Page 78 - Reggae Festival Guide Magazine 2017
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graphics took over the industry, his yard-toon
drawings and instantly recognizable hand-
lettered covers assured you the album in your
hands was “the real deal,” straight from the
music’s country of origin.
Clearly a labor of love from people who know
and love the artist’s work, with a forward from
Beth Lesser, short essays from Dr. Donna Hope
and contemporary cover artist Orville “Bagga”
Case, and informed and entertaining text with
hundreds of beautiful illustrations in Limonious’
brilliant colors, this is a beautiful tribute to one
of Jamaica’s unique artists and eras. Over 100
pages of the book feature the artist’s classic
album covers. Often when photographs of
singers and DJs grace the front (with layout
and lettering from Limonious), his back-cover
cartoons are even more striking. Whether you
own the original album releases or not, you’ll be
amazed at the depth and breadth of this artist’s
contribution to the music and culture of Jamaica.
the public. One artist, more than any other, The Small Axe Guide to
helped to define the dancehall era: Jamaican Dancehall 1979-1985
cartoonist Wilfrid Limonious. His life and work
are celebrated in this gorgeous coffee-table By Ray Hurford
book, presenting some of his greatest album (Muzik Tree/I Am the Gorgon
covers and including early cartoons, comic www.muziktree.co.uk, 2016)
strips, pen-and-ink illustrations, color mock-
ups, hand-drawn designs for seven-inch Ray Hurford’s growing series of Small Axe
singles, event posters and cassettes, as well as Guides cover each era of Jamaican music in a
some of his later, more serious “night time art.” unique manner: whatever music was issued
during that period of time is included in each
Limonious displayed his wicked sense of book whether or not it’s actually in that “style.”
humor and feel for the “yard” vibe while Thus, this guide to the dancehall era includes
helping to define an entire era of music. His albums and artists you might not think of as
earliest cartoons appeared in The Star around “dancehall.” Since dancehall was the dominant
1970 and he continued to work up to his death style of this era, the bulk of the profiles chart
in 1999, but it was as the main illustrator of the early history of that music, but it’s a great
the early dancehall era of the ‘80s that he reminder that there was also a good deal of
left his indelible mark. Before computerized solid roots music issued in those years.
78 REGGAE FESTIVAL GUIDE 2017
