WESTERN CONSCIOUSNESS
COMES OF AGE IN 2006_____
The annually held, “Western Consciousness” concert produced and promoted
by King Of Kings Promotions had its 2006 launch on Monday March 20, at
the Talk Of The Town Restaurant situated atop the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in
New Kingston. The event took a two fold format that included a “Musiconferen
ce” which was held in honour of veteran Record producer/performer, Lee
“Scratch“ Perry, who celebrated his 70th birthday on that same day, this year.
The launch aspect of the proceedings was compered by Cordell Green,
head of the Broadcasting Commission.
Mr. Worrell King, C.E.O. of King Of Kings Promotions, in speaking
with pride about the achievements of “Western Consciousness” noted that this
year marks the concert’s coming of age. He made reference to the fact that the
ladies in the audience would understand how it feels as he drew similarity to
creating “Western Consciousness” 18 years ago and a woman giving birth to a
child and being alive to see same child reaching this milestone. He said “It is
joyful to have spent 18 years doing what we do best.” This year’s concert will
be staged at the home of, “Western Consciousness”, the Llandillo Cultural
Centre, in Westmoreland, just a few minutes from the popular tourist destination
, Negril, on Saturday April 29.
The highlight of this year’s event will be the very rare appearance of
legendary record producer/performer and Grammy award winner, Lee
“Scratch” Perry, in Jamaica. “Scratch” is one of the few originators in Reggae
music and has carved his own niche in the reggae’s history, as a record
producer, recording artiste and an overall creative genius. He has inspired and
confounded fans and collaborators for well over 50 years. To his credit, he has
been hailed as a genius who played a crucial role in the creation of such reggae
classics as, “Catch a fire” recorded by Bob Marley & The Wailers and “Two
Sevens Clash” done by Culture. One cannot remember another time when
Lee “Scratch” Perry has performed in Jamaica so to witness his performance at
“Western Consciousness ‘06”, will be to see and experience history in the
making.
Sharing the bill with “Scratch” will be other luminaries of the genre,
Freddie McGregor, Barrington Levy, John Holt, Judy Mowatt, (the lone female
billed to perform); Jimmy Riley, Richie Spice, I-Wayne, Jah Mason, Tarus
Riley, Perfect, Nanko, ‘Gyption, and a few others. Included also on the lineup
surprisingly is current culture conscious deejay Fanton Mojah, who, at last
year’s concert stirred up some controversy and came under fire from both the
crowd and the courts for his expletive laced performance. In announcing the
re-appearance of Fanton Mojah on this year’s event, King said, ”We believe
in the redemptive force and we wont dwell on that.” Of course, once again
the band called on to provide accompaniment for the acts is the S.A.N.E.
Band.
The Sponsorship support to the event will be provided by Wisynco
through its Ocean Spray and Wata brand of products. Juciful has also pledged
its endorsement of the event. So too has Irie FM, CVM TV, The Jamaica
Tourist Board, and Courts Jamaica.
On the “Musiconference” aspect of the launch of “Western
Consciousness ‘06”, which was presented under the theme, “Replanting The
Roots”, a birthday tribute paid to “Scratch”, he was hailed by Cordell Green
as, “One who is wonderfully eccentric.” A videotaped interview of the
honoured man was screened in lieu of his presence. In the taped interview
“Scratch” stated that he felt great after being away for so long. About the
expectation of his performing on “Western Consciousness ‘06”
He said, “I am feeling one hundred percent good about the idea.”
Later on, special guest speaker, Dr. Leachim Semaj gave an extensive
audio/visual presentation on Business and Culture. During his discourse he
touched on such things as Crime, Education, Reggae Sunsplash, Socialization
and other current issues reverberating on the national music scene. He also
noted that business minded Jamaicans find it hard to take Jamaican music
seriously because those people operating in the national music business don’t
operate as if it is a business. He said, if we get serious and combine the
pieces, Consciousness, Culture and Commerce, the national music scene
could work as a business should.
During the run of the evening’s proceedings several ‘live’ performances
were presented. The audience was treated to offerings from songwriter/singer,
Sangie Davis, who performed a song he wrote in 1972 titled, “Words Of My
Mouth.” This song was taken from his recently released debut C.D. A young
lady named Nateesha performed, a song titled, “Rastaman Live UP”, and later
Junior Mervin brought the house down while performing his massive hit song,
“Police and Thieves.” Nateesha and Junior Mervin were backed by S.A.N.E.
Band while “Sangie” performed his offering on tracks.
“Western Consciousness ‘06” is expected to continue its committed
tradition to assist in the continued development of the national music industry
by encouraging the perpetuation of quality and conscious Reggae music. In
this regard REGGAE TIMES stands committed to lend its support in every
way to see that the event is a success.
BALDWIN HOWE is Jamaica’s first Video-jock, an actor, radio broadcaster, popular ‘live’ stageshow emcee, Entertainment Journalist and consultant. Contact: baldwinemcee@yahoo.com
