‘Ja Carnival alive and well’
Despite being absent from the soca calendar for a second- straight year, Julianne Lee hopes Jamaica Carnival will soon be jamming in the streets.
“We are trying to put things in place to live up to its (Jamaica Carnival’s) mandate. We are still trying to get footing in an explosive scene. One of the things we must remember is that it provides employment throughout the year for musicians, artistes, and so on. We don’t turn down any artistes,” she told the Jamaica Observer.
“Another of our mandates is that we want to have Carnival inclusive of people from all walks of life. We want to incorporate Caribbean fashion designers, showcasing our products.
We want to know that it is a blended cultural experience. We just need the support from agencies to get footing.” Lee is the daughter of bandleader and musician Byron Lee, who started Jamaica Carnival in 1989.
Sunday, April 22 1990, marked the first festival and Road March. In 2016, it
returned to the scene after a seven-year absence, but two years later went quiet again.
Byron Lee died from cancer in 2008 at age 73. He was awarded the Order of Jamaica shortly before his death.
Julianne Lee collected a statuette on February 27 on behalf of her father at the Reggae Gold Awards, for his contribution to music. The event was held at the National Indoor Sport Complex in St Andrew. She says although the gesture was unexpected, it was overdue.
“It was nice to be recognised. He spent 30-odd years in the state before he
ventured into soca. He played a multitude of roles: he wrote, played music, produced and peddled rocksteady and ska in South America, North America and Europe.
I use the word ‘peddled’ like Chris Blackwell, exposing the world to our music before Jamaica Carnival. I was very honoured to remember him in this state,”
she said. Lee also explained the feelings of nostalgia at the award and how her father would have felt.
“He would have been happy to be in the company of his peers. I was thrown back to my childhood; being around all these people — actors, producers in the industry. It’s like all our ancestors were home and were all happy to be together,” she said.
