Funeral Arrangements for Cedella Marley Booker

The funeral arrangements for Cedella Marley Booker, mother of Reggae icon Bob Marley, are set to take place in Jamaica, between Sunday, April 27 and Monday, April 28. Mother Booker, as she was affectionately known, died on Tuesday, April 8 at her South Miami, Florida home. She was 81 years old.

The two day activities surrounding the celebration of her life and achievements will commence with a public viewing at the National Arena in Kingston on Sunday, April 27 between 10 a.m. and 3:p.m., and the funeral service at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on Monday, April 28 commencing at 8:00 a.m.

At the public viewing on Sunday, musicians and singers will pay tribute to her love of music and her achievements. The final service will take place at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church on Maxfield Avenue, commencing at 8:00 a.m., where the service will be officiated by Father Haile Malekat Dobson, Administrator of the Ethopian Orthodox Church in Jamaica. The procession will then journey to Nine Miles for the interment where she will be laid to rest in the garden next to her son’s Masoleum.

Cedella Marley Booker has recorded solo and collaboration albums, performed in the U.S., Jamaica, Europe, Mexico, and Africa, and authored a book, Bob Marley, My Son.

Mother B is well known for her philanthropy both in Jamaica, the wider Caribbean and in South Florida. She has adopted the Basic School at Nine Mile in St. Ann, renamed the Cedella Marley Booker Academy. Both Mrs. Booker and her son Bob Marley were born in Nine Miles. She is also associated with Rhoden Hall Basic School and Eight Mile Basic School in St. Ann.

Her son Richard Booker said of his mother: “My mother is a rare woman, loved by everyone she met. I know that she is in the hands of Jah and will never be forgotten here on earth.”
A Rastafarian by faith, Cedella Booker showed the world a peacefulness and love that she openly shared with all those who surrounded her. In the spirit of Bob Marley, Mother Booker founded Movement of Jah People, an organization that benefits the underprivileged in South Florida and the Caribbean.

She is survived by daughter Pearl Livingston, son Richard Booker, daughters-in-law Rita Marley and Sharien Fogle-Booker, nieces, nephews, 14 grandchildren, and 49 great-grandchildren.

VP RECORDS OPENS IT VAULTS AT 17 NORTH PARADE

For the first time ever VP Records is opening its immense vaults of Reggae, Dancehall and Soca/Calypso to all collectors and music enthusiasts through their new imprint '17 North Parade'.

The history of 17 North Parade begun over 40 years ago, when reggae pioneers Vincent Chin and his wife Patricia moved their record store to 17 North Parade a former ice cream parlour in downtown Kingston. It quickly became the centre of the burgeoning reggae music scene distributing foreign and local music throughout the island.

Above the new store they constructed a recording studio aptly called 'Randy's Studio 17' which became the recording facility of choice for the majority of Reggae's most prominent artists, writers and producers. 'Randy's Studio 17' played host to Bob Marley & The Wailers who recorded parts of Catch A Fire there, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Bunny Lee, Niney The Observer, as well as foreign artists looking for the authentic reggae sound such as Quincy Jones and Joe Cocker.

It is a well-known fact that 'Randy's Studio 17' had one of if not the largest catalogues of Reggae, Dancehall and Soca/Calypso music in the world. These catalogues have been amassed over many decades between the 60s and 90s and are now being made available to the public. Rare tracks, that in the past could only be listened to on vinyl, have now been digitally re-mastered and are available on CD, giving an even better sound than the original releases.

The first set of re-mastered tracks from the VP Records' 17 North Parade vaults were released in early 2007 and include Culture & Don Carlos Roots & Culture (1982), Yellowman & Fathead Just Cool (1982), Toyan Spar With Me (1982) Little John Ghetto Youth (1983) and Zap Pow (1973). These releases are a collectors dream and are a perfect gift for all those who love vintage music.

This is the first time in the history of Reggae and Dancehall that fans can get such a quality supply of local music from 'back in the day' at one place. These tracks are not available anywhere else and boast the quality unsurpassed by today's music.

VP Record's 17 North Parade will release two albums every month in 2008. Collectors can look out for Byron Lee and the Dragonairs and works from great reggae producers such as Augustus 'Gussie' Clarke Donovan Germain, Lloyd 'King Jammys' James, Sly & Robbie and Joe Gibbs who worked with pioneering engineer Errol Thompson.

URL - http://www.17northparade.com/

Source - Alykhat PR
Date - November 1, 2007

Marley Brothers Shine at Smile Jamaica

The Marley Brothers delivered a spirited and lively set at the historic combined Smile Jamaica-Africa Unite concert. The long night into the morning was marked by countless notable performances in honour of Bob Marley and his vision.

A feel of eager anticipation gripped the crowd that gathered at the beach minutes to the 8pm scheduled show time as images of Bob Marley and Rastafari on flags floated in the wind bringing a mystic touch to the venue. Crowds trailed in throughout the night awaiting the best in International and local acts. 2 Face Idibia from Eastern Nigeria soulfully hailed his African Queens as he expressed his deep love for Jamaica and Bob Marley.

Veteran Bunny Wailer gave one of his most energetic and appreciated performances in a while blazing with his older hits. It was when American soul crooner John Legend took the stage that the venue came together as one to hear Legend wow the crowd. Women flocked to Legend’s glowing white appearance like moth to a flame as he melodically sand Save Room, Ordinary People, Stay With You and more even inviting one lucky lady on stage as he serenaded her. Legend’s skills on the piano were not lost as well with a huge grand piano placed in the centre of the stage as teased the keys.

After a slight break Barbadian singer turned pop icon Rihanna looked daring in a short green and gold number. Rihanna looked ecstatic to be on the Jamaican stage as she caressed the mic, flipped her short hair and gave a little whine now and again. Rihanna entered on stage to her rendition of Bob Marley’s Is This Love before going into tracks from her Good Girl Gone Bad album. Singing Breaking Dishes and Shut Up and Drive Rihanna went into her International hit song with Jay Z Umbrella that did not fail in having audiences singing along.

While the concert was going good an extremely long band change had some patrons filing out of the venue having seen the two International acts. Close to an hour later Ziggy Marley embraced the Jamaican stage after a five-year absence. Ziggy was in his element playing his guitar and singing songs from his Melody Makers days to his latest solo effort Love Is My Religion.

Some patrons were well into Ziggy’s performance while others rocked and some obviously wanted the show to continue. Ziggy gave more than half an hour’s worth of songs before making way for his brothers at minutes to 5am. Ky-mani, Stephen, Julian and Damian then hit the stage as patrons again moved towards the stage. Singing songs from their father such as War, Roots Rock Reggae and others the brothers were excellent.

It was when Damian ‘Junior Gong’ Marley took over the mic that the venue exploded with energy. Damian and Stephen got together for Traffic Jam, Beautiful and The Mission that had hands flying in the air. He also touched on Pimper’s Paradise and Welcome to Jamrock before welcoming Mykal Rose on stage for their song Shoot Out. The energy on stage at this point was explosive as they wined down and droves of patrons left the venue after the Marley’s performance.

For those that stayed after 6am there were more surprises from spectacular artistes. The showings from the remaining artistes were short with many performing about three tracks each. Elephant Man performed to recorded tracks, with Chris Brown as his surprise guest. A smiling Brown took off his shirt to showcase his toned body to the pleasure of the women. Short but electrifying stints then followed from Spragga Benz, Etana, Lutan Fyah, Richie Spice and Tarrus Riley who mixed Bob Marley’s music into his song Backbiter.

Sizzla gave a more extended showing at the end, combining with Capleton to close off the concert. As Bob’s legend continues, Smile Jamaica will return on February 28, 2009.

Source - Headline Entertainment
Date - February 29, 2008

Marley Still Giving

Tuff Gong International made a donation of much needed items to the Bustamante Hospital for Children at an intimate informal presentation on Wednesday, October 3. The donation was one of several contributions that Tuff Gong has made to health and education sectors recently.

Representing Tuff Gong International at the presentation was Donisha Prendergast, granddaughter of the late Rt. Hon. Robert Nesta Marley, founder of Tuff Gong International. Also on hand for the presentation was Sister Lorna Wainwright of Tuff Gong International. The donation to the Bustamante Children’s Hospital consisted of bedside chairs and a Mayo table for Ward Two Surgical. The donation has help to facilitate the re-opening of the newly renovated operating rooms at the hospital.

At the Victoria Jubilee Hospital, Tuff Gong International contributed two incubators for the premature nursery at the hospital. The incubators were desperately needed and much appreciated by the administration of the hospital, regarded as the leading hospital for pre-natal care and births.

Extending to education, the Marley Family has again generously assisted several families with their back to school expenses for the 2007 academic year. As a part of the contribution to the education sector, eight students from Stephney Primary and Junior High School were the recipients of the Bob Marley Trust Scholarships to attend Ferncourt, Brown’s Town, Yorke Castle, Abuthnott Gallimore, Marcus Garvey and Calabar High Schools as part of their continuing education.

Children of staff members of the Bob Marley Group of Companies, of which Tuff Gong International is a member, also received assistance with cash grants as well as school books issued through the company’s Book Club.

The Bob Marley Group of Companies consists of the Bob Marley Foundation, The Rita Marley Foundation, Tuff Gong International and URGE, all of which have charitable arms which endeavor to keep the legacy of Bob Marley alive.

Source - Headline Entertainment