By Adrian Frater, News EditorWESTERN BUREAU:
FOLLOWING A meeting between Jamaican and US interest groups in Miami, Florida, last Thursday, all is now set for the 11th staging of 'Tribute to Peter Tosh', in the United States between October 19-26, marking the first time the event will be held outside of Jamaica.
"We have carefully worked out all the details and we can now say that 'Tribute to Peter Tosh' will be staged in Miami this year," said Eddy Edwards, of the Miami-based Jamaica Awareness Organisation, which has joined forces with original promoters King of Kings, to stage this year's event. "We will now be moving into a full preparation mode."
Like in all its previous stagings, 'Tribute to Peter Tosh 2003', which will span the week of October 19-26, will embrace signature events such as Tosh's birthday party, a film festival, the Peter Tosh Symposium and the Tribute to Tosh Concert, which have all been associated with the event over the years. "The birthday party will take place on October 19 (Tosh's actual birthday) at Chris Blackwell's Marlin Hotel, in Miami Beach," said Worrell King, the Chief Executive Officer of King of Kings Promotion. "The film festival will be on October 22 at the Florida International University, the same venue for the annual Symposium, set for October 24. The concert will take place at Bayfront Park Amphi-theatre on Sunday, October 26."
While the concert looks set to take centre-stage, the annual symposium, which is designed to showcase Tosh's life and works in totality- music, philosophy and his uncompromising stance on all matters relating to 'equal rights and justice', should also hold much significance as the promoters seeks to project the legendary man as much more than just a musical icon.
"Like in former years, we have a strong panel of intellectuals and musical aficionados to share their knowledge and perspective on Tosh," said King. "We already have confirmation from Dr. Omar Davies, Jamaica's Minister of Finance, University of the West Indies lecturer Dr. Clinton Hutton, Tosh's former manager Copeland Forbes and journalist I. Jabulani Tafari."
The concert, which will end the week of activities, promises to be a mammoth affair. South African superstar Lucky Dube, a Peter Tosh-sound-alike, will headline the package, which will also include Tosh's musical son Andrew, and fellow reggae artistes Half Pint, Tony Rebel, Everton Blender, Edi Fitzroy and Nadine Sutherland. SANE (Sound Against Negative Expression) will provide backing services.
"This year's event is like a duplication of what we have been doing over the years," said King. "It is about putting on a high quality event to showcase the life and works of a man who has contributed so much but has gained so little in terms of respect and meaningful recognition."
