The stirring presentation of the Tallawah Mento Band on the coded communication messaging of folk and mento music struck a key note at the recent Marcus Garvey Symposium in Limon, Costa Rica. The ...

During rehearsal, the music is spiritually uplifting for members of the Jamaican Folk Revue. In the church meeting room, they tell stories through lyrics, about love and marriage, dance and games, ...

Mento is a style of Jamaican music that predates and has heavily influenced ska and reggae. The Jolly Boys is a mento band from Port Antonio, Jamaica that has been playing these folksy Jamaican tunes ...

The Jolly Boys' members play mento, a bawdy style of party music that preceded Jamaica's more famous musical export, reggae. The band enjoyed some international success in the late '80s and early '90s ...

Once, when Asheville-based musician Andy Pond passed through customs into the Montego Bay airport, a member of the Mento band (which greets tourists) noticed his banjo case. “Going to Jamaica with a ...

Chris Nickson reviews the CD Mento Madness: Motta's Jamaican Mento 1951-56. The disc is a compilation of material from the Jamaican "MRS" label founded by Kingston business man Stanley Motta. The CD ...