The Jamaican Folk Singers perform at the launch of thier new Album 'Pepperpot' on CD, held at the Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue, on Monday. - Winston Sill / Freelance Photographer

The Jamaican Folk Singers launched their second CD on Monday evening at the Little Theatre, Tom Redcam Avenue. Dubbed Pepperpot the collection offers a range of folk songs including lullabies, Christmas songs, play songs, and revival.

According to the group's current director, Christine McDonald, The Jamaican Folk Singers' last recording was done several years ago. However they have three LPs, two cassettes and another collection on CD in their repertoire.

Speaking on behalf of Minister Aloun Assamba, Director of Culture Sidney Bartley noted that Pepper-pot stands as a mark of the essence of brand Jamaica, as it is the realisation of the notion of "out of many one". "It is who we are and it is what we do best," he said. Additionally, the 39 year-old troupe was also described as a treasure trove of Jamaican culture with the wide range of issues from "high gender politics" to the rural/urban drift addressed in the music.

Interestingly, the speech was also used to disseminate what seemed to be an advertisement for home stay tourism (housing tourists in one's home), one of the features being encouraged for World Cup 2007.

Hazel mcclune

Dr. Olive Lewin

The small audience was also addressed by the group's founder Dr. Olive Lewin. In a speech which meandered around her various experiences, Lewin spent much of her speech explaining that much credit is also due to Hazel McClune who assisted with much of the research done.

In his introduction of Lewin, Easton Lee noted that Lewin had realised that not only should Jamaican folk culture be extensively researched and documented but it must also be staged in order to rescue it from being shelved. Recordings like Pepperpot and the singers' previous works allow the group's work to stave off this risk even further.

In highlighting the value of Jamaican folk music, Lee spoke of the dangers of the "non-music" being played on airwaves, ironically heaping similar disdain on popular music, which Lewin's work once faced. Indeed, Lewin admitted that she has been told that her research at the School of Music was once thought of as a waste of taxpayer's money.

Pepperpot is available at Music Mart and is being sold at $800 per CD though 100 autographed by Lewin are also available for $1,000. McDonald explained that most of the songs in this collection are not available on any of the others, though several of the songs can be heard live at the group's annual performance, this upcoming weekend at The Little Theatre.