Image courtesy The National
An icon of the Caribbean, Beres Hammond is one of Jamaica’s most celebrated singers. Known for intimate love songs with a blue-collar bent — think Bruce Springsteen or Otis Redding, with a reggae rhythm — Hammond’s soothing “bourbon-on-the-rocks” delivery has aged like top-shelf single-malt whiskey. He fronted Jamaican soul band Zap Pow in the mid-'70s, hitting his stride in the ‘90s, when the songs “Tempted to Touch” and “Can’t Stop a Man” made him an essential component of any dancehall set.
Now 63, Hammond is still producing superb albums, like last year’s “Never Ending,” that toe the line between classic sounds and Jamaica’s present-day musical zeitgeist. Don’t be surprised to find three generations of the same family singing along at The National on Aug. 13 at 8 p.m. (doors at 7 p.m.).
$25 to $30.
