Post by kaya on Feb 3, 2009 12:21:38 GMT -5
Reggae Month and the Jamaica Reggae Industry Assn
Charles HE Campbell
Sunday, February 01, 2009
For the second year, today in Jamaica, February 1, the month-long celebrations of the emergence and worldwide impact of Reggae and its accompanying culture begins with three main events.
Firstly, there is the church service at Fellowship Tabernacle, off the Washington Boulevard. Then we have Dennis Brown's birthday special on IRIE FM, this being the 52nd anniversary of his birth. Today happens to be Pam Hall's and Junior Lincoln's birthdays too. Thirdly, the week-long Bob Marley birthday bash being staged in West End, Negril, also kicks off appropriately with Nyahbinghi drumming.
The yearly Bob Marley Symposium staged by the JCDC runs from Tuesday through to Friday. A new feature on this year's calendar is a tribute to Reggae icons at the Pegasus Hotel. This is being organised by JAAVA on Friday, February 6.
Other noted events for the month include three Reggae villages. In Negril, the venue is Bourbon Beach, commencing on Valentine's Day and running until February 22. This village will highlight on various days, traditional folk forms that influence Reggae music, such as Mento, Kumina, Dinki Mini, Gerreh and Jonkunnu.
On February 24, the Kingston Reggae Village at Ranny Williams Centre will be launched and will remain open until February 28, featuring nightly live performances and music video and film screenings. Ocho Rios will stage its own Reggae village from February 19 to 21 at Island Village. The Trench Town Culture Yaad will be officially a national monument during February.
The month of celebrations officially comes to a climax with the Jamaica Record Industry Awards at Jamaica House on Sunday, March 1.
I have deliberately taken time out to inform my readers of the above outline of the calendar of events. On the surface it does not seem to have been an improvement nor does it provide the depth and broadened exposure that members of the industry had been hoping for. This is because for the second year in a row, an unrealistically short planning time was dedicated to this event and there was a paucity of sponsorship support. On the bright side, this year, the planning committee brought many industry players together in January, in a series of intensive, critical, analytic and introspective discussions on the state and future direction of the Reggae industry. This has prompted a resolution to attempt yet again, to establish an umbrella organisational structure to avoid a recurrence and which will authoritatively speak on behalf of the entire sector. "Hell ago bruck loose, if yuh doan deliver us". [Bob Andy]
The main objective of this body is to reposition Jamaica at the centre of the global Reggae movement and culture, with the primary aim of commencing the complex process of repatriating our birthright and patrimony.
Although there is the unavoidable emotionalism present at the meetings, the parochialism of the past attempts has largely been absent. There is a new driving motivator - how to develop the organisational capacity encapsulating all elements of the sector so as to successfully compete on the world stage with the appropriate benefits accruing to the Jamaican economy.
The first paragraph of the Governor General's proclamation of 2008, declaring February as Reggae Month read "where as Reggae is the heartbeat of Jamaica, the unique music that springs from the creative imagination of a diverse people, forged in a crucible of common experiences, struggles, successes and spirituality that survived the Middle Passage to become our indigenous creation, our national expression, our musical voice in the world, a driving force of our economy and the industry providing the greatest opportunity to transform the country".
The fourth paragraph started by saying "Jamaica's exports of Heritage, Culture and Music are phenomenal, setting our Tourism Product apart from competition, giving Jamaica the greatest potential for a sustainable competitive advantage". And the last three lines of the second paragraph, "Jamaica's rich cultural industries and varied musical rhythms [.] have attracted millions of tourists to experience our island's culture and provided income and employment for thousands of our people".
Against the background of the value of the recent JTB sponsorship of the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival to the tune of US$550,000, ask yourself why the JTB could only come up with a measly US$24,000 for the entire Reggae Month programme of activities. Does this then mean that they hold no faith in their own proclamation? The answer has much to do with the lack of cohesiveness, organised strength and lobbying clout of the sector we represent. As it turns out, the Festival only attracted between 16,000 and 18,000 patrons over three days, all told - 90% of which were Jamaicans. This year, post-Olint, the contrast of the folks in the sky boxes versus those in the general audience, by skin colour, was stark. Lou Gramm of Foreigner was a great disappointment. Half-way through his performance, the park had all but emptied out. The few hundred who remained for the after party were thrilled by a band including Pluto Shervington, Ernie Smith, Boris Gardener, Dwight Pinkney and Althea 'Di Chick' Hewitt. A similar exodus had occurred the night before during Matisyahu's performance, prompting Ragga to speculate that the closing acts were paid for by the sanitation company, so that their crews could complete their clean-up work early.
To redress this historically debilitating reality, using Reggae Month this year as our launching pad, we must summon the gumption and maturity necessary to unite in our self-interest so that we will no more be under-appreciated or treated lightly. After all, when the Tourist Board speaks about the level of foreign media exposure and promotion necessary to qualify for their funds, someone needs to remind them that it is Reggae music that they and the top hotel chains in Jamaica use to promote their offerings! The Jamaican music fraternity must vow to make the annual Jamaica Reggae Industry Awards not just the preeminent awards in the worldwide Reggae industry, but the best sponsored, promoted and produced event in Jamaica.
For this to be accomplished, we need to put aside our petty differences, uniting our collective wealth of experience, intellectual skills and professionalism, in efforts bonded by a broad-based, democratic, non-aligned, non-profit organisation, speaking with one, powerful voice, thereby levelling the playing field, so that when we demand our share of the pie, we cannot so easily be scoffed at.
Source: www.jamaicaobserver.com