Media/Live Music: 52 Tuesdays Live.... with Michael "Mikey T" Thompson

Michael "Mikey T" Thompson

Think of him as a "radio postman" for lie music.

Since inaugurating his 'Live Tuesdays on-air performance slot On KOOL 97 FM some 52 weeks ago, veteran Michael "Mikey T" Thompson has not missed a single outing.

That amounts, in Thompson's humbly imprecise calculations, to "over 140 acts - solo and group, through the period." It also means well over a hundred hours of live music programming for the year at a time when radio offerings are sorely lacking in diversity and  - coincidentally? - live music is enjoying something of an underground resurgence, with several Kingston venues, new and old, offering a variety of live acts almost every night of the week.

But beyond the sheer numbers, Thompson, who was part of KOOL97 since the stations inception some 14 years ago (KOOLFM Anniversary celebrations are now close at hand), points out that the series offers musicians of various stripes "to  be heard solely on the basis of quality". That measure is, of course Thompson's to determine, but he makes it clear that he accepts no fees or other considerations from artistes in exchange for their appearance, only their time and energy.

And the roster that have responded is loaded with substance: Freddie McGregor, George Nooks, No-maddz, Coco T, Carlene Davis, Althea Hewitt, Pam Hall, Duane Stephenson and many more heavyweights. Alongsid ethese are up-and-comers like all-girl outfit Azadeh, Don Giovanni and Exile Di Brave and Lady Genius.

 Even more than the names, 'Live Tuesdays" has lanced the notion that Jamaican music is one-dimensional. The above-named acts and others (including Robert Dubwise, Pon Fyah band and Earth Kry) have laid down everyconceivable stage and sub-genre of Jamaican music, from mento to dancehall and beyond, incoporating, ska, lover's rock, rock, jazz, dub, EDM and other progressive offshoots.

To mark the occasion, Thompson will welcome another veteran outfit, Jamaica's undisputed champion showband, Fab 5 Incorporated, who will a special "....and Friends" edition of Live Tuesdays. Future episodes going into Year 2 will feature the likes of Mr Vegas, Uprising Roots and more.

And far from basking in the success, Thompson is hard at work, conceptualizing and planning some "special additions" to the format that he says he will elaborate on in short order.

So to those under the impression that the "house of Jamaican sound" is condemned and out of date, her comes Mikey T with a special delivery.  

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