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Cliff's magic shines

Jimmy Cliff
Briggs & Stratton Big Backyard (Summerfest)
Milwaukee, WI
June 29, 2012
Jimmy Cliff Jimmy Cliff

Story and photos by Jennifer Bronenkant

At 64, the legendary Jimmy Cliff is still a more powerful a performer than almost any act out there. He hit the Briggs stage joyfully dancing and spinning like an incoming storm. His energy infected not only the audience but also everyone passing by the stage area, all of whom seemed to break into dance as they walked by.

Cliff became famous in his Jamaican homeland at a young age and quickly gained international fame with his socially conscious reggae songs like "Wonderful World, Beautiful People" and "Vietnam" in the late 1960's. In recent years, Cliff has teamed up with punk icon Tim Armstrong (Rancid and Operation Ivy) who produced his upcoming album REBIRTH scheduled for release July 17th.

Cliff performed a lively set consisting of many favorite originals including "The Harder They Come," "You Can Get It If You Really Want," and "Vietnam" which he updated to Afghanistan along with his hit covers of Cat Steven's "Wild World" and Johnny Nash's "I Can See Clearly Now." He gave the audience a preview of his new work with "One More," in which he declares "I got one more shot at the goal/Straight from my soul/I'm in control." His performance was a highlight of this year's fest and proved that thankfully he has a lot more than one more left to give us.

Related articles:

Jimmy Cliff - Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction - New York, NY - March 2010

Jimmy Cliff Jimmy Cliff
Jimmy Cliff Jimmy Cliff

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