Byron Lee 50th Anniversary Concert - Part 4 (2007)
Channel: Visual Art and Production
Date: 2020-06-24

This clip features Oscar B and Admiral Bailey....

Undoubtedly one of the most important figures in the history of the Jamaican music industry, Byron Lee was also a giant of the soca world. In a career that stretched over 50 years, Lee’s spectacular achievements saw him earning over 120 awards. He was instrumental in bringing Jamaican music to the attention of the outside world through the ska delegation he took to the New York World’s Fair in 1964. He went on to establish Dynamic Sounds, one of the largest and best-equipped recording facilities in the Caribbean, where the majority of the reggae hits of the early 1970s were recorded, as well as material by foreign stars such as Roberta Flack, Paul Simon, the Rolling Stones and Johnny Nash. In the early 80's Dancehall music was then on the rise in Jamaica, but Lee didn’t like it, and turned the Dragonaires into a soca band.  His 1984 production “Tiny Winey”, recorded with Montserratian singer Hero, erupted into one of the region’s biggest-ever hits, followed in 1989 by “Nani Wine” with Crazy  and by Super Blue’s “Bacchanal Time” in 1993.

Lee formed Lee Enterprises to promote Jamaican concerts by leading calypsonians such as Lord Invader and Lord Superior, and took ska performers to the Cayman Islands. Dynamic Sounds, the Jamaican studio of choice during the early 1970s, yielding notable material by Bob Marley, Toots and the Maytals and countless others, as well as the collaboration between Lee and calypsonian Sparrow that led to the 1969 album "Sparrow Meets the Dragon" and the 1975 set "Again".

Lee continued a gruelling tour schedule, even after reaching his 70th birthday in 2005, but was diagnosed with bladder cancer the following year. He went public with his experience of the disease with the aim of raising awareness, and subsequently went back on the road. Cancer tragically recurred and Byron passed away in November 2008. He will be remembered as a spirited soul, a gentleman and a shrewd businessman whose ultimate driving force was the uplifting power of music.

Caribbean Beat (March/April 2009) 
written by  David Katz