Tremendous growth for Reggae Night series

Sadeke Brooks, Staff Reporter

A staple on the Reggae Month calendar, the Reggae Night series held at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts, has seen a major increase in attendance this year.

Charles Campbell, chairman of the Reggae Month committee, said the event, which is being held every Wednesday in February, has experienced tremendous growth.

"We started out with a larger audience than our biggest audience last year. It has snowballed since then," Campbell told The Gleaner in a recent interview.

Different genres

He said in the first week, there were at least 1,000 patrons and the attendance grew to more than 3,000 in the third week.

Each week the event is held, there is a focus on different genres of our country's music. For the heritage week, Campbell said Nomaddz and Jolly Boys stole the show. In highlighting rocksteady, ska, and gospel, he said Grace Thrillers, Carlene Davis, Tommy Cowan, and Namby Roberts did very well.

At last Wednesday's show where reggae and dub were performed, he said there were stand-out performances from Claudette Pious, Simone Simpson, Barrington Levy, Coco Tea, Big Youth, Sly and Robbie, Dubtonic Kru, and Bob Andy.

"You can't believe the response of the audience, everybody singing and dancing. It's been really incredible," he said, noting that the last staging had guests from Japan, United States and Europe.

Although the audience is expected to be even bigger for dancehall and alternative this week, Campbell said they plan to retain the same venue.

"We are not changing the, venue. I think it's really appropriate to what we are doing," he said.

The next show will have acts like Denver and Friends, Blue Grass, Downstairs, From The Deep, Michael Harris, Blaze, Sizzla, Clifton Black, Mercedez, Queen Ifrica, Ricardo Suave, Tony Rebel, Princess Tia, Andrew and Wadda Blood, and Elephant Man.

Campbell said he is expecting the upcoming performances to be of the same high standard that has been seen so far in the series.

What will also remain the same is the purpose of the series.

"The reggae series was started as 'edutainment' to expose people to all the genres of music that have been cast under the banner of reggae. We believe it is important to expose all the various genres and to encourage our youth to continue composing music for all these genres. They all stand on their own and are attractive in the international marketplace," Campbell said.

Possible international tour

During preparation for Reggae Night, this goal is not ignored.

"We script each show. What happens onstage does not happen spontaneously. It gives you a social background of where, how and when the music was created and how it has evolved," Campbell told The Gleaner.

"Each year, we will use different artistes to epitomise the different genres, but we will continue the series as part of Reggae Month."

With the series growing, Campbell said there have been talks of carrying it around the island and even doing an international tour with it.

As for the other Reggae Month activities, he said they have also been going well. He said events celebrating the month have been held across the island.

"It's been a tremendous month. Reggae Month is certainly catchingon the ground and it's spreading across Jamaica, so February as Reggae Month is taking root," Campbell said.

He said there has also been good support for JaRIA's (Jamaica Reggae Industry Association) 'Preserve The Music' campaign with many performers at Reggae Night signing the petition onstage. With this campaign, the group is lobbying for updating of the Noise Abatement Act, for radio stations to implement playlists for their disc jocks, and issues relating to payola in the industry, among other things.