Mel Cooke, Freelance Writer

When 'Booyaka!' takes place at the Mas Camp, Oxford Road, New Kingston, on Saturday, December 1, do not expect to see any of the persons whose music is being played to be in the audience or with a microphone.

At least, not in the flesh.

Sandra Rose of Yardrose Inc., which is putting on 'Booyaka!', launched officially at the Devonshire Restaurant, Devon House, last Wednesday, told The Gleaner that "the music that will be played will be only music of deceased artistes.

"We call it a new concept in events, where we will honour the artistes who have left a legacy," she said.

Variety of artistes

And she points out that there are a lot to choose from, tossing out the names of an all-Jamaican line-up, beginning with the big three of Dennis Brown, Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. Then there are Agustus Pablo, Tenor Saw and Junior Delgado, with Dirtsman, Panhead and Slim Smith whose music is among the possibilities for 'Booyaka!'.

"It is really tremendous," Rose said of the body of music which the selectors and sound systems will have to choose from, come December 1.

Merritone Music, Kilamanjaro and Black Scorpio will play in the official showtime from 9:00 p.m. onwards, with Melody One setting the pace for those who come in from the gates open at 7:00 p.m.

'Booyaka!' had been slated for September 1, but was postponed due to the general election. Then, of course, there was Hurricane Dean. There would have been more sound systems if the tribute event had been held earlier. Rose tells The Gleaner that King Jammys and Stur-Gav had been on the line-up, but have other commitments on December 1.

She said, "We are talking to the sound men to see if they are comfortable playing blocks of artistes or mixing it up. A number of the sound men may have specials from an artiste so it may work that way (segments of music from one artiste) and we are looking at it to see how best it would work."

She points out: "It is certainly not a sound clash. If the vibes is good there is nothing wrong with one (sound) trying to outdo the other."

'Booyaka!' came out of a documentary that Rose is working on, which looks at deceased popular Jamaican performers. She said "when I put the list together, it was amazing", as she came up with about 50. And there were many who were left off, including Brent Dowe of The Melodians.

"It is important to keep the legacy. When I was looking for the information there were not many sources. We want to help to document the history in Jamaica," she said. Rose also said that "we are helping Alpha (Boy's School). They are lobbying to the government to become the Alpha Learning Centre."

She is not sure if 'Booyaka!' will be an annual event, as "after the first one we will know if it makes sense. The support we have been getting is just tremendous and we feel that people are interested in the event as a yearly one. There is even some interest from overseas. People in the Caribbean want to have it there, as well as the United Kingdom where many of the artistes spent some time."