International Reggae Day Honors Sir Lloyd Coxsone

Iconic events organizer and music business expert summaries Saturday’s activities in honor of the genre and those who have had an impact on it.

THE first time, London officially joined the International Reggae Day (IRD) July 1 initiative last weekend.

The occasion was marked in the capital with a film and discussion on Britain’s sound system history, a presentation on copyright and its role in the development of Jamaican music, a quiz, and highlights from a documentary that claims the London borough of Brent as the centre of Britain’s reggae history.

The event, which was organised by Kwaku and his team at BritishBlackMusic.com/Black Music Congress (BBM/BMC), at the University Of Westminster’s Marylebone campus, also honored the late Daddy Vego as a sound system pioneer.

Veteran sound system icon and record producer Sir Lloydie Coxsone was on hand to pick up his IRD2017 award. Sir Coxsone, who attended with his wife Maria, spoke about how honored he felt and spent much of the afternoon engaging with presenters and participants.

BOOKWORMS: Promoting Our Heritage bookstall at the International Reggae Day event last Saturday (image credit: Everol Wilson)

Three BBM/BMC awards were announced in recognition of Carroll Thompson, Janet Kay and Paul Dawkins, for promoting lovers rock internationally and putting Brent on the musical map. Presentations of the awards will be made at the Brent Black Music History Quiz at Brent Civic Centre on July 28. For more details on this event, visit: www.BBM.eventbrite.com

“For those who were there, there was nothing but great vibes,” said BBM/BMC founder Kwaku.

“The conversations and networking continued for over two hours after the event officially ended, clearly demonstrating the need for such an event. For those that didn’t know, they must now know that we’ll continue International Reggae Day London on July 1 2018. So if you’re interested, get involved now.”