February 2008

Nyahbingley


By this stage Bingley has been exposed to just about every style of music you can imagine, from early polyphony to the latest from Bruce. I’m not going to pretend that he actively appreciates any of this, but different music definitely affects him in different ways.

Contemporary electronica is something that I simply can’t get away with listening to whilst Bing’s around: most of the magnificent Raster-Noton catalogue sends him into paroxysms of non-stop head cocking and ear twitching as he tries to work out where all those little noises are coming from.

He also sometimes has the same reaction to the television, and will scrutinise the box trying to work out how those little people got in there. Of course these days I often try to work out the same thing myself, though for far more critical reasons.

I’ve already mentioned that jazz is a constant in this house; but so is reggae, and thankfully Bing seems to love it just as much as we do. I could add that his favourite album is Bingy Bunny’s charming 1982 recording Me and Jane, but Courtney Melody’s awesome Bad Boy would come closer to summing up this lad’s character!



I keep having to remind myself that Bingley is still a puppy; and similarly it’s easy to forget that despite its breadth of styles, reggae is still a young music. But one of the constants throughout reggae’s short history has been the hypnotic rhythms of Nyahbinghi which began to drift down from Wareika Hill in the late sixties, before going on to provide the heartbeat for much of the roots movement in the seventies.

Nyahbinghi is the music of Rastafarianism; and though I’m not certain whether Bing can tell the difference between Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus or Count Osie & The Mystic Revelation Of Rastafari, both are enjoyed immensely. After a heated dancehall & play session we both like to wind down with some of these wonderful sounds; and when Natty Bing picks up his kong, it’s easy to believe that he’s thinking of a bong.

Of course Bingley’s not really a natty: his lack of dreadlocks make him more of a bald-head rasta. But for sure, at times like this the Mighty Bing is definitely Irie.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hello there Robert!
Bingley is looking very handsome indeed - i have been following his progress over the last few months with great delight!
i'll give you a bell soon - it's been much too long.
hope this finds you well.
rich

Rob said...

Hey, Richard!

Glad to hear that you're enjoying the blog. You and Bing would get on really well, so we'll have to arrange an introduction. You'll need thick clothes, gloves, face mask, running shoes.....and an extra-large sense of humour!