Up to the task

NAOMI COWAN, the youngest child of Tommy Cowan and Carlene Davis, and a former Miss Teen Jamaica, is clearly qualified to spearhead this creative process. The Ryerson University graduate has worked as a television host and is also a singer and songwriter. Her latest effort, Things You Say You Love, was originally written, recorded, and released by the festival-winning group, The Jamaicans, in 1967 and was co-written by her dad, Tommy, and Norris Weir.

She covered the song while living in Toronto, in collaboration with Mark Pelli, vocalist, producer and guitarist from the international Billboard chart-topping group, Magic. With help from Donisha Prendergast, granddaughter of the legendary Bob and Rita Marley, Cowan is also set to release the video for the single on Youtube and Vevo this summer.

“It has been such a remarkable journey. When two children of reggae music sit at a coffee shop, ‘magic’ is bound to happen. It is a fresh twist to this vintage rocksteady song that is guaranteed to win hearts. It was really an honour working with Mark Pelli,” Cowan said.

In her new role at Glory Music, Cowan said she has already started preparations to rebrand the Fun in the Son series and plans are already in place to expand the brand to other Caribbean islands and areas in the diaspora. “We want to establish the brand as uniquely Jamaican. We have already had successful stagings in The Bronx in the United States and we have had productions in Haiti,” she said.

Plans, she said, are also in the pipeline to introduce a new Glory Music-led production that will give exposure to the agriculture sector. These and other innovative ideas will be unveiled in 2018.

“As creators of positive entertainment, the dream is much bigger than me,” she said.