As creative producer of outstanding events, we are committed to working together with partners to deliver exciting programmes for audiences to enjoy and get involved in, so we can grow culturally diverse communities. Read on to find out about our continuing partnership with Trojan Records and our programme The Reggae Ticket
Established in 1968 in West London, Trojan Records was the first label to distribute the music of Jamaica on a large scale and became for many in the UK the first point of contact with Jamaican music and culture, and a meeting place for young people who celebrated in sound what united rather than divided them.
Jazz Jamaica All Stars honour this rich legacy with The Trojan Story, bringing the music of Trojan Records to communities across the UK. It pays tribute to the music and artists who have made a massive contribution to the extraordinary phenomenon that was Trojan Records, celebrating cultural diversity in the UK and indeed, the world. After a successful tour in 2018, The Trojan Story is back on the road. It’s already been to Birmingham and Bristol where it was received jubilantly by audiences reflecting the full spectrum of people this music has touched. In Bristol they called it “a night to remember” and “an instant party”.
Alongside The Trojan Story, Tomorrow’s Warriors is running The Reggae Ticket – an exciting community music and culture outreach programme. Supported by Arts Council England National Lottery funding, The Reggae Ticket takes The Trojan Story into the community, and gives secondary school age young people, community choirs and ensembles the opportunity to enjoy, celebrate and learn about the music, culture and heritage of the iconic Trojan Records label while sharing the story across the generations.
The Reggae Ticket is Tomorrow’s Warriors’ most ambitious project yet and aims to reach even more young people than The Jazz Ticket, that worked with 700+ young musicians across 54 schools in eight cities.
Ahead of The Trojan Story tour dates in Manchester (27 March) and Liverpool (28 March), Jazz Jamaica All Stars’ Gary Crosby, Noel McCoy and Brinsley Forde got together to discuss what The Trojan Story means to them.
It is clear that The Trojan Story is more to them than just the music. As Noel McCoy said “It’s just the story of what the music has really done – it’s really been the backdrop to our lives. If it wasn’t through that label, Trojan, would we have all these stories?”
Brinsley Forde reflected on some of his favourite Trojan tracks from their first compilation record: “The tracks that were on those albums still sound so amazing to this moment. I remember one of my favourite tracks on that album was Moonlight Lover by Joy Allan. I think Liquidator was on there. There was another one…’Long Shot Kicked the Bucket’, which I couldn’t understand at first, you know, I had to grow up first to understand it was a horse race, because I was always aware of these double meanings.”
Gary Crosby emphasises the importance of the music in uniting people at that time: “It was the first time really in the history of British society where you suddenly had people of all cultures. For a lot of young English youth that was the first time they got into this music. It was suddenly this unifying force, nothing like what had been out there before. You had the then skinheads, which is not how the skinheads are projected nowadays, they were young teenagers at the other end of Mods and Rockers. You had that mixture of clothing where you would have the Pork Pie hats and the Crombies, and then they started wearing the two-tone and brogues. It was the first time that the black culture had influenced or had put its influence in London.”
The Trojan Story
Due to Coronovirus, we are currently rescheduling and hope to let you know the new dates as soon as possible.
Royal Northern College of Music, Box office: 0161 834 1786
Liverpool Philharmonic, Box office: 0151 709 3789
Edinburgh Assembly Hall, Box office: 0131 220 4348
Sage Gateshead, Box office: 0191 443 4661
London Southbank Centre, Box office: 020 3879 9555