INTERVIEW WITH... DEAN FRASER

How did you start your musical career ?
I started playing at 15 in a top ten band, The Sonny Bradshaw Seven, a popular cover band. I liked reggae, but also jazz and R&B from the 60s or 70s, which allowed me to blend in with the group. We played music for dancing in hotels or for private functions or private clubs on weekends. It was really a great experience, we did covers of very well rearranged songs because our conductor came from a big-band, an old-fashioned jazz group. We played other musical genres : jazz, ska, rocksteady... I learned a lot about live performances. We recorded the album "Jamaica Roots" in 1975 on which I was also a singer on the covers of Burning Spear and Johnny Clarke.

You, then joined the We The People band.
Yes, I joined the group of Lloyd Parks in 1977. It was fantastic to play with him, we backed a lot of greatest artists. It was Nambo Robinson who invited me to join them. I had known him since the age of 12, he was like my big brother. He taught me everything musically, but also in life, he taught me to drive, to flirt with girls (laughs)... I regret his disappearance every day.

You also worked with Dennis Brown, what are your memories of him?
Dennis Brown was one of the best people I've toured with, we bonded, he was like a brother. We had great times together. He was always fun. I had the chance to work on several of his albums, such as those produced by Joe Gibbs, "Wolves & Leopards" in 1977 and "Words of Wisdom" in 1979 which are classics of reggae music.

About Joe Gibbs, he was the one who produced your first solo album, Black Horn Man, in 1978. How did that happen?
Sound engineer Errol Thompson wanted to experiment with me. I was a young instrumentalist, who didn't know much about it. Errol had great faith in me, which led us to start this project. It was a good experience that allowed me to grow musically.



Some time later, you recorded the album "Touch of Dean" for Donovan Germain's Revolutionary Sounds label. How did you meet him?
I was doing a session for Sonia Pottinger at Duke Reid's studio. Donovan Germain and Gussie Clarke came to the studio. I was really young then. We got along well and since then, I have always worked with him. By the way, right after this interview, I'm going to Penthouse studio to record !

Can you tell us about this album recorded with The Revolutionaries?
Donovan Germain thought I was young, unique and special and he wanted to be part of this adventure. It's that simple.



Since then, you have not stopped recording for Donovan Germain for his other labels, Germain Records then Penthouse Records. What is special about him ?
I'm also a co-producer with Donovan. I think he has exactly what he wants to sound like. He excels in quality. He is not an ordinary person because he knows what he wants.

Donovan Germain released in 1997 another album, entitled "Collectors Series" with the big Penthouse riddims sublimated by your sax. Can you tell us a bit about this album?
We were both in the studio and we had plenty of good tracks available. Donovan said it needed to be an instrumental album. It's always been a tradition to do instrumentals in Jamaica and that's why we made this album.



You have a busy career as a producer too.
I discovered young singers who understood the music and what I was doing, so I decided to work with them. We had good results, even excellent results. I have worked with Morgan Heritage since they were children. When I recorded "Down by the River" with them, it felt like we were working as a family. Tarrus Riley and Duane Stephenson asked me to produce them. I had known Tarrus since he was little because I was friend with his father Jimmy Riley.

You have often sung along with the saxophone.
There has never been a moment in my career when I haven't sung. I didn't introduce myself as a singer because I really wasn't. But I could be. I'm a bit like Van McCoy who did a lot of R&B productions before deciding to record his own vocal album which became a big hit. I also topped the reggae charts in 1988 for about 13 weeks with the track "Girlfriend", a Bobby Brown cover. I also sang "Concrete Castle King" in 1975, a song written by guitarist Lloyd Willis (who later wrote "Murder She Wrote"), which would be covered and popularized by Dennis Brown a few years later.

Could you share some highlights that marked your career?
I'm still playing so I still have some highlights to come ! I just wanna play music until it's time for me to go. I did a lot of memorable concerts like the Reggae Sunsplash in 1981 where I played "Redemption Song" solo, shortly after Bob Marley's death or the Reggae Splash in England in 1985 where I played the same track or the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland in 1979 with Peter Tosh, Dennis Brown and Steel Pulse. I am also very proud, as a young rasta at the time, to have had the opportunity to record with Bob Marley the title "Wake Up And Live" on his album "Survival".

How do you imagine the future of reggae music in Jamaica?
We will always have good reggae music here in Jamaica because there are a lot of good artists. I'm faithful to this music. It's our duty to ensure that this music endures and that we pass it on to the younger generation.