IS THE VIDEO from Legends To Legacy a video of careful selection?
I watched with proud repose people who have contributed to the music and cultural industries in this video. Indeed every single contributor on the island will not be included. However, I could not help but note that a self-sacrificing person who has shaped our musical and cultural landscape was excluded.
It is true that Gilbert Melford Rowe is not a singer, but how could we by dint of his non-inclusion deny the existence of 15 years of the Barbados Jazz Festival? A class event that drew patrons from far and near. Could he not have been placed to sit on a rock overlooking the sea, if not to sing?
Rowe forged the model of creating a festival. Those of the reggae genre have fashioned their festival thereafter. The jazz infomercials on the radio, biographies in the print media and a scheduled week of entertainment advertised way in advance so that patrons may prepare.
How we looked forward to dressing and travelling to various venues across the island to hear high-calibre artistes who whetted our appetites and opened our musical senses to new frontiers. The store owners, taxi drivers, caterers and many other people benefited as well.
Who was the first person to bring a mass music jazz event to the now frequented Farley Hill? Who donated his stage and equipment for the From Barbados To Haiti With Love concert? What do we have to do in Barbados to obtain honour, national recognition or distinction?
Let us acknowledge his contribution while he is alive.
– JUNE LUBRUN
