This year's staging of Western Consciousness, set for Saturday, April 28, at its usual home at Llandilo Cultural Centre, Savanna-la-Mar, will be in honour of Joseph 'Culture' Hill. As a special guest performer on this the 19th staging of the annual roots/reggae festival dubbed The Celebration Of Good Over Evil, will be one of reggae's forgotten sons, Ijahman Levi, who will make his first appearance in Jamaica in 21 years.

Levi ...will be performing here on April 28

The 2007 renewal of the Worrell King- promoted event will be officially launched tonight (April 11) at the Pegasus Talk of the Town.
The format of this year's event will see a slew of stalwarts revolving around Kenyatta Hill, the son and heir apparent of Culture, paying musical tributes to his father and the late reggae icon. Also of note, in what is an apparent show of unity, is that this year's show will mark the first time that Kings of Kings head honcho Iley Dread will be performing on this show promoted by King of Kings (sic) Promotions.

"We're now approaching the 19th staging of Western Consciousness. We give thanks for the growth, because every year we see whereby it has grown," promoter Worrell King told the Observer.
" It has grown in terms of crowd attendance and in terms of production. We still not making any money yet, but hey, the aim and objective was to present wholesome music to a wholesome family. And so we give thanks," added the CEO of King of Kings.

"This year it still continue to be the celebration of good over evil, and the special thing about this year's presentation is, we're livicating the entire event to Joseph Culture Hill," Worrell King revealed while adding, "We're saluting our heroes. We're not going to allow them to die, we're going to keep them alive. And in performance will be his son, Kenyatta Hill, in a special tribute to his father. And we will be having other stalwarts who will be saluting Joseph Culture Hill.

People like Freddie McGregor, John Holt, Luciano, Leroy Sibbles, Anthony B, and a very special person who Jamaica has not seen for over 20 years, Ijahman Levi. We also see it fit also to have young ones paying tribute to Culture in the form of Etana, Chuck Fenda, Tessanne Chin, Tarrus Riley, Jah Mason, Natural Black, Sasha, Teflon, Iley Dread, Rated R and a reggae band from the US called Pocket Band."

Levi confirmed that he was last on a Jamaican stage in 1986, when he was featured on Reggae Sunsplash. "Yes, it is wonderful to be here again and doing this show, in the meantime, since that time I've travelled the world, Jamaica doesn't really know about me. In fact, Jamaica treats me like a stranger ...But I'll be performing here on April 28, and I'm looking forward to that show very much.

"It's a very strange feeling, because due to the fact that my music doesn't really play in Jamaica..., I've to be start thinking now what the hell am I going to sing here in Jamaica that will satisfy the Jamaican people....But as a conscious Rastaman, I've already done my work all over the world....so I'm coming back to my land to perform, and I know that I'm capable of doing what is to be done as a good artiste who knows my work."

During performances, Ijahman Levi is wont to appear like an animated and impassioned preacher, lecturing predominantly between tuneful songs like Tell It To The Children, Jah Heavy Load, Africa and Lilly Of My Valley.

Having returned home, he is now constructing a studio in his native parish, Manchester.

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