JARIA names awardees
ALTHOUGH no date has been set, the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JARIA) launched its annual honour awards and named this year’s recipients at a ceremony in St Andrew on Sunday.
The awards, first handed out in 2009, recognise excellence in local music by honouring individuals, groups and institutions that have played an instrumental role in the creation, evolution, mentorship, and development of the industry, covering 28 awards in 18 categories. This year, in keeping with Jamaica’s 60th anniversary of Independence, three special diamond awards will be conferred on icons of Jamaica’s artistic and cultural life. The recipients are first national hero Marcus Garvey, folklorist Louise “Miss Lou” Bennett Coverley, and reggae king Bob Marley.
According to Mary
Isaacs, chair of the JARIA Honour Awards committee, the award continues to pay respect to some of the players in the industry who are often overlooked.
“Although some are wellknown industry stalwarts, their names and contributions may not be as popular with the broader community. They are often referred to as the unsung heroes of our industry and the honour awards celebrate and highlight their remarkable achievements, commitment, and contribution to our industry and the Jamaica music culture which has penetrated globally,” said Isaacs.
This year’s list of recipients is headed by Pama Records, which will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Guitarist Earl “Chinna” Smith is being recognised for mentorship; audio engineers Rohan Dwyer and Paul Barclay will be awarded for their contribution to that field; while producers Tony Kelly and Neil Fraser (Mad Professor) will also be awarded. Producer Mikie Bennett is being recognised this year for his contribution to the music as a songwriter.
The late singer Hopeton Lewis and producer extraordinaire Lee “Scratch” Perry will be recognised posthumously for their contribution to the music, as will sound systems The Mighty Crown and Lloyd Matador and instrumentalists David Madden and Hux Brown.
In the category Male
Icon, the recipients are Barrington Levy and the late Jacob Miller; JC
Lodge will receive the Icon Female award, with The Abyssinians receiving the Icon Award for duo or group. Popular show band Ruff Kut will be recognised in the Band category.
Local media is also being recognised by JARIA. Winford Williams of On Stage TV, Nadine Blair of Love 101 FM, Riddim Magazine and jamaicans. com are all set to be recognised.
Promoter Linval Gibbons is being recognised for his work with the now-defunct stage show Teen Splash.
In the area of gospel music, singers Glacia Robinson and Jermaine Edwards are this year’s recipients.
For the past three years, the Gregory Isaacs Foundation has recognised an individual in areas such as fashion, selectors and album/cd cover designers. This year that award goes to Neville Garrick whose work includes some of the most iconic album covers for Bob Marley.
The final two categories, Breakthrough Artiste of the Year and Song of the Year are to be determined by public vote by visiting the JARIA website over the next two weeks. The nominees for breakthrough artiste are Skillibeng, Yaksta, Joby Jay, Diyani, Nation Boss and Moyann.
The works up for Song of the Year are Go Dung
Deh by Spice, featuring Shaggy and Sean Paul;
Run by Shenseea; Ambition by Yaksta, West Indies by Koffee, Virgin by Jahvinci, and Laalee’s Dirt Bounce.