This year's Lion Lager Summer Beer Festival is three times bigger and three times better than the previous editions. To sum it all, the action, music and excitement have more than quadrupled. The Glamis Arena, this year's venue of the fiesta, is three times bigger than the traditional Harare Sports Club and the three headliners Beres Hammond, Cocoa T and Fantan Mojah, all from Jamaica, have added verve to what may already have been a star-studded concert.
The Lion Lager Summer Beer Festival has become a must-attend event on the calendar with such acts as Beenie Man having graced the previous shows. This year's gig slated for Saturday is just too good to miss.
Of course, Zimbabwean musicians among them Winky D and Mic Inity are expected to curtain raise for the Jamaicans. A surprise act is Suluman Chimbetu who by virtue of being a sungura artiste, is expected to break the reggae monotony.Besides this, Delta Beverages through their Lion Lager brand have put in place several activities for the festival, which will culminate into a big concert. Highlights include a performance by Beres Hammond. According to Wikipedia, Hammond is a Jamaican reggae singer known in particular for his romantic lovers rock and soulful voice.
He was born Hugh Beresford Hammond on 28 August 1955, in Annotto Bay, Saint Mary. While his career began in the 1970s, he reached his greatest success in the 990s. Born the ninth of 10 children; Hammond grew up listening to his father's collection of American soul and jazz music; including Sam Cooke and Otis Redding.
He was further influenced by the native musics of ska and rocksteady, in particular Alton Ellis. Hammond began participating in local talent contests from 1972 to 1973, which led to his first ‘recording, of Ellis' "Wanderer". In 1975 he joined the band, Zap Pow, as lead singer, leading to the hit 1978 single, "The System" under the Aquarius Records label.
However, he simultaneously sought a solo career, releasing his debut album, Soul Reggae, in 1976. His solo ballads "One Step Ahead" (1976) and Joe Gibbs produced "I'm in Love" (1978), were both hits in Jamaica.
He left Zap Pow in 1979 to pursue his solo career, and recorded two more albums "Let's Make A Song" in 1980 and "Red Light" in 1981.
He formed Tuesday's Children, a harmony group that toured but never recorded. Hammond formed his own record label, Harmony Records, in 1985 for the release of his "Make a Song" album, which had two Jamaican chart-toppers that were influenced by the emerging dancehall style: "Groovy Little Thing" and "What One Dance Can Do". The latter, produced by Willie Lindo, began to break Hammond into the international market. He scored another hit in 1986 with "Settling Down" on his eponymous release.
Hammond left his fame in Jamaica for New York in 1987, after being tied up as thieves ransacked his house during a home invasion. There he recorded the "Have a Nice Weekend" album and the duet single "How Can We Ease the Pain" with Maxi Priest. Hammond returned briefly to Jamaica to record "Putting Up Resistance", which was significantly harder than his typical ballads, produced by Tappa Zukie, which spawned the hits "Putting Up Resistance" and "Strange".
Later, he signed with Penthouse Records in 1990 and returned to Jamaica permanently to record the dancehall smash "Tempted to Touch", with producer Donovan Germain. His first album of the new millennium was 2001's "Music Is Life", which featured an appearance by Wyclef Jean, and contributions from Earl "Chinna" Smith and Flourgon.
The album spawned several hits, including "They Gonna Talk", "Rockaway" and "Ain't It Good To Know". The 2004 release "Love Has No Boundaries", had guest spots by Buju Banton and Big Youth. He returned to Jamaica to perform at the Opening Ceremony for the Cricket World Cup 2007. He released yet another album in 2008, "A Moment in Time", on VP Records, which featured the single "I Feel Good".
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