At the dawn of the 1990s, dancehall music needed a cleanser. After nearly a decade of ‘slackness’, that purge came through a group of Rastafarian artistes from rural Jamaica.

One of their colleagues was Richard Bell, a visionary music producer from Manchester who helmed some of that era’s most creative songs. They included Lift up Your Head and Create A Sound by Everton Blender; Fire pon Rome and Raid The Barn from Anthony B; Come Back Home (Beres Hammond); Hello Mama Africa (Garnet Silk); and Holding Firm by Sizzla. All on his Startrail label.

Bell left the music business and migrated to the United States many years ago, but recently returned to Jamaica. He operates the Pon Top Seafood Grill & Bar at Westminister Road in Kingston, which hosts the weekly Reggae Pon Top Saturdays Live event.

“The objective was to expose talent and at the same time provide entertainment for my restaurant. We have been doing it every Saturday since July 2, when it was an acoustic session featuring Kumar and Quan Dajai,” Bell said in an interview with the Jamaica Observer.

He added that, “The response has been appreciative.”

Fred Locks and Nature Ellis are two of the established acts who have performed on Reggae Pon Top Saturdays Live and so too several emerging artistes. Tomorrow, the slated acts are Dez I, Kimmy Gold, Arlene Naphtali, and Alovera.

Bell, who attended Munro College and Campion College, helped revive live recording during the 1990s when programmed beats dominated dancehall music. His use of horns on songs like Lift up Your Head was refreshing.

He commented on the transformation of music production in Jamaica in the last 30 years.

“Compared to the 90s, the music scene is different. Hard to explain, just different,” said Bell. “Change is a part of life but we have to be careful not to completely lose the foundation that brought us to this point.”

Richard Bell is currently working on an album with singer Utan Green, who along with Garnet Silk, Tony Rebel, and Yasus Afari, was part of the 1990s roots revival.