A number of artistes, among them Suzanne Couch, Proteje, I-Righteous, and Jesse Royal are scheduled to display their musical talents in memory of late singer Joe Higgs at a tribute concert on Friday.

The concert, titled ‘A Tribute to the Father of Reggae’, is scheduled for the home of Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith — who will also be performing — at St Andrew Park in Half-Way-Tree. It will mark the first tribute event for the legendary singer since his passing 11 years ago.

Friday is the 71st anniversary of Higgs’ birth.

Higgs, who was born Joseph Benjamin Higgs on June 3, 1940 and died on December 18, 1999, was highly instrumental in the development of modern Jamaican music.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, he started attracting attention, teaming up with Roy Wilson to form the duo of Higgs and Wilson. Their first and most distinguished recording, Oh Manny Oh, produced by former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, was released in 1958.

This hit single is often credited as one of the first records to be pressed in Jamaica and sold over 50,000 copies. Higgs and Wilson went on to do recordings for the legendary Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd before the group dissolved in the mid-60s when Wilson migrated to the United States.

Higgs then established himself not only as a popular artiste but as mentor, tutoring young artistes, the most famous being Bob Marley and the Wailers. In fact, in the late 1960s when Marley went to join his mother in Delaware, USA, the Wailers had to go on tour and it was Higgs who served the group as lead vocalist.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential voices in Jamaican music, Higgs is best remembered for hits such as There’s A Reward and Song My Enemy Sings.

“He was a singer and musician and so Chinna (Smith) and I decided to put together this thing,” said Higgs’ daughter Claudia. “We were round there playing his music and Chinna asked ‘when is his birthday?’ and I told him and Chinna suggested let’s do something for him on his birthday.”