The late Bryon Lee was more than the smiling face of Jamaican Soca; he was a shrewd businessman and a cultural engineer who bridged the class divide with music for over four decades.

In hailing Lee, both politicians and entertainers found common ground calling him a pioneer. “Jamaica, indeed the world, has lost another great musical pioneer… One of the greatest band leaders ever to grace the entertainment stages of the world,” said Prime Minister Bruce Golding.

According to Danny Browne, chairman of Jamaica Music Society, “Jamaica has indeed lost one of its musical pioneers whose contribution to the musical industry is one which cannot be measured in words. Of course, Lee’s passing takes away a major part of our musical heritage. We just want to give condolences to his family.”

Lee was actually contesting the title for longest surviving band, having started Bryon Lee and the Dragonaires in the 1956 (the current title holder Rolling Stones starting in the 1960s), but yesterday he succumbed to a long fight with cancer.

“I spoke to him just 45 minutes ago and he was fine,” his friend and business colleague, Juliet Moodie told the Observer moments before noon. “He was eating and talking to everyone. He was in his brightest moment and he died happy.”

He is survived by his wife Sheila, sons Byron and Edward John; daughters Deanna, Judith, Julianne and Danielle as well as grandchildren, Amelia, Alexander, Jessica, Victoria, Amanda, Jaden and Dylan. Family and friends gathered around the University of the West Indies hospital hugging and wiping tears from each other eyes. Cousin of Lee at Sonic Records told the Observer: “It’s a hard time for the family and I would appreciate a few days for it to sink in before responding.” At Dynamic Sounds Recording owned by Byron Lee, a manager said: “I don’t think I can say anything right now.”

Lee revolutionised music taking Ska uptown in 60s and then Carnival downtown in the 90s. He was more than a band leader, he was an impresario and an icon.

“I call him a cultural engineer,” said Edward Seaga, friend and former prime minister. “Bryon Lee was more than a musician, he was someone intimately interested in the levels of society that make up the country. And his ultimate objection was to play music everywhere – uptown and downtown.”

Yesterday, Seaga went up to University Hospital of West Indies to pay his respects to the family: “I rushed over there, children and grandchildren were mulling around. His children were particularly affected.”

In the 60s, Seaga had introduced Lee to Ska bands in West Kingston with a view to promoting the music uptown. In fact, Lee played guitar on a track under WIRL, West Indies Records Label, owned by Seaga.

“Lee marvelled at the rhythm of Ska because it was unique and I told him I wanted to introduce this music uptown. He was not the only force but was a major force in spreading the music uptown. He did the same thing with carnival in the reversal, he brought it to Jamaica where it was already exposed to middle-class Jamaicans… But also

got (support) from the people downtown.”

Musical rival and friend, Grub Cooper of Fab5, hailed Lee: “He was very blunt, but beneath that he was a mild human being. He might be controversial like Sir Coxone Dodd where some musicians don’t have glowing things to say. But that is music,” said Cooper. “Lee was a businessman and musician, one of the early people who taught musicians to combine both disciplines. You looked up to him, he made his fortune out of music.”

Cooper, who is musical director for Fab5, added that Byron Lee and the Dragonaires rarely clashed. “Back in the days, most bands involved in friendly rivalry, he was a very fierce competitor. He would not take up the challenge to play with Fab5, he really tried to avoid clashes.”

Micky Hanson trumpeter and friend said Lee was a rough man to deal with but a legend.

“He was an icon in the development of Jamaican music, a catalyst. He exposed Jamaica to the world. He was a serious businessman and a rough man to deal with. A hard driving person. But there is no question about it, his influence in the Caribbean was outstanding.”

Hanson recalled a selfless act by Lee amidst his tough-guy image: “He saw the trombone that I actually loaned a student. Lee saw that it was tarnished, took it and gold plated it.”

Back in the 60s, Hanson used to sneak out and go to the Glass Bucket/VIP Club to watch Lee’s band play with legends Bluesbuster or Jimmy Cliff. “And I am sure that Bob Marley would have sung in the band at one point,” he posits.

“We have lost one of the great sons of Jamaican music and culture,” said Olivia Babsy Grange, Minister of Entertainment, Information, Culture, Youth and Sports. She said that Byron Lee with his band, Byron Lee and the Dragonaires, played a lead role in taking Jamaican music from the grassroots to the middle and upper echelons of Jamaican society and then to the rest of the world.

Grange pointed to Byron Lee’s versatility in the music industry. “He was a musician, band leader, producer, music studio operator, promoter and the man responsible for Trinidad-style Carnival taking hold in the Jamaican cultural and entertainment landscape.”

Lee, already the recipient of the Order of Distinction was conferred with the Order of Jamaica, the fourth highest National Honour, at a specially arranged ceremony on October 26.

Yesterday tributes started coming from other Caribbean personalities including Trinidad Superstar Machel Montano and his mother who issued a joint statement: “The entire HD and Xtatik family extend their condolences to the family, friends and fans of Byron Lee. He will be missed, and remembered each day through his music.”

Lee, who learned to play the piano at a young age, had put music on hold to become a member of the Jamaican national football team. He taught himself to play bass on a home-made instrument, and around 1950, along with his friend Carl Brady, he formed the first incarnation of the Dragonaires, named after the college football team for which they played. By 1956, the outfit had become one of Jamaica’s leading ska bands and would later take on other genres, including calypso, soca and mas.

Lee and his group appeared in the 1962 James Bond film, Dr No, which was shot partly in Jamaica. Lee would later on work as a producer and is credited for many ska singles including works by The Maytals. He purchased the West Indies Records Ltd from Edward Seaga after a fire had ravaged the site, and renamed it Dynamic Sounds. It later became one of best equipped studios in the Caribbean, attracting both local and international stars, including Paul Simon, Eric Clapton, Johnny Nash, the Rolling Stones and porn-star-turned-pop-singer, Andrea True. Her 1974 disco hit, More More More, was recorded at the studio.

Bryon Lee’s Jamaica Carnival, which got rolling in 1990, still continues to hold its own today. Lee has been credited with taking the soca genre to the masses, a genre that had previously only been enjoyed in Jamaica among the upper class. Lee missed the Jamaica Carnival in 2007 as he was receiving treatment for bladder cancer after having surgery in Florida. A concert was held in his honour in June of 2007 to celebrate his 50 years in the music industry.

Lee’s early chart-topping ska hits include Dumplings (released on the Bluebeat label); Jamaican Ska and Soul Ska. His later hits include Soca Tatie, Soca Butterfly, What a Feeling, Wine Down and Soca Bogle, all of which went to number one on various charts in Jamaica in the 1990s.