cover image Alpha Boys’ School: Cradle of Jamaican Music

Alpha Boys’ School: Cradle of Jamaican Music

Heather Augustyn and Adam Reeves. Half Pint, $25 (400p) ISBN 978-0-6929-8073-6

The Alpha Boys’ School, a Catholic boarding school in Jamaica that counts among its alumni a large number of famous musicians, gets a meticulously researched overview by music journalists Augustyn and Reeves. The school, the authors argue, is the core of Jamaican popular music, and the influence of graduates from the school, established in 1880, is far-reaching and significant. The charismatic personality of music-loving Sister Mary Ignatius Davies, who came to teach at the school in 1939 at age 17, inspired such students as Cedric Brooks (saxophonist for the Skatalites), Joe Harriott (a pioneer of free-form jazz), David Madden (trumpeter for Bob Marley), Tommy McCook (founding member of the Skatalites), jazz flutist Harold McNair, and Yellowman, a reggae and dance hall DJ. The authors include an impressive listing of popular releases of Alpha Boys’ School alumni (the school has since been renamed Alpha Institute) that reinforces the legacy of the institution, along with photos. For fans of world music, especially Jamaican sounds, this enthusiastic, informative book is a treat. (BookLife)