600 plus say so long Salters

More than 600 mourners, including several police officers and entertainers, said farewell yesterday to late police inspector Anderson Griffith during a three-hour funeral.A grave-side performance by the band of the Royal Barbados Police Force (RBPF) and three volleys of gunfire by RBPF riflemen were among the features of the funeral at St Clement’s Anglican Church, St Lucy.Officiating reverend Keith Griffith told mourners in the church building, where there was standing room only, and under three tents that they should seek to emulate the former police officer, trombone-player, music arranger and teacher known simply as “Salters”.“Too many people . . .in the field of music are doing a disservice to the community by the kind of music they produce and perform,” he complained.“Once they can walk to the bank after the event, they don’t care because they judge the success of the music by the amount of money they can go and put on the bank.”Rev. Griffith said audiences had a duty to demand “decent” music.“The audience, be it Crop-Over or any (other) time, must not sit down and be passive recipients of crude and coarse presentations that people spout out in the name of music or even in the name of culture,” he remarked.“You have a right to demand decency. You have a right to demand quality. You have a right to demand value.”He said people who paid for entertainment should not have to be begging for quality performance.  Inspector Griffith, a 54-year-old Husbands Gardens, St James resident,  died suddenly in the United States last month.He was hailed in a number of tributes at St Clement’s as a man who loved music and fishing, who sought perfection and possessed “great passion and compassion”.Sons Marlowe and Shannon, Deputy Commissioner of Police Bertie Hinds, RBPF band director, Senior Superintendent Dr Christopher Atherley, and entertainers Wayne (”Poonka”) Willock, Pompey, Tony Grazettes and Antonio “Boo” Rudder were among the mourners. (TY)