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Date: 07/03/25
Weithiodd Ar Wyneb Y Graig
Geraint Rhys Maldwyn Jarman
Canwr, cyfansoddwr, actor, bardd, cynhyrchydd
g. 17 Awst 1950, f. 3 Mawrth 2025
Geraint Rhys Maldwyn Jarman
Singer, songwriter, actor, poet, producer
b. 17 August 1950 d. 3 March 2025
Fel y bu achos gennyf grybwyll sawl gwaith o'r blaen, mewn diwylliant sydd yn isel ei rifoedd (yr hyn a elwir yn 'lleiafrifol' yn y modd nawddoglyd a sarhaus hynny sydd gan Saeson, Americaniaid a chreaduriaid tebyg), y mae'n rhaid, er mwyn creu gyrfa yn y celfyddydau, fod yn amlddoniog. Fel canlyniad, pan gollir un person o'r diwylliant hwnnw, nid un maes yn unig sydd ar ei golled, ond nifer ohonynt.
Yn ddiau, mae colli Geraint Jarman dros y penwythnos diwethaf yn golled i sawl arena. Dyma ddyn a oedd yn fardd, yn actor, yn gynhyrchydd teledu ac - uwchben popeth arall - yn gyfrannwr enfawr i ddatblygiad cerddoriaeth roc a phop yn y Gymraeg ers diwedd y chwedegau, yn gyntaf efo'r grwp Bara Menyn (ynghŷd â Heather Jones a Meic Stevens), wedyn trwy ei waith fel artist unigol ac ymlaen i'r grwp o gerddorion eithriadol a ffurfiodd o'i gwmpas, sef y Cynganeddwyr.
Cyn hynny, sail mwyafrif llethol y gerddoriaeth roc a glywyd yn y Gymraeg oedd naill ai canu gwerin neu efelychiadau o'r hyn a oedd yn digwydd yn Lloegr neu'r Unol Daleithiau. Ond i hynny - yn seiliedig ar ei brofiad o dyfu i fyny yng Nghaerdydd a dod mewn cysylltiad â diwylliant pobl dduon y ddinas - ychwanegodd synau newydd i'r cawl a chreu reggae a dyb Cymraeg am y tro cyntaf. A bu'r cymysgedd hwnnw o ddylanwadau o ddiwylliannau a ranodd yr un teithi o ddod o gymdeithasau gormesedig yn un â blas arbennig iddo. Yr oedd rhoi albwm newydd gan Jarman ar y dec am y gwrandawiad cyntaf yn antur ynddo'i hun wrth i'r gwahanol dulliau a ffynhonellau gyfuno a chyd-gyferbynnu. Efô yn anad neb oedd seren go-iawn gyntaf y sîn, ac er iddo gamu yn ôl o'r sîn hynny fel perfformiwr rhwyfaint yng nghanol yr wythdegau, parhau wnaeth ei ddylanwad trwy gyd-gynhyrchu'r rhaglen deledu arloesol Fideo 9, a ddaeth â chymaint o berfformwyr newydd trwodd i wneud eu marc hwythau. Yr oedd Geraint Jarman yn arloeswr ac hefyd un a agorodd y drws i ddenu dwsinau o artistiaid eraill i edrych yn bell y tu hwnt i ystrydebau sathredig roc i greu gweithiau ehangach eu gweledigaeth, ac y mae ei ddylanwad yn gryf hyd heddiw. Bydded i hynny barhau i'r cenedlaethau sydd eto i'w dod.
Gorffenaf y pitw teyrnged hon trwy rannu rhai o'm ffefrynnau personol o ystad eang ei waith. Yn gyntaf, o'r albwm cyntaf Gobaith Mawr Y Ganrif (1976), dyma gân sydd yn dangos ei hiwmor, sef I've Arrived:
I'r flwyddyn ganlynol, ac o'r LP cyntaf yn Gymraeg a brynais i erioed (o gangen Wrecsam o Recordiau'r Cob yn ôl ym 1980), sef Tacsi I'r Tywyllwch, dyma Seren Wib (fersiwn ohoni ddefnyddwyd fel arwyddgân rhaglen deledu Sêr ar HTV ar adeg pan oeddwn yn mynd ati o ddifrif i ddysgu'r Gymraeg):
O 1978, a'i glasur Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau, dyma Instant Pundits, a ddaeth ag elfen gref o'r Don Newydd i'r parti:
Dyma brif gân ei LP nesaf, sef y bythgofiadwy Gwesty Cymru:
I'r wythdegau rwan efo Fflanau'r Ddraig, ac yn gyntaf, dyma ni'n mentro i Gae'r Saeson, sydd â'i rhannau tawelach ymlith y darnau o gerddoriaeth prydferthaf:
Efallai dylid setio'r Cŵn Hela arnynt i gyd, yn ogystal â gitâr y digymar Tich:
O 1981 a Diwrnod I'r Brenin, dyma enghraifft arall o'i hiwmor, sef Crogi Ll'goden:
Ond yr oedd Jarman yn aml yn wleidyddol ei ddeunydd, ac i orffen dyma enghraifft o'i albwm/fideo Enka o 1985 efo cân yn seiliedig ar hanes Wayne Williams, yr athro o Sir Drefaldwyn a gafodd ei garcharu oherwydd ei ymgyrchu dros yr iaith, ac a wynebodd ymgyrch o 'cas ac erlid a chynnen' (ys dywed Saunders Lewis), yn arbennig o aelod seneddol Maldwyn ar y pryd, Delwyn Williams, a oedd - hyd yn oed wrth safonau'r arch-Thatcheriaid - yn gachgi haerllug. Ond buont oll yn Genhadon Casineb:
Os oedd Geraint Jarman yn llai amlwg ar ôl canol yr wythdegau, nid oherwydd diffyg safon yn ei waith oedd hynny: am un peth, troes at bethau eraill, fel y dywedais uchod; ac am beth arall, yr oedd cymaint o gerddorion eraill wedi llwyddo o'r diwedd i ddal i fyny â fo, sydd yn dynged anochel i bob arloeswr.
Nos da, Geraint; Geraint, nos da...
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He Worked On The Rock Face
Author's Note: unlike other bilingual pieces on this site, this English version is not a direct translation of the above. There are many things here which wouldn't need explaining in Cymraeg which must be elucidated in somewhat greater detail for those of an Anglospheric disposition.
As I've had cause to remark so many times, in a numerically small culture (one which is termed a 'minority' culture in that insultingly patronising way so beloved of the self-regarding, self-styled metropolitan types) one must - in order to make a living from artistic pursuits - be versatile. As a result, when a figure disappears from that culture, many fields of cultural endeavour are impacted rather than just the one.
There is no doubt that the death of Geraint Jarman at the weekend at the age of 74 is a loss to more than one arena. Here was a man who was - sequentially and simultaneously - a poet, an actor (he was the original voice of Superted), a television producer and - above all else - the primary contributor to the broadening of the pop and rock scene in Cymraeg over a period of more than five decades. From his first steps at the tail-end of the sixties alongside Heather Jones and Meic Stevens in Bara Menyn, then through his solo work and on to the incredibly talented group of musicians he gathered around him as Y Cynganeddwyr, his part in the development of rock in Cymraeg was to be little short of phenomenal.
Consider: up to that time, the basis of almost the entirety of pop and rock in the language was either folksong or imitations of what was coming out of England or the United States. But to that - and based on his experiences of growing up in Caerdydd and coming into contact with the long-established black population of the city - he added new sounds to the mix and created reggae and dub in Cymraeg for the first time. And that melange of influences deriving from cultures which shared the common characteristic of being suppressed or ignored by the dominant castes was one with a very special flavour. To put a new album by Jarman on the deck for a first listen was an adventure its very self as the different styles and sources combined and contrasted with one another.
He was without doubt the first real star of the scene, and although he stepped away from that scene somewhat after the mid-eighties, his influence remained strong as the co-producer of the pioneering television series Fideo 9, which brought so many new performers through to make their own mark. Geraint Jarman was not merely a pioneer in his own right, but he opened a door which gave encouragement to dozens of up-and-coming artists to look far beyond the hackneyed clichés of rock and create their own broader visions, so that his influence is strongly felt today, and long may it continue to be for many generations to come.
To round up this inadequate tribute, I'd like to share with you some (just some) of my own favourites from the broad scope of his work.
To start with, from his debut solo LP Gobaith Mawr Y Ganrif ('The Century's Great Hope') (1976), he shows his humour in the song I've Arrived (the title here is self-explanatory), describing satirically the journey of a Welsh American back to his roots:
The next year, and on the first album in Cymraeg which I ever owned (bought from Cob Records' short-lived branch on Wrecsam High Street), namely Tacsi I'r Tywyllwch ('Taxi To The Darkness'), here's one of his first stabs at reggae with Seren Wib ('Shooting Star'), a cover version of which was used as the theme tune to HTV's kids' programme Sêr ('Stars'), at a time when I watched such shows to try to improve my own grasp of the language:
Next, from 1978 and his first real classic in Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau ('Old Land Of My Fathers'), Jarman brings elements of New Wave to the party with Instant Pundits (another title which needs no translation), a song whose lyrics express the cynical disillusionment of anyone having to put up with the ultra-safe news media, with lines like, "No-one cares about the opinions of the People/The media have their witty favourites/But how worthless is the communication/When the critics are so lacking in taste?":
On to 1979 and what is generally regarded as his most significant work, with the title track from Gwesty Cymru ('Wales Hotel'):
On into the eighties now with two tracks from 1980's Fflamau'r Ddraig ('The Dragon's Flames'). Firstly, we venture into Cae'r Saeson ('The Field Of The English'), the quieter parts of which are most beautiful:
Perhaps they should have set the Cŵn Hela ('Hunting Dogs') on them, hotly pursued by the guitar of Jarman's faithful sidesman of many years, the immortal (though not literally, alas!) 'Tich' Gwilym:
From 1981's Diwrnod I'r Brenin ('A Day For The King', a phrase which means to work a day for no remuneration), here's the zany Crogi Ll'goden ('Hanging A Mouse'), based on the story from the Mabinogi of Manawydan seeking to hang a rodent for stealing his corn, before being dissuaded from so radical a penal policy by, in turns, a scholar, a priest and a bishop):
But Jarman's songs often had an more overtly political message, and I close here with Cenhadon Casineb ('Missionaries Of Hate') from 1985's album and video presentation Enka, which is based around the true story of Wayne Williams, a schoolteacher from Maldwyn imprisoned for his campaigning for the language, who suffered not merely the English colonial state's revenge via the courts, but also a campaign of vicious vituperation from other representatives of that state, foremost among them being the local MP, one Delwyn Williams who, even by the standards of ultra-Thatcherites in their most triumphant and triumphalist phase, was a savage little coward:
If Geraint Jarman's work was somewhat less prominent from that time onwards, it wasn't due to any diminution of quality; rather that he turned to other artistic pursuits (as I said earlier), and also that other performers had finally caught him up, such being the inevitable fate of all pioneers. But his legacy is more than secure.
Nos da, Geraint.
