Yasus and new band make Bob Marley appearance

Yasus Afari and Dub Vijaan will be presented in 'The Public Secret Launch Performance' today, at The Bob Marley Museum, St Andrew, Jamaica. The event, scheduled for a 5 p.m. start, will be specially recorded for a DVD and live album.

The band DUB VIJAAN was formed by Yasus in 2010 and is an effort with keyboard player, Fabian Smith and bass player, Oswald 'I G' Gordon. The band premiered to great acclaim at the Rastafari Studies Conference at the University of the West Indies recently.

Smith, more popularly known as Dada, is also an arranger and producer, who does background vocals when the need arises. The band member has several studio recordings with international recording artistes including Shaggy, the Marley Brothers,Yasus, Sizzla Kalonji and Sanchez.

He has also toured extensively with some of these artistes and said he was looking forward to doing it all over again with Dub Vijaan.

Yasus, one of Jamaica's top dub poets has collaborated with Garnett Silk, Maxi Priest, Beres Hammond, Black Uhuru, Freddie McGregor, Luciano, Toots and The Maytals, Benjamin Zephaniah and many others.

'Dub Poet In Residence'

In addition to publishing an anthology of 'philosophical reasoning and poetry', Eye Pen, in 1999, Yasus has performed and made presentations in 44 countries, working alongside international stalwarts in music, literature and culture.

In 2006, he co-headlined the Cayman Music Festival with Freddie McGregor and Maxi Priest.

Since 2007 he has toured the United Kingdom (UK) annually, performing at a range of venues, from social services, mental-health schools and universities to prisons, developing a range of presentations for all ages.

Accolades were constantly created for Yasus and, during his work in the UK, he was appointed 'Dub Poet In Residence' for the City Of Wolverhampton and for City College, Birmingham.

In 2009, he was welcomed as an 'Ambassador for Rastafari' at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Melbourne, Australia.

His first book of prose, Overstanding Rastafari : Jamaica's Gift to the World, was launched in 2007.

To follow his first five CDs, Yasus released a 22-track album last year titled Kiss Mi Neck. Recorded at the legendary Tuff Gong Recording Studio. It includes tracks such as Blouse and Skirt, Komplex, Patwa Taakin, Pick Pocket, My Mother Who Fathered Me, The Girl I Love and the title song, Kiss Mi Neck.

Yasus is also the the founder of Pomedy and Poetry In Motion, annual Jamaican celebrations of music, dance, comedy, storytelling, fashion and poetry.