Jay Douglas is a Canadian musician, based in Toronto. [1] [2] He is a long-time member of the Toronto music scene. [3] [4]
Jay Douglas is a Canadian musician, based in Toronto. [1] [2] He is a long-time member of the Toronto music scene. [3] [4]
Douglas was born in Jamaica. Douglas spent his childhood in Montego Bay, Jamaica, where he first performed. He moved to Toronto, Ontario to join his mother in 1963 when he was a teenager. [1] [5]
According to a 2012 profile in Now magazine, Douglas' first Canadian performances were at Toronto's Central Technical School, when he was a student there.
His first professional group was The Cougars, a funk band. [1]
Since then, Douglas has performed steadily at clubs and festivals all over Ontario. [1] [5] He has performed at Toronto's Massey Hall, Roy Thompson Hall, and the Glenn Gould Studio. In 2012 his album Lovers' Paradise was one of that year's five Juno nominees for best reggae album. [6] [7]
Now described Douglas as a "treasure trove of Toronto-Jamaican musical history". [1]
In 2012, Seattle-based Light in the Attic Records produced a retrospective on the arrival of reggae to North America that relied heavily on Douglas's performances, knowledge, and contacts. [5] Matt Sullivan, a producer with Light in the Attic, called Douglas "one of the finest soul-reggae singers in North America". Errol Nazareth, writing in the Toronto Sun called it ironic that it required producers from Seattle to fully recognize the significance of Douglas's musical contributions.
On September 19, 2015, Douglas debuted a song entitled "Reggae Lane" at a concert to celebrate the completion of a 110 square metres (1,200 sq ft) mural celebrating the history of reggae at the recently renamed Reggae Lane. [2]
Douglas was shortlisted for the 2020 Juno Awards, for Reggae Recording of the Year, for "Jah Children". [8] [9]
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Since then, Douglas has recorded and performed abroad, though his heart beats fastest for the 416. He was a key collaborator on the influential 2006 compilation Jamaica to Toronto, featuring reggae, funk and soul tunes recorded in Toronto in the 1960s and 1970s by Jamaican immigrants.
To celebrate the new initiative, numerous reggae musicians, including Jay Douglas, performed. Accordingly, Douglas played an original song called Reggae Lane.
Jay was proclaimed the winner of Now's Best R&B Act (2006), and was named the Toronto Reggae Award's Male Reggae Vocalist of the Year in 2007. In 2012, he was nominated for a Juno Award for Reggae Recording of the Year. As well, in March 2012, the Harry Jerome Awards granted him the Male Entertainer of the Year Award.
Douglas, who came here from Jamaica in 1963, played with The Cougars, a crew who mixed ska, rocksteady, soul and R&B — a sound was ahead of its time and that literally opened doors for them.
Reggae recording: Seeds of Love & Life ft. Luciano, Dubmatix; Bleaching Shop, Exco Levi; Lover's Paradise, Jay Douglas; Woman, Steele; Rescue Me, Tanya Mullings.
Old school reggae doesn't get any better than JUNO nominated and award-winning reggae and music master Jay Douglas. JD drops "Jah Children" — available now from Slammin Media and worldwide by Believe Distribution.
Without Jay Douglas, Canadian music wouldn't be the same. The Toronto reggae legend's part in supporting the Jamaica To Toronto compilation — documenting the great soul, funk and reggae music recorded in this city between 1967 and 1974 — led to a rediscovery of Canadian reggae.
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