Rastafari Books

http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20051218/ent/ent1.html

Publishers try to even score
published: Sunday | December 18, 2005

Jamaica Gleaner
Kesi Asher, Staff Reporter

'Reggae Routes', written by Kevin O'Brien Chang and Wayne Chen, published by Ian Randle Publishers. - Contributed

JAMAICA'S MUSIC has long suffered from the lack of music scores. And the deficiency is even more striking when the much larger number of books which chronicle the development of Jamaican music is taken into consideration.

A score is a copy of a musical composition in proper music notation so that it can be read, and hence played, by singers and musicians anywhere. This would have great significance for Jamaica, as although reggae and dancehall have made great strides worldwide they would become still more accessible, marketable and hence profitable.

However, some Jamaican companies have put out scores. Carlong Publishers released Let Us Sing, by Godfrey Taylor, Reverend Claudette Campbell and Delores Flemming. The book is for ages eight and up and is a compilation of hymns, songs and choruses for Caribbean schools and other interested persons. There are over 100 hymns, songs and choruses to reggae, calypso and mento rhythms, blended with traditional European and American hymns and African-American spirituals.

The score for the melody, or vocals, and chord patterns (for the instruments) are included. Various Caribbean composers of religious music, such as Fr. Richard HoLung, Noel Dexter and Patrick Prescod, are indexed according to their songs.

Jamaica Publishing House has released Mango Walk, by Ouida Hylton-Tomlinson, as well as Senior Songs for the Caribbean: Piano Score and Senior Songs for the Caribbean: Words and Medley, all written by Lloyd Hall.

Joy Music Limited, a new music book publishing company, does book and music score typesetting, as well as classes in the use of computer software for teaching and writing music training. They also do training in voice and piano.

Joy Fairclough, managing director, Dulcie Bailey and John Sears are responsible for Joy Music Ltd. A versatile musician, Fairclough has worked as performer, composer, producer, teacher and scorewriter for years. She has written scores for Father Richard HoLung, Noel Dexter, Marjorie Whylie, Jon Williams and Donovan Cole. Fairclough has written a book of the musical scores to accompany her CD, You Reign in Majesty. Dulcie Bailey has written Songs For Children and Young People and has provided an accompanying CD with the instrumental track. John Sears has written Some Simple 5-Finger Exercises For Near Beginners of All Ages. A composer by trade, John Sears is an American who is now a permanent resident of Jamaica, having lived in the island for the past 30 years.

While learning his trade, John Sears studied piano with Willis Fay, Carlos Buhler, Leo Ornstein and Nadia Boulanger, who he says was mentor to many 20th Century composers, including Aaron Copeland, Walter Piston and Eliot Carter. His other works include Quintet for Winds and Secular Mass for Jamaica.

"The objectives of Joy Music Limited are to see the complete stylising of dancehall through teaching, performances, publication of researched literary writings and compositions in music and cultural book forms," said Fairclough.

Although these publishers have sought to make some scores available, much more is left to be done. And while there are books with scores of Jamaican music available internationally, some of them are not usable in their current state. "What is happening is that people are asking for the material, but some of what people had written down was not done correctly. When you play the music, it's not the same thing," Fairclough said.

Fortunately, Fairclough is not tackling this problem alone. "Other music persons from the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts and myself have been trying to correct the problem by writing the music better. There is a demand now, so we kinda trying to play catch up," Fairclough said.

She adds some people hae been trying to do the job long before her efforts. "People like Major Joe Williams, former bandmaster of the Jamaica Defence Force Band, and Peter Ashbourne, both from the School of Music at Edna Manley, were always there trying to fix the problem," Fairclough said.

However, speed is of the essence in trying to address the matter. "We have to hurry up and write the things before some of our composers die, because some of them are very old, so age and sickness become obstacles. A lot of heritage is really in trouble," said Fairclough.

In contrast to the limited publication of score music, many books on the story of Jamaica's music have been published, though relatively few have come from Jamaica.

Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music was written by Brian Chang and Wayne Chen and published by Ian Randle Publishers. The authors trace the history of reggae music and examine the ways in which it expresses the dreams, desires and realities of the Jamaican people.

The pages are full of information on reggae artistes. It also includes song lyrics, charts from 1960 to 1996 and a provocative reggae all-time top 100 chart.

Reggae Explosion: The Story of Jamaican Music, was also published by Ian Randle Publishers and co-published by Virgin Publishers in London. The book was done by photographer Adrian Boot and writer Chris Salewicz and charts the development from the sound systems of the 1950s, through ska and dub to the rise of Bob Marley and Rastafarianism. It also explores the 1990s blend of high tech and local rhythms.

Previously unpublished transcripts of interviews with key figures like Lee 'Scratch' Perry and Prince Buster introduce authentic voices into the tale. Chris Salewicz also wrote Bob Marley: Songs of Freedom , with Boot contributing the photographs.

Reggae: The Story of Jamaican Music, written by Lloyd Bradley and Dennis Morris, was also published by Ian Randle Publishers and the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

Other books Jamaican music include Bob Marley Reggae King of the World, by Dermott Hussey and Malikah Lee Whitney and Bob Marley and the Wailers: The Definitive Discography by Roger Steffans and Leroy Jodie Piersons. These books were published by LMH Publishers.

Arrawak Publishers put out Bob Marley The Man and his Music by Carolyn Cooper and Eleanor Wint.