Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer

ByronLee

CONTROVERSY HAS always surrounded Byron Lee's place in the history of Jamaican popular music. Critics said he never used his resources to promote Jamaican music while those close to him credit his musical and business instincts for his longevity.

Lee died yesterday at the Tony Thwaites Wing of the University Hospital of the West Indies, after a yearlong fight with transitional cell cancer. He had been diagnosed with bladder cancer two years ago.

Lee, who was 73 years old, is survived by his wife Sheila and six children.

Former Prime Minister Edward Seaga, a long-time friend of Lee, said he had no equal when it came to using music to merge Jamaican society.

"What I note most about Byron is that he was the ambassador who took downtown music uptown; that was the ska," Seaga told The Gleaner yesterday. "Then he created a festival which brought uptown and downtown together again. That's quite an achievement," Seaga added.

Seaga was instrumental in bringing Lee and his band, the Dragonaires, to Cho-Como Lawn in west Kingston. There, they learned the rudiments of ska, a jazz-based sound that was sweeping Kingston.

Radio-friendly hits

The Dragonaires won over middle-class fans by playing in swanky clubs, and with radio-friendly hits like Jamaican Ska. In 1990, one of Lee's biggest goals was realised when he started Jamaica Carnival - a week-long festival that celebrates its 20th anniversary next year.

"He told me once that was his greatest achievement (Jamaica Carnival). He said he was thrilled when he saw how big the crowds were," said Kevin O'Brien Chang, co-author of the book, Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music.

Lee was born in Christiana, Manchester, son of a father from Kowloon, China, and a black Jamaican mother. He moved to Kingston at age eight and although he had some early training as a pianist, it was not until he began attending St George's College that music really became his focus.

It was at St George's that the Dragonaires was formed in 1957. Two years later, they had a big hit song with Dumplings, produced by Seaga for his West Indies Records Limited (WIRL).

In 1964, the Dragonaires were chosen as the backing band for Millie Small, Jimmy Cliff and Eric 'Monty' Morris at the World's Fair in New York City.

Many thought The Skatalites - the premier ska band - should have been given the gig.

Lee consistently played down his role as a ska pioneer.

"I would never take credit for being one of ska's creators but we helped to shape the music," he is quoted as saying in Reggae Routes.

Trinidad Carnival

As ska evolved into rocksteady then reggae, Lee drifted from Jamaican pop music. The Dragonaires scored heavily with calypso songs and regularly played events like Trinidad Carnival alongside his great friend, The Mighty Sparrow.

With Jamaica Carnival, Lee returned to the domestic music scene. The Dragonaires had hit songs with dancehall acts like Admiral Bailey, while big-name performers such as Shaggy and Sean Paul have performed at the event.

Lee was also a shrewd businessman. During the early 1960s, he bought WIRL and transformed it into the hugely successful Dynamic Sounds, which became the largest music distributor in the Caribbean.

Big acts like the Rolling Stones and Paul Simon recorded at Dynamic's studios in the early 1970s.

On October 26, Byron Lee was awarded the Order of Jamaica, the country's fourth-highest honour, during a special ceremony at the Tony Thwaites Wing. Seaga said it was just reward.

"Byron was a pathfinder; he may not have been a composer like a lot of the reggae greats, but he certainly blazed a trail," Seaga said.

Seaga - "What I note most about Byron is that he was the ambassador who took downtown music uptown. Then he created a festival which brought uptown and downtown together again."

Chang - "He told me once that Jamaica Carnival was his greatest achievement - he was thrilled when he saw how big the crowds were."