Richie Stephens at jazz and blues 2015

 

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Richie Stephens at jazz and blues 2015

Historic win the ideal birthday gift, says Sir Richie

DURBAN, South Africa (CMC) — Team manager Sir Richie Richardson celebrated his 53rd birthday on Monday and says West Indies’ historic successful run chase to beat South Africa in Sunday’s second Twenty20 International was the perfect gift.

One of the finest batsmen to have played the Test and one-day game, Sir Richie watched from the dugout as West Indies pulled off the highest-ever run chase in T20 International history, to win by four wickets with four balls to spare at the Wanderers in Johannesburg.

Opener Chris Gayle smashed 90 from 41 balls and Marlon Samuels, 60 from 39 deliveries, to power West Indies to their target of 232.

“I would first of all like to thank the guys for the birthday gift. It was indeed something very special,” said the former Test captain.

“We all know the quality of the team, the talent that we have and once the guys apply themselves and play to their potential we can beat anybody in the world.”

Sir Richie was a dominant batsman in his heyday, compiling 5,949 runs from 86 Tests at an average of 44, with 16 hundreds. He also amassed over 6,248 runs from 224 ODIs at an average of 33.

He played alongside the likes of legendary batsman Sir Vivian Richards, Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge in a career spanning 13 years, but said he was left astonished by the savagery of Gayle and Samuels.

“It’s unbelievable, really. I’ve seen some hitting in my time but Chris Gayle, he stands out. His bat is so huge, he’s so powerful, he’s so destructive and when he’s going it doesn’t matter who is bowling and what sort of delivery they bowl to him, he can put it away,” Sir Richie pointed out.

“In these two matches he has shown that he’s probably the best T20 batsman in the world today. Marlon was there with him scoring just as freely but with a different style, playing elegant shots, proper cricket shots and scoring just as freely.

“It was just great to see both batsmen batting together. Chris was dominant, but Marlon played some really, really sweet shots, he timed the ball very, very well and it was great to see both batsmen batting together.”

The victory gave the Caribbean side a winning 2-0 lead in the three-match series, with one match left to play at Kingsmead today.

However, Sir Richie said the Windies were now highly motivated by the thought of making a clean sweep, especially against a strong side like South Africa.

“It is not often that a team that is ranked below the top team whitewashes them so that’s the focus of the team at the moment. We’re not going to relax, we’ve won the series, yes, and we’ll celebrate it, but we’re saving the celebration for after the next match,” he said.

“I’ve always said it’s never over till it’s over. I don’t believe in celebrating too early. Our goal now is to win the series 3-0 and accumulate some [ratings] points and move up in the rankings. That’s the mood in the camp and we’re just looking forward to the next match.

“We’re going to dig deep and hopefully we can have another successful match.”

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Historic win the ideal birthday gift, says Sir Richie

Richie Stephens delivers at One Caribbean Music Festival

Contributed – Richie Stephens performing at the One Caribbean Festival in Florida recently.

The One Caribbean Music Festival which took place recently at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill, Florida, hit a sizzling energy level when Jamaican music ambassador Richie Stephens delivered a blistering performance.

Stephens took fans on a musical stroll down memory lane, crooning hits Tougher Than Before, Trying To Get To You, Fight Back and True Believer.

He upped the ante with real reggae music before segued into Winner and Spanish Harlem, which earned thunderous applause. To show his musical dexterity, the Love Your Life singer delved into the inspirational A Change Is Gonna Come that was dedicated to ‘fallen soldiers’ Michael Brown, Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and others in the USA, who have died at the hands of cops.

The emotionally charged song was perfectly executed and had the entire park singing along. The lively gospel medley that followed, warmed hearts and set the stage for the hot new Ska Teck single Everybody Dance that raised the bar ten-fold.

“Ska Tech is definitely not just hot in Jamaica but it is now an international phenomenon. I was total blown away by how well it was embraced by fans here today,” Stephens declared, moments after he left the stage.

The singer confessed that prior to arriving in Florida, he had no plan to perform the song with dancers.

“To be honest, I had no plan to perform Everybody Dance with dancers. When I realised just how popular the song is in Florida, I had to scramble to find a competent group in less than 24 hours, and what a spectacular job the ‘Lime Light Squad’ did here today,” he remarked.

Stephens’ next big performance will be at the 19th annual Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival set for January 29-31, 2015, at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium in Falmouth.

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Richie Stephens delivers at One Caribbean Music Festival

Richie Stephens debuts music video via WorldStarHipHop website

Contributed

Richie Stephens in a scene from the ‘Everybody Dancing’ video.

Richie Stephens highly anticipated music video for the single Everybody Dance, will have its world premier on the popular WorldStarHipHop.com web site on Friday.

“I feel blessed to have the world premier of the video on an international platform like WorldStarHipHop,” an elated Stephens gushed. “This is a historic moment in my career and I am truly excited.”

Stephens chose to go in a new musical direction with Everybody Dance, which was recorded on the new Ska Teck Ova rhythm which fuses ska, which originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s and electronic dance music which pop acts like Rihanna and Lady Gaga have incorporated in their songs.

The video features more than 40 dancers of all ethnicities and Stephens will make his international debut as a dancer.

“I have been practicing some exciting new dance moves that I will unleash for the first time in Everybody Dance,” he said.

For the music video he worked with director Anthony Slaney and Jamaica‘s most experienced cinematographer Chris Browne. Browne is best known as director of Third World Cop and has worked on such Jamaican feature films as Dancehall Queen, One Love, Ghett A Life, KLA$H and several international productions that were filmed in Jamaica.

On October 11, Stephens is set to join international acts Keith Sweat, Johnny Gill, Dru Hill, Silk, Jeffrey Osborne, Peabo Bryson, Regina Belle, Freddie Jackson, Howard Hewitt and LUST at the inaugural Soul In The Sun concert which take place at the Aqueduct in Rose Hall, Montego Bay.

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Richie Stephens debuts music video via WorldStarHipHop website

PHOTO: Richie B entertains

Entertainment

Friday, July 19, 2013

Mello FM’s broadcaster Richard ‘Richie B’ Burgess entertains his audience at a recent live broadcast in Mandela Park, Half-Way-Tree. Burgess joined the Montego Bay-based station in March this year. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood)

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PHOTO: Richie B entertains