Astonishing, unforgettable moments for retro reggae

THE VENUE has been changed from the accustomed Independence Park in Black River, but the Boom GT Taylor Extravaganza is staying in St Elizabeth for its 2016 staging on Christmas Day.

Radio personality, sound system owner and emcee GT Taylor told The Sunday Gleaner that despite a switch in location, he is making an effort to keep the atmosphere consistent – an important consideration in what is positioned as a family event.

GT Taylor Extravaganza 2016 will be held at the Luana Sports Complex, which the event’s organiser describes as “a huge venue. It can hold 20,000 people. Everything is in place. If I did not know it would take the show I would not take it there.”

RECREATING THE EXPERIENCE

Despite the change, Taylor is determined to recreate some elements of the Independence Park experience. “We are fitting it to Extravaganza. After 15 years, we have a standard to maintain,” he said. Logistically, the movement is not that extreme, as Taylor said the Luana Sports Complex is about five minutes away from Independence Park.

The shift has been caused by another event being staged at Independence Park within the time frame needed to prepare the ground for Extravaganza, Taylor saying that he needs at least four to five clear days in the venue to be show ready. Taking advantage of the ample time at Luana, Taylor said there will be additional elements such as mechanical bulls.

It is intended to enhance the atmosphere at an event which he said people use as a “meet-andgreet. After Christmas dinner that is where they head.”

Making it easier to get there, a shuttle service will be provided from Kingston, Mandeville, Santa Cruz and Black River. For those who drive, there will be limited parking inside the venue, as well as free parking very close by.

MAJOR DRAWS

Among the major draws Taylor is hoping will attract people to the venue are Freddie McGregor, Sizzla, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man, Sanchez, Richie Spice, Glen Washington, I-Octane and Nesbeth.

“We have a good mix of the reggae and the young dancehall section,” Taylor said. “You can’t go around seniority and experience. You have to acknowledge and respect the people who the world recognises. When these people go out, the Europeans adore them. When they come here, they ask for them.”

However, Taylor said, “It is a Christmas night and you have a cross section of people coming out. You have to present the best of Jamaica at the end of the year. You get the question how this artiste is hot overseas and you are not seeing them in Jamaica. These are some of the reasons why I keep the show, to keep the culture alive.”

That also means renewal, and Taylor said from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m., the young potential stars will perform.

“We pick some not only from the parish, but right across Jamaica,” he said. Grounding the event in the community is not only on stage, but after the show, there will be support for an illness which affects numerous people directly and indirectly.

“This year we are bringing the awareness of cancer more to the people. We will be doing a donation again (to the Jamaica Cancer Society in St Elizabeth),” Taylor said. “They appreciate it. I am hoping to give more this year. The St Elizabeth branch is struggling to go into the communities.”

CARING FOR THE HOMELESS

Additionally, Taylor is involved in taking care of people in the parish who live on the streets.

Once again, Boom energy drink is the main Extravaganza sponsor, in about the brand’s sixth year of association with the concert, which Taylor positions as among those remaining in a declining sector.

“After 15 years, the show has become an event,” Taylor said. “The shows are gone. It is only me, Sting, Rebel Salute and Sumfest.” Freddie McGreggor

At the new venue, one of the things that will remain consistent is the large sign Taylor places on stage, advising performers and audience that there are rules against cursing and verbal attacks on any group.

“My sign is always there. You have to maintain that discipline,” Taylor said. (This is Part 1 of the FAUM series – Five Astonishing and Unforgettable Moments – that explores aspects of reggae, dancehall and soca music through the prism of the performers, promoters, producers and other professionals).

BY ANY measure, Roger Steffens is easily one of the most authoritative voices alive today on reggae music. Steffens is a Brooklyn-born California resident who has been passionately committed to the genre for over four decades. His first trip to Jamaica was in June 1976 to see Big Yute perform, and his most recent trip was a few weeks ago for the opening of the Peter Tosh Museum in Kingston. Steffens was a participant on Bob Marley’s Survival Tour in 1979, and over the years, Steffens has become a sort of walking encyclopeadia on reggae music, authoring six books on the genre, with two additional ones, The Family Acid Jamaica (Rock House) and The Oral History of Bob Marley (W.W. Norton) on the way next year. He has also brought clarity and global exposure to the captivating Jamaican beat by way of several pioneering radio shows as well as through contributions in Time Magazine, The New Yorker, BBC World News, The New York Sunday Times and The Guardian (UK). I recently caught up with Steffens in Kingston. Not unlike Jamaica’s celebrated tour manager Copeland Forbes, Steffens is immediately engaging with a vast body of reggae knowledge at his fingertips. But I still wanted to test him to determine if he’s just very good or astonishingly brilliant. So I challenged him to put in context a random unseen black and white photograph with Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh and Rita Marley from the early 1980s. Without blinking, he told me, correctly, that the photograph