Chalice

Reggae outfit Chalice enjoyed peak popularity throughout Jamaica from 1980 to 1987, issuing close to ten long-players for Pipes Music, Rohit, CSA, Sunsplash, and Ras Records. Among those titles were Stand Up, Dangerous Disturbance, Wicked Intentions, Up Till Now, and Live at Reggae Sunsplash. The ensemble took its name from the local Jamaican expression for the ceremonial ganja pipe, and numerous tracks accordingly celebrated the virtues of smoking weed.

Its original roster featured Alla on keyboards and vocals, Desi Jones on drums, Mikey Wallace on keyboards and vocals, Wayne Armand on guitar and vocals, Papa Keith Frances on bass, and Trevor Roper on guitar and vocals. Although the musicians delivered high-energy performances onstage, their studio efforts rarely matched that vitality or captured the same crowd-pleasing spark. Synthesizers formed the core of their buoyant, dance-floor grooves, yet heavy dependence on the instruments led purist reggae listeners to dismiss the band as inconsequential; respect remained elusive.

Live shows routinely inspired audiences to dance, whereas the recorded material often sounded underproduced and failed to replicate the concerts’ drive. Occasional socially conscious numbers such as the roots-oriented “Good Be There” and “Stand Up” surfaced, yet these proved too infrequent to placate detractors. Additional well-known tracks encompassed “Can't Dub,” “Jamaican Anthem,” “I'm Trying,” “I Can't Run,” “Dangerous Disturbance,” “Peter Botha,” “Handle Me Rough,” and a reworking of Terence Trent D’Arby’s “Let's Go Forward.”

Toward the close of the 1980s the group traveled through Mexico; subsequent personnel shifts culminated in a 1996 breakup. A decade afterward Chalice reunited for Jamaican festival appearances, then issued the fresh studio album Let It Play in 2010.