One of the great statement albums in pop music, Marcus Garvey by Burning Spear turns 50 this year. To mark its golden anniversary, organisers of the Calabash Literary Festival in Treasure Beach, St Elizabeth will revisit the epic set which was released by Island Records.

An ensemble, featuring guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith’s Binghistra Movement, will perform the entire album on May 25, the closing day of the three-day show.

Marcus Garvey was inspired by Pan African icon Marcus Garvey, Jamaica’s first national hero. It includes the title song, Tradition, Jordan River and Old Marcus Garvey.

Smith and his Nyahbinghi drummers will perform alongside percussionist Jesse Golding, singer/guitarist Narado Williams, keyboardist Harold Davis, trombonist Everald Wray and trumpeter Okiel McIntyre.

Golding, who has participated in similar Calabash events, told Observer Online that he was weaned on albums like Marcus Garvey.

“I found the song Red, Gold And Green to be deeply spiritual. Burning Spear is from St Ann, an’ di countryman dem have that rootsy, earthy approach. Just like Bob (Marley) an’ Culture,” he said.

Album cover artwork of ‘Marcus Garvey’ by reggae singer Burning Spear.

Recorded at the height of the black power movement in Jamaica, Marcus Garvey was recorded mainly at Randy’s studio in downtown Kingston. It was produced by Lawrence “Jack Ruby” Lindo, grandfather of American rapper Sean Kingston.

Burning Spear was backed by The Black Disciples, a crack band that included Smith, bass players Aston “Familyman” Barrett and Robbie Shakespeare, keyboardists Bernard “Touter” Harvey and Tyrone Downie, drummer Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, trumpeter Bobby Ellis, trombonist Vin Gordon and saxophonist Herman Marquis.

Like Garvey, Burning Spear is from St Ann. He started his music career at Studio One in Kingston during the late 1960s, recording two quality albums before taking a break.

Now 80, Burning Spear continues to tour, especially Europe where Marcus Garvey broke big 50 years ago.

The brainchild of Kwame Dawes, Colin Channer and Justine Henzell, the Calabash Literary Festival was first held in 2001. It is a world-rated event that has attracted renown figures like Nobel Prize-winning poet Sir Derek Walcott, British writer Salman Rushdie and Jamaican firebrand dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson.