JAVAA scales down anniversary festivity

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

IN THE alphabet soup of Jamaican music, there are several acronyms for organisations which represent various aspects of its business side floating around.

There is only one, however, which includes a 'V' for 'Vintage', the Jamaica Association of Vintage Artistes and Affiliates (JAVAA) immediately declaring its focus.

JAVAA celebrates its eighth anniversary this year with a scaled-down version of its accustomed celebratory calendar. The most noticeable casualty is the annual Jamaica Music Hall of Fame induction, the first set of 12 inductees honoured in 2008. Among them are Dr Olive Lewin, Ernest Ranglin, Derrick Morgan, The Skatalites, Lord Flea, Vere Johns, Count Ossie, Louise Bennett-Coverley, Clement 'Sir Coxson' Dodd and Arthur 'Duke' Reid.

JAVAA's chairman and director of fund-raising and planning, Frankie Campbell, noted that there is simply little financial support for the awards, even as the selection panel had got to the shortlist stage of the process.

Preserving musical history

The Jamaica Music Hall of Fame induction process will be resumed next year.

"If we do not honour these persons, the generation after us do not know these people, so they will never be honoured," Campbell said.

"If we do not do it, they will skip the '60s, '70s and '80s."

There are two events on the JAVAA anniversary calendar this year, a church service at Holy Cross on Sunday, July 10, and a free lyme with Fab 5 Band playing at their Springvale Avenue, St Andrew, headquarters on Friday, July 5.

"It is like a party. It is like a JAVAA show with the membership," Campbell said.

He heads an executive body which includes Marie Francis (director of PR and Advertising), Bertram Johnson (general secretary and office manager), Jacqueline Cowan (director of finance), Deon Hardy (social network director), Orville Case (artistic director), Keith Lyn and Dwight Pinkney (entertainment, standards and training), Baldwin Howe (executive scribe), Michael Thomas (director of technical services), Renford Taylor (director of special events and outreach) and Winston Blake (ambassador-at-large).

Francis, Lyn, Johnson, Johnson, Taylor and Case, along with Campbell, outlined a number of JAVAA activities over the years. Those include providing access to tracks for performance and rehearsal, life insurance coverage for members and the production of two albums, JAVAA Jammin' and JAVAA to the World.

"We have highlighted quite a few persons in terms of performance," Johnson said.

Taylor also pointed to the social function of JAVAA, where persons are able to fraternise with their peers.

While membership now stands at 150 persons, there are about 100 active members and about 60 of those turn up at meetings with some regularity.

Later this year, JAVAA intends to be back in full swing, staging its September to Remember concert, with the annual tribute to Dennis Brown and Bob Marley slated for September 2012.