Silk, Jahpostle: band of brothers
The Jamaica Observer continues its daily 20-part series, 20 Days of Silk, which looks at the life of roots singer Garnet Silk. Next month marks 20 years since his death.
AT the beginning of December 1994, Devon Bradshaw, bass player with the Jahpostles band, remembers receiving a phone call from singer Garnet Silk. It was one year since the band had worked with the charismatic roots artiste.
“Him call mi an’ sey, ‘Devon, get everybody together, wi a go Negril. Wi a start work again’,” Bradshaw recalled in a 2012 interview with the Jamaica Observer.
They never got the opportunity to ‘work together’ again. One week later, 28-year-old Silk and his mother Etiga Gray died in a fire at her home in Manchester. Bradshaw heard about the tragedy by radio early on December 9.
“I hear dem playing Love Is The Answer (one of Silk’s biggest hit songs) on the radio, then dem sey him dead in a fire. Mi couldn’t sleep again,” Bradshaw said.
Jahpostles — which also included Bradshaw’s older brother Anthony on guitar, guitarist Lenford Richards and drummer Cecil Hardy — were an established six-piece show band in 1993 when members met Silk at a show in Florida. They first backed him on a show called ‘Double Trouble’ at the Acropolis nightclub in Ocho Rios that year.
Prior to working with Silk, Jahpostles had toured and recorded with Burning Spear for 10 years. Bradshaw says he and his bandmates were impressed by Silk during their initial meeting and even more when they began working with him.
“He had a lotta energy, a lotta spirituality. Garnet Silk was jus’ a good person,” he said.
In mid-1994, Silk took a break from shows, citing fatigue. He was preparing for a comeback when he contacted Bradshaw in December.
Bradshaw, who is in his 50s, is still involved in music as a musician and producer, operating the Axx Studios in his native Portland. He collaborates with homegrown artistes including singjay Louie Culture and roots acts such as Bushman and Prezident Brown.
Though Jahpostles continued to back artistes like Capleton after Silk’s death, the original band split in 1995 with some members settling in the United States and England.