Video producer Max Earle (left) makes a point while musician Ernie Smith (centre) and Becky Stockhausen, executive director of The American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica, look on. The three were at the relaunch of the Heal Jamaica song and video at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel on Wednesday. - Contributed
At a time when one group of Jamaican artistes are being labelled as crime catalysts, the work of another group of musicians is being used to uplift Jamaica.
Heal Jamaica, a song written by Ernie Smith and performed by 15 local artistes, including Smith, was relaunched at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in St Andrew on Wednesday.
The song was first recorded in 2003 and the video shot three years later with the initiative of The American Chamber of Commerce of Jamaica (AmCham). The song and video were produced as a theme for Jamaicans to live peacefully and mend the wounds caused by violence.
AmCham is now looking to spread the message internationally and its intention is twofold - to reach more crime-prone communities and to display some of the positives of Jamaica.
Music video
On Wednesday, executive director of AmCham, Becky Stockhausen, revealed that the 12-minute video, which includes the music video and interviews with Smith and Stockhausen, will be shown on Air Jamaica's in-flight magazine Island Stylee.
Stockhausen said during November, December and January, it is projected that 500,000 Air Jamaica passengers, half of whom will be non-Jamaicans, will see the video.
"We want to tell visitors to the island that there are still a lot of good things going on in Jamaica," said Stockhausen, who is an American. "We recognise that we have problems but we are working together to solve them."
The song, produced by Mikey Bennett, has a catchy and uplifting tempo. With 15 artistes of various genres coming together, they manage to segue effortlessly from roots reggae, to singing to deejaying.
"I insisted that each artiste learn the melody," Bennett declared at Wednesday's relaunch, adding that a demo was played for the artistes so they could catch the melody easier.
"The key was finding the balance of getting that little spice that each artiste brings yet sticking to the integrity of the song."
Most of the video was filmed in the inner-city community of Grants Pen by directors Brian St Juste and Shannon Hart. Children from the New Day School on the outskirts of Grants Pen appeared in the video so they were directly impacted by the process.
A desperate plea for peace
The community of Back Bush, off Mountain View Avenue, reeling from the effects of gang war, used the song as a desperate plea for peace.
"When the CD was first released on the radio (in 2003), they were having a lot of problems in Back Bush and someone called Janet Smith (coordinator of the Heal Jamaica video) to say 'Did you know that the citizens in the community were playing this song for 72 hours trying to play down the difficulties they were having?'," recalled Stockhausen.
"And it (the song) was so inspirational that the citizens started making a collection of money that they could put towards projects to heal the divide in the community."
'Plant a positive seed'
Max Earle, CEO of Frame by Frame, which produces Island Stylee, said with all the negative news filtering out of the country, the airing of the video on Air Jamaica flights will "plant a positive seed in the minds of viewers".
"I saw the video and thought it would be a tremendous thing to be on Island Stylee so people can see the good things coming out of Jamaica," Earle said shortly before handing a cheque worth $130,000 to Stockhausen for AmCham's coffers.
Donovan Corcho, a resident of Grants Pen who works closely with Stockhausen, pointed out that almost all of the children who appeared in the video are excelling in school.
Leroy Sibbles, one of the artistes on Heal Jamaica, said he lives close to Grants Pen, and that the peace initiative, of which the song and video are a part, has been a success.
"I sleep better at nights; I no longer wake up earlier than I should because of gunshots," the reggae crooner revealed.
Songwriter Ernie Smith added that the project was rewarding for the artistes as well.
"This is one of the most uplifting things I've ever done. It was so much fun and everybody was really into it," he noted.
With Jamaica perpetually committing self-inflicting wounds, as the murder rate climbs to 1,500 since January, there is plenty healing left to be done.
Stockhausen said she is confident the song and its message can be that agent of change that moves through inner-city communities and across the island.
"Music is the key to spreading the message of healing and hope to citizens of all ages, islandwide and around the world," said Stockhausen, "and no country exemplifies that fact more than Jamaica."