Musicians Who Played With Wadadli Band
The original wadadli band was a mixture of Rastafarians and Christians when it started, so personal religious beliefs was the first test of the band's unity. It was not easy to find common ground in dialogue given the general perception of Rastafari in Antigua during the seventies and eighties.
The government, society, and the religious establishment condemned and persecuted Rastafarians for their belief and called them fools, so that mindset was not hard to detect, It was obvious in the attitude of the band members without deadlock.
It was becoming more and more difficult for both fractions to coexist, so changes were inevitable. The first to leave the Band was the Bass player Calvin (AKA: Sugar), who came from a Christian family in Eurlings village and was an active member of the Seven Day Adventist Church.
Calvin was the youngest and most experience of the original group of musician who was less controversial and didn't have an attitude, he was an exceptional Bass player with a jovial personality and easy to get along with.
He was loved and respected by all the musicians, but his commitment to the church hindered him from playing with the band on his Sabbath, and that was the main reason for him leaving the group.
The band was in search of a Baseman, but It was hard to find a replacement for Calvin. William (Willie) Lewis and Junior (Jagga) Martin played Bass with the band for a brief period before William became the captain of a band called "The Fabulous Antigua."
Jagger had an ongoing commitment with King Short Shirt and could not continue indefinitely, so he brought Donald (Iceman) Weston to replace him and went on to start "Ghetto Vibes Band" with King Short shirt, the Calypso monarch of Antigua Barbuda.
Just after the arrival of Donald Weston, a local music icon name Denfield stop by the band house one day after work and offered to help the group. Denfield was a versatile all-around musician living just a few houses away from the band house, so he could hear the band struggling with the music while rehearsing.
He started tutoring and playing with the band occasionally for he was committed to another group, but his musical experience and leadership help to create a much better-sounding band.
Wadadli began making strides and gaining prominence in the community slowly, but it was not all smooth sailing. The band encountered many trials, tribulations, and temporary setbacks along the way.