Jamaica Journal — first edition on Jamaican music launched

BY BASIL WALTERS Observer staff reporter

Sunday, March 07, 2010

A small gathering of mainly invited guests was on hand at Devonshire, Devon House last Sunday afternoon to witness the curtains being drawn down on Reggae Month and celebrate the growing recognition of the contribution of our music to the building of the nation.

Two special acts which took place were the official launch of the music edition of Jamaica Journal and the handing over of the Dermott Hussey's Collection to the Jamaica Music Museum. A rather glossy publication with large images of Queen Ifrica and Etana on the cover over the caption Lionesses on the Rise, this issue of Jamaica Journal is largely examining various aspects of Jamaican music from its folk origin to its current popular incarnation.

"This issue presents healthy analysis of the issues and trends in Jamaican music from the cover page to the back page. I congratulate the Institute of Jamaica and the Jamaica Journal for providing this platform for concentrated discussion on the music. I urge you to continue on this path. This is the first music issue, let it not be the last," the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture Olivia Babsy Grange, stated as she brought greetings to the occasion.

Stressing that downtown kingston is the future cultural mecca of Jamaica, Minister Grange announced that a permanent home for the museum of Jamaican music will soon be established there, if everything goes according to plan. She also stated that her ministry has recently received equipment to digitise the entire collection of the music. The minister with responsibility for entertainment said she is determined to have a joint relationship with all the cultural entities that have collections of the music. These include the JBC (Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation) archives, the National Library, the JCDC.

She congratulated Dermott Hussey on making his important collection available to the Music Museum. "This collection of records, films, and documents will be an invaluable part of the museum which is still in its embryonic stages," she declared.

After the formalities, Hussey told the gathering inclusive of special guest, veteran double bassist Lloyd Brevette of the legendary Skatalites' fame, that Jamaican music is the greatest untold story.

"We pay the arts such little respect, not recognising this is where our greatest achievement lies," Hussey told the Sunday Observer. "In 47 years of independence," the music historian added, "in my estimation, the best success story is the globalisation of reggae music and the transformative nature. The way that it has transformed other people not only into belief, but into practice."

The experienced broadcaster who hosts a programme on Newstalk called Riffin and is currently employed as the Programme Director of XM Satellite Radio's 101 Channel The Joint, has been a collector of music for over 50 years.

"Well, y'know I've been wondering what I was going to do with this enormous collection of music. Presenting it to a school of music, in a sense is too limited because you deny a broader interest in music than just the musician person... So I thought the Institute, the fact that it has a hundred years behind it and also the whole idea of a music museum. It's taking a long time to come but it hasn't diminish the importance of having such an institution," said the 2008 Musgrave Gold Medallist for his service to music and media.

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