Jamaica’s Reggae Month 2021 will come to a star-studded finale at 9pm EST on Sunday night, February 28th when world renowned vocalist Beres Hammond and his band take the stage for an exclusive concert event before a virtual audience, live streamed via the star’s Facebook page (www.fcebook.com/bereshamondofficial), the VP Records YouTube page (www.youtube.com/vprecords), on national television in Jamaica and several other social media platforms (#reggaemonth2021).
The free event titled Love From A Distance was conceived by Mr. Hammond as a gift to fans during the COVID 19 lock-downs that have kept him away from the stage for almost a year. Speaking from his studios at Harmony House, Beres emphasized “let’s stay apart to stay together. You have inspired me after not being with you for over a year. The best thing we can do is ‘love from a distance.’”
Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia “Babsy” Grange, was full of praise for Beres stepping up to the plate and scoring a big one for Reggae Month. “Jamaica is truly indebted to all our artistes and their support teams for giving so generously of their talent and services to make Reggae Month 2021 a resounding success. When the likes of Beres Hammond steps forward in this way, you know we are doing something right. This kind of collaboration is good for the music and Jamaica.”
“We’re excited to be a part of this event,” said Christopher Chin, CEO of VP Records, “This is the first time Beres will do his full show with the live streaming element and I know he’s planning to make it special.”
Surprise guests and other highlights are planned for the occasion. The broadcast is produced through a partnership with Harmony House Music, VP Records and Frame By Frame Productions, in association with the Reggae Month Secretariat in Jamaica’s Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport.
Reggae Month, the only month-long Reggae Festival in the world, got going on January 31 with a church service at Kingston’s Fellowship Tabernacle, led by the affable pastor Al Miller. Since then it has seen a rich diet of roots, rocking Reggae activities on Sundays from 3pm and Mondays to Saturdays from 6pm each evening.
Activities throughout the month includes Reggae Symposia (under the banner – Reggae University Series), Mega Concerts, culturally themed presentations and Awards Ceremonies.
The schedule of events was presented by the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism. Leading partners are the Chase Fund, the Jamaica Tourist Board, the Tourism Enhancement Fund, and the CPTC with additional support from international media partners Reggaeville, Reggae Festival Guide, Surf a Reggae and Riddim Agency. Media Entities in Jamaica led by the RJR Communications Group, Gleaner, Observer and Irie FM are giving invaluable support to Reggae Month.
Real time updates about Reggae Month are available on the Reggae Jamaica Mobile App which can be downloaded free of cost from the Google or the Apple Store.
About Beres Hammond:
Over the course of a 40-year career, Beres has poured his smoky-sweet voice—an instrument of subtlety and power reminiscent of an Otis Redding or a Teddy Pendergrass—over every kind of riddim track, from the funked-up reggae jams of the ’70s fusion band Zap Pow to the lush instrumentation of his 1976 album Soul Reggae to the spare digital beat of his 1985 dancehall breakthrough “What One Dance Can Do.” Cuts like “Tempted To Touch” and “Who Say” with Buju Banton are still as effective in the dancehall today as they were as pre-releases. The ’90s were the decade for Hammond’s breakthrough, during which he blazed a trail of modern classics for a variety of producers, from the strugglers’ anthem “Putting Up Resistance” (Tappa) to lovers’ laments like “Come Back Home” (Star Trail) and “Double Trouble” (Steely & Clevie).
Beres’s sophisticated musical taste and initiable delivery is well suited to translate easily across cultural divides, yet the international reggae massive has remained his most loyal fan base.