Joseph "Jo-Jo" Bennett RIP (1940-2021)

It's safe to say that the world will never host another gem of a person quite like Kingston, Jamaica-born Joseph "Jo-Jo" Bennett, who, according to family, passed away in his sleep on August 3rd. Jo-Jo was a musician, teacher, family man, Rasta man, bandleader, connector, entertainer, and a true force of nature. With help from the man himself, I pieced together the following bio of Jo-Jo's musical migration for 2004's Jamaica to Toronto compilation. There is a very good reason why "Fugitive Song" was the album's first track... Bennett will always lead the way...

"Joseph “Jo-Jo” Bennett began his musical career at the esteemed Alpha Boys’ School in Kingston, Jamaica, over sixty-five years ago. His mastery of the trumpet, jubilant stage presence, and eagle eye soon caught the attention of prominent bandleader Byron Lee who quickly snapped up the young player for his busy group, The Dragonaires. Performing all over the Caribbean, it wasn’t long before Lee offered Bennett and long-time friend, lyricist, and business partner Owen “Bunny” Stone an opportunity that they couldn't refuse, a small label of their own where the duo could develop talent and release their own material. The label was named Fugitive in tribute to the popular American television show starring actor David Janssen which aired from 1963-1967.

The original “Fugitive Song”—there are two separate recording sessions of the song released on vinyl—was captured in 1967 with Stone and members of The Dragonaires during the same sessions that produced “The Lecture” and a rocksteady version of Herbie Hancock’s “Cantaloupe Island” dubbed “Cantelope Rock.” “I came up with the lyrics inside of the studio,” explained Stone. “They go, ‘All over the country I work and I live and that's why, that’s why they call Jo-Jo, the Fugitive.’ That was describing a lifestyle which was his and partially mine.” Leaving Jamaica to travel with The Dragonaires to Montreal for Expo 67, the trumpet dynamo decided to remain in Canada after the world’s fair. He sought out potential work in Toronto (542 kilometers south-west), and immediately befriended Kermit and Kingsley Lyn of the West Indian Federation [W.I.F] Club. After a short stint with The Cougars, Bennett was given the challenge to assemble his own group, and he drafted in a gang of players from Montego Bay, including guitarist and songwriter Wayne McGhie, who all shared a house on Temple Avenue in Toronto while getting acclimatized to life in a new country.

By 1968, the Fugitives had also recorded McGhie’s “Chips-Chicken-Banana Split,” which was released on the Cobra label. “Chips and chicken go together, and the dessert was banana split,” explained Bennett with his trademark laughter. As for the flavour-filled sound, the song is a wildly animated R&B shouter with utterly raw vocals by McGhie and the unique brand of contagious playing that typified the explosive energy that the crew delivered on-stage. Jo-Jo And The Fugitives pushed in along in Toronto until their namesake leader’s short-lived return to Jamaica in 1969 where he recorded the Groovy Joe LP for producer Harry A. Mudie, which included the all-time classic "Leaving Rome." Under heavy pressure and without solid guidance from Bennett, the Fugitives collapsed and its members pursued other avenues."

Of course, this was just the beginning of Jo-Jo's life in Canada, which later saw him launch a music school w/ drummer Joe Isaacs (The Soul Brothers, Sound Dimension, Lynn Taitt & the Jets, Frank Motley and the Hitch-Hikers, Risco Connections), launch his own Bunjo record label, and help to form the Canadian reggae institution The Sattalites ("Wild," "Easier Said Than Done," "Gimme Some Kinda Sign" to name a few) along w/ veteran Canadian singer-songwriter Fergus Hambleton, winning two Juno Awards in the process. 

In the early 1990s, The Sattalites were showcased in an hour-long MuchMusic special entitled "10 Years of Roots, Reality & Culture," celebrating the band's many achievements up until that point. As a music loving and playing teenager with my own roots in Toronto, I cherished the program, which I recorded onto a VHS tape, as well as the songs and warm personalities of Hambleton and Bennett, who took us back to Sister Mary Ignatius Davies [1921-2003] and the Alpha Boy's School in Jamaica and recapped their legendary Reggae Sunsplash performance. In other words, it influenced me greatly. 

A decade later, it was such an honour to connect w/ Jo-Jo (and Fergus) while producing the Jamaica to Toronto compilation. Both were very kind to me and I will cherish the moments that we connected. Included below are a photo of Jo-Jo (right) blowing his trumpet alongside Bobby Gaynair (left) courtesy of the Mullings family, Jo-Jo's "Fugitive Song," Jo-Jo hanging out w/ Noel Ellis at a gathering to honour Wayne McGhie at the Aura Club in Toronto in 2003, and a clip from MuchMusic's 1990s Sattalites special... 

Though Jo-Jo wasn't the first to make the trip from Jamaica to Toronto, the legacy of his trailblazing journey and life should be celebrated FOREVER... PEACE, VIN

GIVING THANKS FOR THE INCREDIBLE JO-JO BENNETT