By Anthony Turner/Gleaner writer—

George Crooks’ success as an event promoter is not by chance.

Jamaican-born, New York-based concert promoter George Crooks’ mantra is to make people happy. His success as an event promoter is not by chance, but the result of hard work, planning, foresight, and executing a well-thought-out marketing strategy.

“I just love live music. I wanna see live music presented in a certain way. You know, when you go to a rock concert and see them have good sound, great lighting, good stage and a great presentation. I have always wanted to see reggae presented this way,” he shared.

In 1987, Crooks established Jammins Events, an arts and cultural promotions event-management company that has evolved into a premier enterprise in the NY tri-state area. To kickstart the company, Crooks leveraged his international connections and pulled off the first-ever St Mary Reggae Music Festival in Jamaica. Crown Prince of Reggae Dennis Brown, Cocoa Tea, Freddie McGregor, and two-time Grammy Award winner Shabba Ranks were showcased on that line-up. He has since produced and organized some of the biggest events in the US and Jamaica, including hosting the very first dancehall-reggae concert at the world-famous Brooklyn Barclays Center. His company has produced the annual New York Reggae Festival, the Brooklyn Music Festival, the Soul and Reggae Legends Series at the landmark Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Singers in Action concert series, The Reggae Jazz Festival, several Jamaican and American stage plays, Regina Belle up close and personal; Jazz great Chuck Mangione performing for the prime minister of Jamaica; amateur boxing matches and other music festivals which have brought increased economic activities and generated publicity locally and internationally.

In 2019, when dancehall superstar Buju Banton performed at the historic Long Walk To Freedom concert at the National Stadium in Kingston, Crooks was tapped to produce the official after party that was held at the Liguanea Club in St Andrew. He recently pulled off another major coup, this time teaming with Live Nation, the world’s leading live entertainment and eCommerce company, to produce Beres Hammond’s fourth consecutive sold-out tri-state area concert in Long Island, NY.

“The partnership with Live Nation began about 10 years ago,” Crooks told The Sunday Gleaner of the company, which has assets in the billions. “A good friend of mine, Toby Ludwig, introduced me to Jason Miller, who is the executive vice-president for Live Nation in this area. They have been to a lot of my concerts.”

The Beres & Friends presentation at the 2700-seat NYCB Theatre at Westbury in October was curated by Crooks, who came up with the concept of presenting Beres in concert alongside icons Monty Alexander, Stephen ‘Cat’ Coore, and Dean Fraser.

“Me and Beres have been talking for a while about doing an event like this. We kept talking about doing a Storyteller Tour where Beres gets to talk about his songs and have musicians express the music the way he sees it. We spoke about which musicians would make sense. The first one we came up with was Monty Alexander, a jazz great and legend. Then we spoke to Cat Coore, and he was available, and then we spoke with Brooke Alford. After that, we added Dean Fraser, Desi Jones, and Derrick Barnett,” Crooks explained.

He lauded the relationship he has developed with the Love From A Distance singer.

“I understand Beres. As a promoter, you have to understand what the artiste’s goal is, and you have to promote him accordingly. We started with a concert with Beres at Tramps (a live music venue) in the early ‘90s. This was the first successful Beres show in New York, since Clinton Lindsay first brought him at the Beacon Theater in 1985” he recalled.

“Success,” he stressed, “comes from proper planning and effective execution. If I have been lucky in the process, I am extremely thankful.”

CHALLENGES

Crooks migrated to the US from Jamaica as a youngster and attended school in New York before he moved to Florida and later Hawaii. However, the transition from living a modest life in a Third World country to the bright lights of New York City had its challenges. He got exposure when he enlisted in the US Army Forces and shared that it gave him discipline and that ‘never say die’ attitude that he needed for the path of a successful event promoter. After an honourable discharge from the US Army in 1980, Crooks earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the University of North Florida. Speaking about business, Crooks said, “As you may already know, entertainment continues to be one of the fastest growing businesses globally. It had an estimated value of approximately US$800 billion in the USA alone,” he said, adding that there is always growing demand for entertainment products.

Besides being a successful businessman, Crooks is a philanthropist whose footprints can be found in his advocacy for the arts and entertainment, which he said can be used to positively influence the youths of today. His organisation has consistently provided financial aid to students in need. His passion has inspired the New York Cultural All-Star Music Academy, his non-profit entity, which exposes kids to the music and entertainment industry. He has donated part of the proceeds for events he has hosted to the American Foundation for The University of The West Indies (AFUWI), a charitable organisation in the United States whose mission is to raise funds to aid University of the West Indies students. This year, the AFUWI received approximately US$12,000 from Jammins Events.

Crooks, who volunteers on the board of several community organizations, is also a founding member of Brooklyn’s Urban NightLife Association.