Nine Night

The Jamaican wake: nine nights of company and song for the dead, held so the spirit leaves satisfied. The singing runs from sankeys, the hymns named for Ira Sankey's revival hymnal, through Revival choruses to ring games and, in the east, the Dinki Mini; in the west the Gerreh dance does the same work. A modern nine night often adds a rented tent and a selector playing gospel and old-school dancehall, so the tradition now carries the sound system inside it.

When the government staged one for former prime minister Edward Seaga at Tivoli Gardens Square in 2019, the Tivoli Gardens Marching Band performed alongside the singing -- a reminder that brass has its place in the tradition too.