Otis Gayle performs at the launch of his album 'I'll Be There', held at Waterfalls, Liguanea, St Andrew, last Wednesday evening. - Photo by Mel Cooke
There was a consistent thread of appreciation for Otis Gayle's belief and investment in, as well as commitment to his own talent, as he launched his album I'll Be There at Waterfalls, Liguanea, St Andrew, last Wednesday evening.
The audience was small, as launches go, more like an intimate gathering of friends and those involved in the music industry. But when it came to those who worked on the West End Records 12-track (plus one hidden tack) set, Gayle was not into 'friend and company'.
Top-flight musicians
Desmond Young, president of the Jamaica Federation of Musicians (JFM), commended Gayle for working with producers such as Bunny Brown, Grub Cooper and Michael St Clair, as well as top-flight musicians and singers including Pam Hall, Sly Dunbar and Robbie Lyn to put out a "pleasant-sounding album".
Young said he hoped that the electronic media will give I'll Be There a chance to be heard by the public, noting that Gayle "is not going with the dancehall genre and some people will not give it the publicity it deserves".
In addition to the title track, some of the songs on I'll Be There are Bring Back the Love, When I Need You, Sweet and Sexy, Follow Your Dreams and One Life to Live.
Grub Cooper expressed his pleasure at being involved with the project and said that Gayle got the name 'Otis' because he was so heavily influenced by Otis Redding. Cooper pointed out that on this album, Gayle shows not only that influence but also those whom he has admired musically.
"Myself being a versatile artiste, I appreciate an artiste like Otis who is also versatile," Cooper said, also noting Gayle's songwriting talent, having written about 75 per cent of the songs on the set.
And the cover of When I Need You, Cooper said, is excellent.
Guest speaker Clyde McKenzie said that Gayle "is able to identify the people who have influenced him and on whose shoulders he stands", something that many people fail to do. And while other influences are evident, such as Al Jarreau, "what is beautiful is that Otis has his own voice. He is influenced, but he has his own voice and that is important". McKenzie picked out Get On Line as a song which speaks to those older people who are still resisting the Internet.
McKenzie noted Gayle's history in the music business, having been around at Studio One and been a vocalist with Byron Lee and the Dragonaires.
Long journey
And when Gayle gave thanks all around, he said "I'm elated. It has been a long journey".
Much of that journey was in Canada and Gayle gave a humorous demonstration of how he had retrieved his passport from the hotel clerk Byron Lee left the band's travel documents with and stayed there during an August 1968 trip.
And he performed to close off the launch of I'll Be There, starting off, fittingly enough, with the encouragement to Follow Your Dreams.