SOUTH FLORIDA – Following the successful Marcia Griffiths and Friends show on Mother’s Day, the veteran singer is looking forward to similar shows in Atlanta and the Jamaican capital.
The Atlanta gig is tentatively scheduled for August while the Kingston show is confirmed for November 2 with Rhythm And Blues legend Patti LaBelle as special guest.
Griffiths, who is celebrating her 60th year in the music business, described Marcia And Friends as “a live documentary” that covers her career from the early 1960s to the present.
Marcia Griffiths
“In interviews I did for the show, I made sure to tell people that this is not an ordinary show when people see artists advertised and you go and see them perform. The whole concept was different,” she said.
Fans who showed up to the Miramar Readiness Center on May 12 saw Griffiths sing her classic songs such as Feel Like Jumping, Dreamland and Electric Boogie. Throughout the evening, there were guest appearances by a number of acts including Singer J, Yeshemabeth, Shuga, Freddie McGregor, Ky-Mani Marley, Da’Ville, Cutty Ranks and Shaggy who flew in from Dubai.
Griffiths heads to the United Kingdom and Europe for shows in July and August. Her biggest assignment, however, is Marcia And Friends in Kingston in November when she shares the stage with LaBelle.
“I’ve performed on shows with Patti before and I always take the opportunity to tell her that she, Dionne Warwick, Aretha Franklin and Carla Thomas were my inspiration,” said Griffiths.
Originally from west Kingston, Marcia Griffiths started her recording career at Studio One under the tutelage of singer/producer Bob Andy and producer Clement Dodd.
In the 1970s, she toured the world as a member of The I Three, Bob Marley’s harmony group which also included the reggae king’s wife Rita and Judy Mowatt. Griffiths had a massive hit in the 1980s with Electric Boogie, and found a dancehall audience a decade later by collaborating with contemporary acts like Beres Hammond, Cutty Ranks and Da’Ville.
