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Joseph "JO-JO" Bennett officially began his musical career at the age of 10 when he enrolled at Alpha Boys' School in Kingston, Jamaica to begin formal studies in Jazz and the Classics. He began playing the drums but made a voluntary switch soon after to playing the trumpet. He became very proficient in musical theory in general and a long time before graduation he was allowed by the Institution to instruct new arrivals in musical theory and practice.
After graduation he played as lead trumpeter with the Jamaica Military Band for quite a while. His classical music involvement fter training was short as JO-JO was being aggressively pursued to perform on the Pop Circuit by the Caribbean leading orchestras. JO-JO Bennett left the Military Band to perform on Jamaica's North Coast but was courted by the island's leading orchestra Byron Lee & the Dragonnaires and he ecorded several albums with them before choosing to stay in Canada after the group’s impressive show at Expo 67.
Once settled in Toronto, JO-JO organized his first Canadian performing group called "The Fugitives" whose home base was the West Indian Federation Club in Toronto. In the seventies and eighties Bennett was involved in many musical venture in Canada (Toronto) and was the prime mover behind the establishment of the first (and only) Black controlled music school. At this time instructions in the Reggae music genre was introduced under his tutelage. In 1970 while on hiatus in his homeland Jamaica, Bennett released his first and only album "Groovey Joe" while performing live and doing studio work for numerous record companies.
He had several single disc hits while at home, his most memorable "Leaving Rome" thus establishing his talent on an international level. He returned to Canada in the late seventies and shortly after in 1979 registered his music label "BUNJO". JO-JO Bennett is currently the leader (Guru) of the Toronto based Pop-Reggae band "The Sattalites", a band that is the winner of numerous music awards including a Juno in 1990. A 'rabble-rouser' as he as been dubbed by music critics, this entertainer still has the exuberance and charm of a youth just discovering music. To meet and talk with the veteran off stage however, he provides no insight at all as to his on stage 'rabble rousing', he becomes deeply introverted and on-exhibitionist. If asked about his plans for the future he states "I just take it one day at a time."
After graduation he played as lead trumpeter with the Jamaica Military Band for quite a while. His classical music involvement fter training was short as JO-JO was being aggressively pursued to perform on the Pop Circuit by the Caribbean leading orchestras. JO-JO Bennett left the Military Band to perform on Jamaica's North Coast but was courted by the island's leading orchestra Byron Lee & the Dragonnaires and he ecorded several albums with them before choosing to stay in Canada after the group’s impressive show at Expo 67.
Once settled in Toronto, JO-JO organized his first Canadian performing group called "The Fugitives" whose home base was the West Indian Federation Club in Toronto. In the seventies and eighties Bennett was involved in many musical venture in Canada (Toronto) and was the prime mover behind the establishment of the first (and only) Black controlled music school. At this time instructions in the Reggae music genre was introduced under his tutelage. In 1970 while on hiatus in his homeland Jamaica, Bennett released his first and only album "Groovey Joe" while performing live and doing studio work for numerous record companies.
He had several single disc hits while at home, his most memorable "Leaving Rome" thus establishing his talent on an international level. He returned to Canada in the late seventies and shortly after in 1979 registered his music label "BUNJO". JO-JO Bennett is currently the leader (Guru) of the Toronto based Pop-Reggae band "The Sattalites", a band that is the winner of numerous music awards including a Juno in 1990. A 'rabble-rouser' as he as been dubbed by music critics, this entertainer still has the exuberance and charm of a youth just discovering music. To meet and talk with the veteran off stage however, he provides no insight at all as to his on stage 'rabble rousing', he becomes deeply introverted and on-exhibitionist. If asked about his plans for the future he states "I just take it one day at a time."
Glen DaCosta has loved music all of his life and has had the opportunity to play music with many renowned artists throughout the years including Bob Marley, Gladys Knight and the Pips, UB 40, Lou Ralls, Alpha Blondy, Ray Goodman, Burning Spear, Bunny Wailer, and many, many others.
Glen spent a good part of his life playing sax for Bob Marley and the Wailers, touring all over the world when Bob was at his peak. Glen got to spend some good quality time with Bob while on tour and recording with him in the studio playing songs or the Legend album, Kaya and many more.
Glen spent a good part of his life playing sax for Bob Marley and the Wailers, touring all over the world when Bob was at his peak. Glen got to spend some good quality time with Bob while on tour and recording with him in the studio playing songs or the Legend album, Kaya and many more.
Bobby Ellis born 2 July 1932, is a Jamaican trumpet player. Ellis first took up the trumpet in 1941 at the Alpha Boys' School. Ellis started recording at Studio One in the early 1960s; he remembers his first time on record being his own composition, Cyrus, with the Mighty Vikings band before going on to work on hit songs by The Wailers (Lonesome Feeling), There's a Reward (Joe Higgs) and I've Got to Go Back Home by Bob Andy. Most of Ellis' time at Studio One was spent as horn arranger. After leaving Clement Dodd's studio, Ellis became a part of Trinidadian guitarist Lynn Taitt's band, The Jets, which also included fellow Alpharians saxophonists Headley "Deadly Headley" Bennett. Ellis' reputation as a trumpeter and arranger had grown by the dawn of the 1970s when reggae was growing in stature. It was during this period that some of his best work can be heard, particularly on Burning Spear's landmark Marcus Garvey and Man in The Hills.
He has worked with many reggae artists including Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, and The Revolutionaries.
Ellis attended the Alpha Boys School which is famous for its musical alumni. While at this school Ellis received tuition on the trumpet and flugelhorn. The school's music curriculum consisted of marches, waltzes and classical pieces which gave Ellis an extensive knowledge of timing, harmony and form. These factors have contributed to his work as a horn arranger for the Studio One (record label).
He has worked with many reggae artists including Peter Tosh, Burning Spear, and The Revolutionaries.
Ellis attended the Alpha Boys School which is famous for its musical alumni. While at this school Ellis received tuition on the trumpet and flugelhorn. The school's music curriculum consisted of marches, waltzes and classical pieces which gave Ellis an extensive knowledge of timing, harmony and form. These factors have contributed to his work as a horn arranger for the Studio One (record label).
Wilton Gaynair, born 11 January 1927in Kingston, Jamaica, died 13 February 1995 in Germany. Early in his career Gaynair played tenor saxophone in bands in his homeland. In the mid-50s he moved to Europe and into jazz. He played with Dizzy Reece in London, then became resident in Germany where he extended his musical understanding through the study of composition and arranging, and also played with many important German musicians as well as visiting jazz stars from the USA and UK. With Ellsworth ‘Shake’ Keane he was a member of Kurt Edelhagen’s orchestra, and he was co-founder of Third Eye which included Kenny Wheeler and Alan Skidmore.
A fluent improviser in the hard-bop mould, Gaynair continued to perform into the early 80s but in 1983, while playing with Peter Herbolzheimer, he suffered a stroke. Although much of his career was spent outside the international spotlight, Gaynair built a small but dedicated body of critical approval, including several long-time advocates such as jazz writer Val Wilmer. Gaynair played with a full-throated sound yet retained a melodic approach to his interpretations. If there were sometimes hints of John Coltrane in his playing, these were comfortably subordinated to his personal conceptions of his music.
A fluent improviser in the hard-bop mould, Gaynair continued to perform into the early 80s but in 1983, while playing with Peter Herbolzheimer, he suffered a stroke. Although much of his career was spent outside the international spotlight, Gaynair built a small but dedicated body of critical approval, including several long-time advocates such as jazz writer Val Wilmer. Gaynair played with a full-throated sound yet retained a melodic approach to his interpretations. If there were sometimes hints of John Coltrane in his playing, these were comfortably subordinated to his personal conceptions of his music.
Vin Gordon a.k.a. Trommie, Don D. Junior Vin Gordon aka Trommie, Don D. Junior, born Aug. 4, 1949, in Jamaica is a gradudate of the worlds legendary Alpha Boys' School in Kingston Jamaica, where he learned to play trombone and string bass by his talented music tutor the late Lennie Hibbert OD, and other students of the school band. After graduating from Alpha Boys' School he played with the Salvation Army band for a while in Montego Bay before he joined his other fellow schoolmates such as Headly Bennett, Cedric Brroks, Bobby Ellis and the notorious Leroy "Hourse-Mouth" Wallace etc., at Studio One and become a part of awell known backing band where he backed all the famous Jamaican artist from the Wailers to Burning Spare during the rock steady and reggae span.
While living in the UK, he played and toured with the Wailers band for five years and work and toured with Aswad. He is best known in the UK for his hit tune "Warrior Charge" with Aswad band. While in the UK Vin Gordon also work with his schoolmate, record producer and song writer Mr. Milton Morris Moore of M&M MUSIC, Vin Gordon’s album "The Melody Moods of Vin Gordon" is one of the many project he did with M&M MUSIC, Vin Gordon is currently working on new materials with Alpharian producer Milton Morris Moore aka "Country Bop" of M&M MUSIC, Vin Gordon also now works and tours with the Skatalites.
Mr. Vin Gordon is a representative and member of the Alpha Old Boys Association.
While living in the UK, he played and toured with the Wailers band for five years and work and toured with Aswad. He is best known in the UK for his hit tune "Warrior Charge" with Aswad band. While in the UK Vin Gordon also work with his schoolmate, record producer and song writer Mr. Milton Morris Moore of M&M MUSIC, Vin Gordon’s album "The Melody Moods of Vin Gordon" is one of the many project he did with M&M MUSIC, Vin Gordon is currently working on new materials with Alpharian producer Milton Morris Moore aka "Country Bop" of M&M MUSIC, Vin Gordon also now works and tours with the Skatalites.
Mr. Vin Gordon is a representative and member of the Alpha Old Boys Association.
Joe Harriott (1928 - 1973) was an Alpharian jazz alto saxophone player. He moved to the UK as a working musician in 1951 and settled there. He is known for his innovative development of "free form" music, in parallel with Ornette Coleman. He made several albums with pianist/composer Michael Garrick in the mid sixties, notably October Woman and Black Marigolds. During the late 1960s he and violinist John Mayer developed Indo-Jazz Fusion - an early attempt at building on music from diverse traditions. He died of cancer in 1973.
Joe Harriott's music goes virtually unheard today, yet the alto saxophonist exerted a powerful influence on early free jazz in England. The Jamaican-born and raised Harriott played with his countrymen, trumpeter Dizzy Reece and tenor saxophonist Wilton "Bogey" Gaynair, before emigrating to England in 1951. In London, Harriott worked freelance and in the band of trumpeter Pete Pitterson.
In 1954, he landed an important gig with drummer Tony Kinsey; the next year he played in saxophonist Ronnie Scott's big band. His first album as a leader was 1959's Southern Horizon. Originally a bop-oriented player, Harriott gradually grew away from the conventions of that style. During a 1960 hospital stay, Harriott envisaged a new method of improvisation that, to an extent, paralleled the innovations of Ornette Coleman. Harriott was initially branded a mere imitator of Coleman, but close listening to both men reveals distinct differences in their respective styles. Harriott manifested a more explicit philosophical connection with bebop, for one thing, and his music was more concerned with ensemble interaction than was Coleman's early work. The 1960 album Free Form, which included trumpeter Shake Keane, pianist Pat Smythe, bassist Coleridge Goode, and drummer Phil Seaman, illustrated Harriott's new techniques.
Beginning in 1965, he began fusing jazz with various types of world folk musics. He collaborated with Indian musician John Mayer on a record -- 1967's Indo-Jazz Suite -- that utilized modal nd free jazz procedures. The album's traditional jazz quintet instrumentation was augmented by a violin, sitar, tambura, and tabla. Harriott's recorded output was scarce and virtually none of it remains in print.
Click here to read an article about Harriott's daughter Amber Harvey's moving and emotional visit to the Alpha Boys' School.
Joe Harriott's music goes virtually unheard today, yet the alto saxophonist exerted a powerful influence on early free jazz in England. The Jamaican-born and raised Harriott played with his countrymen, trumpeter Dizzy Reece and tenor saxophonist Wilton "Bogey" Gaynair, before emigrating to England in 1951. In London, Harriott worked freelance and in the band of trumpeter Pete Pitterson.
In 1954, he landed an important gig with drummer Tony Kinsey; the next year he played in saxophonist Ronnie Scott's big band. His first album as a leader was 1959's Southern Horizon. Originally a bop-oriented player, Harriott gradually grew away from the conventions of that style. During a 1960 hospital stay, Harriott envisaged a new method of improvisation that, to an extent, paralleled the innovations of Ornette Coleman. Harriott was initially branded a mere imitator of Coleman, but close listening to both men reveals distinct differences in their respective styles. Harriott manifested a more explicit philosophical connection with bebop, for one thing, and his music was more concerned with ensemble interaction than was Coleman's early work. The 1960 album Free Form, which included trumpeter Shake Keane, pianist Pat Smythe, bassist Coleridge Goode, and drummer Phil Seaman, illustrated Harriott's new techniques.
Beginning in 1965, he began fusing jazz with various types of world folk musics. He collaborated with Indian musician John Mayer on a record -- 1967's Indo-Jazz Suite -- that utilized modal nd free jazz procedures. The album's traditional jazz quintet instrumentation was augmented by a violin, sitar, tambura, and tabla. Harriott's recorded output was scarce and virtually none of it remains in print.
Click here to read an article about Harriott's daughter Amber Harvey's moving and emotional visit to the Alpha Boys' School.
Leonard Aloysius Hibbert, popularly known as “Lennie”, popularized the Vibes in Jamaica. He was born in Mavis Bank, Jamaica on November 12, 1928.
His interest in music started at the early age of 2 when he devised a little drum from an empty pan. Later at the age of six the local Salvation Army allowed him to play on their drums. At the age of eight years he went to Alpha Boy’s School and after some time joined the school band where he was placed on his ‘old love’, the drums. After leaving school in 1944 he played in several small orchestras and finally joined the Military Band in 1946. It was during his time in the Military Band that he taught himself the Vibes. He returned to Alpha and was Band Master there in the late fifties, where Floyd Lloyd and Vin Gordon were among his students. In 1976 he was awarded the Order of Distinction (O.D.) for his contribution to music on the island and for his work among the youth. He was tirelessly helpful to young people, getting them involved in music, dance, acting, and organized sport.
Lennie Hibbert died in the early eighties.
His interest in music started at the early age of 2 when he devised a little drum from an empty pan. Later at the age of six the local Salvation Army allowed him to play on their drums. At the age of eight years he went to Alpha Boy’s School and after some time joined the school band where he was placed on his ‘old love’, the drums. After leaving school in 1944 he played in several small orchestras and finally joined the Military Band in 1946. It was during his time in the Military Band that he taught himself the Vibes. He returned to Alpha and was Band Master there in the late fifties, where Floyd Lloyd and Vin Gordon were among his students. In 1976 he was awarded the Order of Distinction (O.D.) for his contribution to music on the island and for his work among the youth. He was tirelessly helpful to young people, getting them involved in music, dance, acting, and organized sport.
Lennie Hibbert died in the early eighties.
Bertie King (19 - 1973) Clarinetist and saxophonist Bertie King, like many Alpharian musicians after him such as Joe Harriot, Harold McNair and Dizzy Reece, King originally had to flee Jamaica simply to make a living playing music. His arrival in England in the '30s came at a time when there were few black musicians playing jazz in England and Europe. Bertie King, earliest studies as a musician were at the world renowned and respected Alpha Boys' School in Kingston Jamaica, the training ground of so many of the world’s best known jazz musicians.
King played clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone and was an extraordinary arranger. King played on British piano legend George Shearing's first recording and also played and recorded with Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter. After performing with many of the top calypsonians in Britain, King returned to Jamaica in the late 1950s where he was a pioneer radio orchestra participant at the then Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC), and found the connections he had made in Europe to be quite valuable in helping to jump-start what would develop into a wildly active music scene in Jamaica.
If the name Bertie King comes up in connection with the history of the United Kingdom, chances are good the average citizen will think the subject under discussion is King George VI, known to his cronies as "Bertie." Ask a fan of jazz or Jamaican music, on the other hand, and the reference couldn't possibly be to anyone else but the clarinetist and saxophonist Bertie King, of major importance in his homeland as well as in England. His arrival in England in the '30s came at a time when there were few, if any, black musicians playing jazz there. Bandleaders such as Leslie Hutchinson made rich use of this small-scale migration from the West Indies. King also blew up a storm in the context of European jazz players such as the great guitarist Django Reinhardt as well as with Americans who toured and recorded abroad, including Benny Carter and Nat Gonella. King returned to Jamaica in 1951 and found the connections he had made in Europe to be quite valuable in helping to jump-start what would develop into a wildly active music scene on the island nation.
His recordings of "Don't Fence Her In" and "Glamour Girl" that year were some of the first in the mento style, featuring instruments such as guitar, banjo, hand drums, penny whistle, bamboo saxophone, steel drums, and the so-called "rhumba box," kind of a massive thumb piano that would play the basslines. In the early days of mento there were no pressing plants whatsoever in Jamaica and it was apparently King who arranged for these first commercial recordings of Jamaican music to be manufactured at a factory in Lewisham, England, that was owned by Decca. This practice of pressing Jamaican records in England continued for some time.
An even heavier presence by King in the nation's music came about in the early '50s, when the then-current Prime Minister ordered the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation to install a permanent studio band. King was the first leader of this outfit which eventually grew to 14 pieces, involving great Jamaican players such as guitarist Ernest Ranglin and bassist Tommy Mowatt. King made many recordings with this group, most often called Bertie King's Royal Jamaicans and also worked with the West Indian Swing Stars. As a jazz player, King managed to play on an average of at least one release every year between the mid-'30s and 1967. His earliest studies were at the Alpha Boys' School in Kingston, the training ground of so many of the country's best musicians that it eventually turned part of its facilities over to the creation of a small museum -- which appropriately has King's original saxophones on exhibit.
King played clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone and was an extraordinary arranger. King played on British piano legend George Shearing's first recording and also played and recorded with Coleman Hawkins and Benny Carter. After performing with many of the top calypsonians in Britain, King returned to Jamaica in the late 1950s where he was a pioneer radio orchestra participant at the then Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation (JBC), and found the connections he had made in Europe to be quite valuable in helping to jump-start what would develop into a wildly active music scene in Jamaica.
If the name Bertie King comes up in connection with the history of the United Kingdom, chances are good the average citizen will think the subject under discussion is King George VI, known to his cronies as "Bertie." Ask a fan of jazz or Jamaican music, on the other hand, and the reference couldn't possibly be to anyone else but the clarinetist and saxophonist Bertie King, of major importance in his homeland as well as in England. His arrival in England in the '30s came at a time when there were few, if any, black musicians playing jazz there. Bandleaders such as Leslie Hutchinson made rich use of this small-scale migration from the West Indies. King also blew up a storm in the context of European jazz players such as the great guitarist Django Reinhardt as well as with Americans who toured and recorded abroad, including Benny Carter and Nat Gonella. King returned to Jamaica in 1951 and found the connections he had made in Europe to be quite valuable in helping to jump-start what would develop into a wildly active music scene on the island nation.
His recordings of "Don't Fence Her In" and "Glamour Girl" that year were some of the first in the mento style, featuring instruments such as guitar, banjo, hand drums, penny whistle, bamboo saxophone, steel drums, and the so-called "rhumba box," kind of a massive thumb piano that would play the basslines. In the early days of mento there were no pressing plants whatsoever in Jamaica and it was apparently King who arranged for these first commercial recordings of Jamaican music to be manufactured at a factory in Lewisham, England, that was owned by Decca. This practice of pressing Jamaican records in England continued for some time.
An even heavier presence by King in the nation's music came about in the early '50s, when the then-current Prime Minister ordered the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation to install a permanent studio band. King was the first leader of this outfit which eventually grew to 14 pieces, involving great Jamaican players such as guitarist Ernest Ranglin and bassist Tommy Mowatt. King made many recordings with this group, most often called Bertie King's Royal Jamaicans and also worked with the West Indian Swing Stars. As a jazz player, King managed to play on an average of at least one release every year between the mid-'30s and 1967. His earliest studies were at the Alpha Boys' School in Kingston, the training ground of so many of the country's best musicians that it eventually turned part of its facilities over to the creation of a small museum -- which appropriately has King's original saxophones on exhibit.
Dizzy Reece was born January 5, 1931 in Kingston, Jamaica, the son of a silent film pianist. He attended the Alpha Boys' School (famed in Jamaica for its musical alumni), switching from baritone to trumpet at 14.
A full-time musician from age 16, he moved to London in 1948 and spent the 1950s working in Europe, much of that time in Paris. He played with Don Byas, Kenny Clarke, Frank Foster and Thad Jones, among others. Winning praise from the likes of Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, he emigrated to New York City in 1959, but found New York in the 1960s a struggle.
Reece recorded a series of critically acclaimed records on the Blue Note label, which were reissued on Mosaic in 2004 that gave fans hope of a comeback. Still active as a musician and writer, Reece has recorded over the years with Victor Feldman, Tubby Hayes, Paris Reunion Band, Clifford Jordan’s Big Band, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, fellow trumpeter Ted Curson, pianist Duke Jordan, long-time Sun Ra alumni John Gilmore and drummer Philly Joe Jones.
A full-time musician from age 16, he moved to London in 1948 and spent the 1950s working in Europe, much of that time in Paris. He played with Don Byas, Kenny Clarke, Frank Foster and Thad Jones, among others. Winning praise from the likes of Miles Davis and Sonny Rollins, he emigrated to New York City in 1959, but found New York in the 1960s a struggle.
Reece recorded a series of critically acclaimed records on the Blue Note label, which were reissued on Mosaic in 2004 that gave fans hope of a comeback. Still active as a musician and writer, Reece has recorded over the years with Victor Feldman, Tubby Hayes, Paris Reunion Band, Clifford Jordan’s Big Band, tenor saxophonist Dexter Gordon, fellow trumpeter Ted Curson, pianist Duke Jordan, long-time Sun Ra alumni John Gilmore and drummer Philly Joe Jones.
