Some of the Jamaican music industry’s unheralded stars shone at Back 2 Da Future’s Grammy Certificate Ceremony at ATL Automotive Audi Showroom on Oxford Road last Tuesday.

Studio engineers, producers and artistes who had guest slots on Grammy-winning or Grammy-nominated albums were presented with certificates sanctioned by the Recording Academy of America.

The event was presented by Back 2 Da Future Music Limited, a London-based company operated by Kennedy Mensah, a British music publisher of Ghanaian heritage.

While saxophonist Dean Fraser got a standing ovation as he accepted nine certificates for playing on Grammy-winning albums like Peter Tosh’s No Nuclear War and Lauryn Hill’s
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, his lesser-known colleagues also received sustained applause.

They include Chester Walker, who was acknowledged for his role as producer and engineer, respectively, on Bounty Killer’s Ghetto Dictionary: The Mystery and Equality by The Wailing Souls.

“Is a great feeling, ‘cause wi a do dis fi years now. Being a engineer is a gift when it come on to music, a divine gift,” said Walker, who began his career in the early 1990s.

Chevelle Franklyn, one of many artistes Walker worked with, was recognised for singing on X-tra Naked, Shabba Ranks’ gold-selling album that won the Grammy for Best Reggae Album in 1993.

Now a gospel artiste, she recalls the recording sessions for that set taking place at producer Gussie Clarke’s studio on Slipe Road.

“Dem time deh music business, every day was a vibes. It was really a lovely atmosphere; people loved each other, there was no competition, it was just a lovely vibe,” Franklyn told the Jamaica Observer.

A former journalist, Mensah started Back 2 Da Music Limited in 2005. The company specialises in advising artistes, many of them from Jamaica, on the dynamics of music publishing.

The Jamaican ceremony on Tuesday was the second of three presentations. The first took place in Plantation, Florida, in July when guitarist Rad “Dougie” Bryan was presented with seven certificates.

Mensah told the Observer that it is important to laud the music’s industry’s background players who are often overlooked.

“Over the years, dealing with artistes and musicians, many of the musicians who never get the recognition they are legends, and we wanted to use this event to shine a light on them,” he said.

Bertram “Ranchie” McLean, the prolific bassist who was Bryan’s colleague in The Revolutionaries band at Channel One studio, was honoured posthumously with four certificates. One of them was for playing on Jimmy Cliff’s Cliff Hanger, which won the 1986 Grammy for Best Reggae Album.

Other musicians recognised were bassist Glenroy Browne, keyboardist Ansel Collins, guitarist Lloyd “Gitsy” Wallace (posthumously), and keyboardist Neville Hinds; producers Clive Hunt, Donovan Germain, Lloyd “King Jammy” James, Lloyd “John John” James, and Patrick “Black Pearl” Howell. Sheldon “Aidonia” Lawrence, Adrian “Jah African” Locke, Coral “Sheba” Gordon, Brian “Ras Ajai” Boucher, Delroy Foster, Radion “Chi Ching Ching” Beckford, and Coral “Sheba” Gordon were acknowledged as guest artistes and harmony singer.

The third Back 2 Da Future Ltd Grammy Certificate ceremony is scheduled for London in October.