By Howard Campbell—–
Trumpeter Bobby Ellis, who arranged some of the great Jamaican pop songs, is a recipient of the Jamaica Reggae Industry Honour Awards which takes place February 23 at Emancipation Park in Kingston.
Ellis, now 82, and bass player Aston ‘Familyman’ Barrett of the Wailers, will receive awards in the musician’s category. Jimmy Cliff, who enjoyed a comeback in 2012 with his album Rebirth, is being recognised with the Lifetime Achievement Award.
  CLIFF… being recognised with the Lifetime Achievement Award |
Like many of Jamaica’s famous hornmen, Ellis learned music at the Alpha Boys School in Kingston. His career started in the 1960s when he recorded primarily for producer Clement ‘Coxson’ Dodd.
One of the songs he helped arrange while at Dodd’s Studio One was singer Bob Andy’s I Want To Go Back Home. In the 1970s, Ellis was a member of the Black Disciples band that recorded the seminal Marcus Garvey album by roots singer Burning Spear.
He also toured with Spear for several years, playing on a number of his albums.
Though he is famous as Bob Marley’s right-hand man, 65-year-old Barrett has a stellar career outside of the Wailers. He played in bands like the Hippy Boys for producer Bunny Lee before moving on to the Upsetters, who worked on some of producer Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry’s biggest songs.
The prolific Lee, now 72, is another 2013 JaRIA Honour awardee. He and Paul ‘Jah Screw’ Love, best known for his work with Barrington Levy, will accept from the producers category.
The other categories and recipients are: Mentorship (Frankie Campbell), Posthumous (Cynthia Schloss, Joe Gibbs), Engineers (Stephen Stewart, Cegrica ‘Soldjie’ Hamilton), Sound Systems (Mello Canary, Metro Media), Artists (Queen Ifrica, Beres Hammond), Duo/Group Vocals (The Mighty Diamonds), Band (Third World), Outstanding Contribution to Industry (disc jockey Barrington ‘Barry G’ Gordon, promoter Tony Rebel), Songwriter (Beres Hammond).
Winners for the Song of the Year and Artist of the Year categories have not been named. Recipients for the awards are selected by a committee of local music industry players.
The Jamaica Reggae Industry Honour Awards are part of Reggae Month activities, promoted in February by JaRIA.
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