When I started down the path of helping to share vintage songs and stories that were still so vibrant and alive to me despite their recording dates and level of commercial success, little did I realize that I would encounter so much loss in the process. Even 20 years ago, when I began this journey professionally, artists like the late, great, keyboard king, Jackie Mittoo had already passed on, but since then we have lost so many more talented musicians who have enriched, not only their families, but communities, greater society, and the world at large. Fostering and celebrating these connections and sparks, between generations and cultures, is the pulse that runs through my work in-and-with music.
Other than knowing that he is no longer suffering, it is with great sadness that I have learnt of the passing of St. Thomas, Jamaican-born musician, vocalist, composer, and good friend, Lloyd Delpratt. Having spent this past summer producing a long overdue revive of the 2006 Jamaica to Toronto: Soul, Funk, & Reggae 1967-74 compilation for Light in the Attic Records, in which Lloyd’s original composition “Together” is featured, I had reached out yet again, as I often have, for clarity straight from the source, and to let him know that I had just started reading his recently published book, What Is Your Name? A Memoir, Lloyd's first. As a fellow writer, I was extremely proud of him for such a crucial accomplishment.
Since our first meeting, while working on a 2004 reissue of Wayne McGhie & The Sounds of Joy, an album on which he plays, Lloyd has been very supportive of my work: encouraging, affirming, not to mention helpful, while asking for nothing in return. His belief in my efforts will always mean the world to me. And to hear Lloyd play live along with many of his peers in front of an audience of thousands at the initial, landmark, Jamaica to Toronto Harbourfront Centre reunion concert in the Summer of 2006 was the thrill of a lifetime. Our last in-person meeting was in the Spring of 2022 when we journeyed together into the downtown core, after a stop at Voluntary In Nature HQ, to visit the Rhythms & Resistance exhibit at Friar's Music Museum (housed on the second floor of the Shoppers Drug Mart on the southeast corner of Sankofa Square). It was great to see an example of his work, a copy of Lloyd’s 1971 Summus label 7” single, present and in such good company. During a heathy lunch, and in cab rides across town, Lloyd told me of his younger days, experiencing the original Skatalites in Jamaica in the early 1960s with such vividness that I felt that I was in the room with them, his family, of which he always spoke of warmly, Wayne McGhie, his old Sounds of Joy bandmate, and his current creative initiatives and life in general.
Lloyd, our forthcoming Jamaica to Toronto re-release is dedicated to you. I will champion your sound forever… LOVE
