The fourth Annual Don Drummond Symposium takes place on Saturday, May 10, 2003 at the Social Sciences Lecture Theatre (SSLT), the University of the West Indies, beginning with registration at 9:30 a.m.  This year’s symposium focuses on the lives and works of pioneers of DJ music, Count Machuki, King Stitt and U-Roy.  Count Machuki (Winston Cooper), operated the historic Jamaican sound system making ingenious use of the aesthetic traditions of Jamaican verbal arts.  He was also influenced by the disc jockey as well as the Swing, Jazz and Rhythm and Blues expressions of the United States of America and created in the process, a modern, popular, verbal-music art form.  It was, however, King Stitt and U-Roy, disciples of Machuki, who pioneered this art form into a viable entity beyond the immediate confines of its indigenous space, the dance hall.

The symposium will honour these cultural icons and explore their lives and works intellectually.  The keynote speaker is Dr. Maureen Warner-Lewis, Professor of African-Caribbean Language and Orature in the Department of Literatures in English, at UWI, Mona. Other presenters include Dr. Clinton Hutton, Lecturer in the Department of Government, UWI; Mr. Jalani Niaah and Mrs. Sonjah Stanley-Niaah, Doctoral Candidates in Cultural Studies, UWI; Mr. Clyde McKenzie, Director, Shocking Vibes Production Limited; Mr. Derrick Harriott, Singer, Song Writer, Producer, Businessman; and Professor Carolyn Cooper, Head of the Department of Literatures in English and the Reggae Studies Unit, UWI.   The public is invited to attend and to participate in this symposium.

A live musical tribute to Count Machuki, King Stitt and U-Roy begins at 8:00 p.m. at the Students Union, UWI.  It features, in concert, U Roy, King Stitt, Lone Ranger, Beenie Man, Tanya Stephens a