Dean Fraser

Dean Fraser 2008 in Birmingham

Dean Fraser (also: Dean Frazer ; full name: Dean Fraser Ivanhoe ; * 4. August 1957 in Kingston (Jamaica) ) is a Jamaican reggae - saxophonist . Since the beginning of his career in the late 1970s, he has accompanied numerous important reggae musicians on hundreds of recordings and live performances as a brass musician.

life and career

As a teenager, Dean Fraser began to play the clarinet before he was introduced to the saxophone by his teacher Babe O'Brian. He got to know Ronald “Nambo” Robinson and Junior “Chico” Chin early on, with whom he formed a wind group that was one of the best in Jamaica from the 1980s onwards. Fraser played in various bands since the early 1970s, with whom he had certain success in smaller gigs. Since the mid-1970s he participated in the first recordings. The first major came about in 1977 after Fraser joined Lloyd Parks' We the People Band , who accompanied Dennis Brown on some of the recordings produced by Joe Gibbs. The following year, producer Gibbs recorded Fraser's first album, Black Horn Man , released under his own name . Other early Dean Fraser albums were made in 1979 with Pure Horns and Double Dynamite , then in 1980 Revolutionary Sounds with producer Donovan Germain .

The brass trio Fraser, Robinson and Chin collaborated with Bob Marley and the Wailers on the 1979 album Survival . Fraser had a solo on the song Wake Up and Live and was mentioned on the album under Special Thanks to: as a participant. Fraser was just in his early twenties at the time, he was still called Dean "Youth" Fraser. Bob Marley always remained Fraser's idol, to whom he is musically connected. At the Reggae Sunsplash 1981, shortly after Bob Marley's death, Fraser played an instrumental version of Marley's Redemption Song in memory of him , the performance also brought Fraser a hit with audiences and greater fame as a solo artist. In the mid-1990s, Fraser released the albums Dean Plays Bob and Dean Plays Bob, Volume II in honor of the reggae legend .

In the decades since the 1980s, Fraser has always brought out numerous records as a solo artist; The saxophonist developed his even more formative effect on Jamaican music as an accompaniment to other reggae musicians and bands. Since the late 1970s, Fraser has accompanied many of the big names in reggae and dancehall as a studio musician : including Peter Tosh ( Mama Africa , 1983), Israel Vibration , Sly & Robbie , Jimmy Cliff , The Melodians , Bunny Wailer , Gregory Isaacs and John Holt . Fraser worked in 1983 at the LP Anthem of Black Uhuru with, worked in 1987 with Yellowman together on dont't Burn It Down and 1989 with Mutabaruka on his album Any Which Way ... Freedom . He played the saxophone for Burning Spear and Eek-A-Mouse as well as for lover rocker Maxi Priest and the British dub band Dub Syndicate ( Ital Breakfast , 1996). As a session musician, Fraser has also participated in productions of many well-known dancehall musicians from the 1990s and representatives of modern roots to the present day: Among them Buju Banton ( Mr. Mention , 1994), Beenie Man ( Maestro , 1996), Sizzla , Anthony B , Luciano , Capleton and Damian “Jr. Gong "Marley ( Welcome to Jamrock , 2005). Fraser accompanied Garnett Silk , Morgan Heritage , Beres Hammond , and he also appeared on the 2010 album Diversity by German reggae musician Gentleman . From 1988 Fraser also worked as the vocal arranger for the producer Augustus "Gussie" Clarke and his Music Works Studios and was involved in recordings by Gregory Isaacs, Cocoa Tea , Freddie McGregor and Dennis Brown, among others .

As a saxophonist, Fraser accompanied other musicians not only in the studio, but also on stage; he performed with Sly & Robbie as early as the 1980s. In the 1990s, Fraser and the 809 Band toured Europe several times with various reggae artists, including Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott and Beres Hammond. In 2014 he was part of the live band for the recordings for the MTV Unplugged album by Gentleman in Cologne.

Honors

• 1993: Musgrave Medal
• 2009: Order of Distinction , Officer Class (OD)

Discography (selection)

• Black Horn Man (1978)
• Pure Horns (1979)
• Double Dynamite (1979)
• Revolutionary Sounds (1980)
• A Touch of Sax (1982)
• Pumping Air (1984)
• Big Bad Sax (1988)
• Dean Fraser Sings and Blows (1988)
• Moonlight ( VP Records , 1991)
• Call on Dean (VP Records, 1991)
• Taking Chances (RAS Records, 1992)
• Dean Plays Bob (RAS Records, 1994)
• Mystical Sax (1995)
• The Verdict (VP Records, 1996)
• Dean Plays Bob, Volume II (RAS Records, 1996)
• Jesus Loves Me (1997)
• Slow Melodies (VP Records, 1997)
• Big up! ( Island Records , 1998)
• Sax of Life (VP Records, 2003)

Web links

• Dean Fraser at Allmusic by Sandra Brennan
• rebelbase.de: Interview with Dean Fraser (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Gentleman - MTV Unplugged: Album, Video & Tour Dates. (No longer available online.) In: www.gentleman-music.com. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016 ; accessed on March 17, 2016 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
2. ↑ National Civil Honors and Awards 2009 ( Memento of the original from September 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Office of the Prime Minister. Retrieved April 4, 2011.