Traditional Jamaican Revival Mass Setting


 

This Mass Setting was written by the Rev. Daren Evans, formerly Priest-in-Charge of the Santa Cruz Cure, St. Elizabeth, and was recorded with the St. Andrew’s and St. Peter’s Church Choirs in the Albert Town Cure, Trelawny. The setting is written to the Traditional Jamaican or Revival rhythm and utilizes idioms from the Jamaican language. It provides a simple setting to an indigenous rhythm which can be performed by choirs and congregations which are not gifted with organists and the skills to perform more difficult arrangements. It offers an opportunity for congregations to return to sung Eucharistic Services in a context in which this is becoming a diminishing reality.

I commend it for use by those priests, choirs and congregations who would like to utilize a Eucharistic setting that is truly Jamaican, and which now joins the company of the Folk and Reggae settings which arise out of our cultural roots.

+Howard
Rt. Rev. Howard Gregory
Bishop of Jamaica & The Cayman Islands