Featured Artists
ARETHA FRANKLIN
The “Queen of Soul” was a “mesmerising” artist who graced the stage in Bermuda just before she soared to international fame, an island musician said yesterday.
Aretha Franklin, a multiple Grammy winner, died yesterday at her home in Detroit aged 76. But Ms Franklin was still a little-known figure in 1965 when drummer Lance Furbert opened a show for her with the other members of the Bermudian act, the Arpeggios.
Mr Furbert told The Royal Gazette: ”It was clear she was going to be something exceptional.
“She seemed like a very shy, little woman, but when she sat behind that piano and started singing and playing, everything broke loose.”
Mr Furbert shared a stage with Ms Franklin alongside Quinton “Tiny” Burgess, Jimmy Landy and Edwin “Doc” Simons.
Their job was to kick off the night with popular hits at the airmen’s club on the US Naval Base before the main act.
Mr Furbert said that “the Americans might have known what was in store, but I didn’t”.
Stars brought in by the Forty Thieves Club on Front Street, where Ms Franklin also played on her visit, would often make their first performance at the US Naval Base. Mr Furbert said Ms Franklin’s performance was “incredible, unbelievable”.
Mr Furbert added the young artist had raised eyebrows by bringing only a drummer and bass player along as backing.
He added: “We were wondering what she was going to do. And it was so quiet, she didn’t talk. “But believe me, when she started, she brought the house down.
“I had never heard anything like her before. She was mesmerising”...
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TED MING
A band leader dubbed “Mr Entertainment” for his ability to enthral audiences was hailed as an ambassador for the island.
Ted Ming was a founder of the Bermuda Strollers, a group with sufficient international prestige to be bankrolled by the Department of Tourism.
Mr Ming, a guitarist and singer, led the band for an astonishing 50 years Tourism officials found the band were an ideal advertisement for the island and paid for the Strollers to play along the US East Coast from the 1960s to 1980s.
Dexter Dillas, a drummer with the Strollers, said Mr Ming was “an exceptional entertainer on the stage”.
“He was a natural. When he stepped on that stage, he could grip a crowd. He could light up a stage like nobody else.”
Mr Dillas added: “Bermuda has lost an icon.”
He said unforgettable moments included the city of Boston proclaiming “Bermuda Strollers Day” and a concert in Washington DC where the group played for 100,000 people.
Rudy Ford, another member of the band, said Mr Ming was “a nice fellow to work with, a people person who did a great job for Bermuda”.
“Ted played his part. I hope Bermuda appreciates us – we were ambassadors.”
Dale Butler, a historian and a former government minister, said: “During their distinguished career in music, they cemented their music into the hearts of tourists and world leaders who heard them play.
“They were one of the most sought-after bands in Bermuda and did a great deal to raise Bermuda's profile"...
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