JCF Band goes reggae for fundraiser

The Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) is “trying their band” at something new for its ‘Grand Fundraising Concert’ tonight at the Police Officers’ Club, 34 Hope Road, St Andrew.

Known primarily for performing music that is more skewed towards the classical side in arrangement, Deputy Superintendent Winston Woolcock, the director of music, promises that those in attendance will be in for a special treat.

“This is a one-of-a-kind concert as the band has been religiously rehearsing to make sure that our idea to play reggae music in a classical style is up to the highest standard,” Woolcock says.

And he explains what he means by ‘classical style’: “It is live reggae music, but the band will be dressed to the tee in bow ties and white shirts to match the formal setting of the event”

Although having seen the flyer, and the entertainers who are featured – The Heptones and Ken Boothe – it is a bit obvious that it’s not a Mozart Symphony No. 40 or Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata concert recital. Instead, it will be a real Jamaican jam session as the band accompanies these reggae veterans in delivering their hits.

Woolcock notes: “It has been a while since we have put on a fundraiser. The band played for a similar cause for a remand centre two years ago but never actually hosted one.”

This time around, the JCF Band has joined forces with the Kingston Central Police Division to raise funds to assist three officers, one of whom is clarinet player W/Constable Samantha Allen of the Band Division. The other two are Constable Malrado Samuels and District Constable Sean McKenzie of Kingston Central.

Allen, mother of two, a five-month-old and a one-year-old, was left homeless when her house was completely destroyed by fire in Royal Flat, Mandeville, Manchester. The residences of Samuels and McKenzie were affected by a fire in Eleven Miles, Bull Bay.

The fashionable affair is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. .