8PM Friday 02 August 2019
In Celebration of Emancipation 2019, Cedar Productionz and Jako Productions are pleased to present Reggae Xplosion in Palm Valley, Grande Riviere, Dennery, starting at 8PM on Friday 02 August 2019. The show will feature The Phases Band as they perform many of the reggae songs on their soon-to-be-released album, What People Say. The show will also feature up-and-coming reggae artist, Natty Conqueror, and such iconic reggae and dancehall artists as Itoobaa, King Hephzibah, Meshach, Deighton Charlemagne, and Aschadan, all backed by The Phases Band.
Reggae Xplosion is part of an initiative to host musical shows in different communities around the island as a means of nurturing and giving St. Lucian artists and musicians greater national exposure and rekindling the public’s passion for live entertainment. The events will involve one or two bands performing their own musical sets and backing up several individual artists. Some of the events will also include fashion shows and dance groups.
Dr. Anderson Reynolds, founder and managing director of Jako Productions and the executive producer of two award-winning albums (Freedom Itoobaa, and Can’t Stop Us by 4th World), argues that there is an under-appreciation and estimation of St. Lucian artists, some of whom are as good and as entertaining as any of the foreign artists we chase after and to whom we pay exorbitant fees. Yet oftentimes the shows that provide the greatest entertainment value for the money are those that involve the strictly local artist because gate fees must be raised to accommodate the foreign artists who sometimes disappoint.
For example, Dr. Reynolds said that St. Lucian reggae artiste, Meshach Nestor, the headliner of Reggae Xplosion in Palm Valley, the first installment of the initiative, is the most compelling and charismatic reggae artist he has seen. And in the recently concluded Burning Flames show in Vieux Fort, according to many in the audience, The Phases Band was the standout act, outshining Burning Flames. He also said that there is no musical event taking place on the island that provides greater entertainment value for the money than the annual St. Lucia calypso finals, which in his mind is nothing less than theatre in action and should be marketed as such.
For these reasons, both Cedar Productionz and Jako Productions urge the corporate world, the government and the public at large to join forces with them to ensure the success of this initiative and thus help to nurture our artists, provide them with a national platform, and reignite a culture of live musical entertainment.
Founded in 2009, Cedar Productionz is a music label and production house that specializes in dancehall, reggae and pop music. Two decades running, Jako Productions is acultural and entertainment enterprise that seeks to encourage the artistic expression of St. Lucian culture and to promote that culture worldwide. JakoProductions has been pursuing this mission through its website, social media, publication of books and magazines, production of music and film, management of bands and artists, and staging of musical, literary and other cultural events.
Reggae Xplosion in Palm Valley has an admission fee of $15 before 10PM and $20 after. The show is open to the public and starts at 8PM Friday 02 August 2019, in Grande Riviere, Dennery.
Drinks will be on Special. Sponsors include Caribbean YouthFest, St. Lucia Distillers, and Saint Lu Woodworking
For more information please call (712-8024, 718-6559) or email(info@jakoproductions.com, dapperly@gmail.com).