Dean Ivanhoe Fraser (sometimes appearing as Dean Frazer) (born 4 August 1957) Allmusic.com biography by Sandra Brennan/ref> is a

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

saxophonist The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to pr ...

who has contributed to hundreds of

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

recordings since the mid-1970s. He was awarded the

Musgrave Medal The Musgrave Medal is an annual award by the Institute of Jamaica in recognition of achievement in art, science, and literature.Webster, Valerie J. (2000), ''Awards, Honors & Prizes, Volume 2'', Gale Group, , p. 447. Originally conceived in 1889 a ...

by the Jamaican government in 1993 in recognition of his services to music.Larkin, Colin: ''The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae'', Virgin Books, 1998. .

Biography

Born in

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long sand spit which connects the town of Port Royal and the Norman Manley Inter ...

, Fraser started to play the

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

at the age of 12. Around this time he met Ronald "Nambo" Robinson and Junior "Chico" Chin at a youthclub in Jones Town and the three boys would eventually form a brass section. Fraser took up saxophone at the age of 15. The trio became the foremost horn section in Jamaica in the 1980s. In 1977 he joined

Lloyd Parks Lloyd Parks (born 26 May 1949) is a Jamaican reggae vocalist and bass player who has recorded and performed as a solo artist as well as part of Skin, Flesh & Bones, The Revolutionaries, The Professionals, and We the People Band.Larkin, Colin: ...

' We The People Band, backing

Dennis Brown Dennis Emmanuel Brown CD (1 February 1957 – 1 July 1999) was a Jamaican reggae singer. During his prolific career, which began in the late 1960s when he was aged eleven, he recorded more than 75 albums and was one of the major stars of l ...

on several of his recordings for

Joe Gibbs Joe Jackson Gibbs (born November 25, 1940) is an American auto racing team owner and former professional football coach. In football, he was head coach for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) from 1981 to 1992, and a ...

. Fraser's first album, 1978's ''Black Horn Man'', was produced by Gibbs. This was followed in 1979 by ''Pure Horns'' and ''Double Dynamite'', and in 1980 by ''Revolutionary Sounds'' for producer

Donovan Germain Donovan Germain (born 7 March 1952 in Jamaica) is a reggae producer, one of the most successful of the digital era. Biography Germain's entry into the music industry was via his record shop in New York City in the 1970s.Larkin, Colin (1998) "The V ...

. Fraser provided horns for

Sly & Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separat ...

in the 1980s, both on record and on tour. Fraser appeared at the 1981

Reggae Sunsplash Reggae Sunsplash is a reggae music festival first staged in 1978 in the northern part of Jamaica. In 1985 it expanded with the addition of an international touring festival. The festival ran annually until 1996, with a final event in 1998, befo ...

, performing an instrumental version of the recently deceased

Bob Marley Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...

's "

Redemption Song "Redemption Song" is a song by Jamaican singer Bob Marley. It is the final track on Bob Marley and the Wailers' twelfth album, ''Uprising'', produced by Chris Blackwell and released by Island Records. The song is considered one of Marley's gre ...

", which led to the 1984 album ''Pumping Air'' on

Island Records Island Records is a multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded in 1959 by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall, and Leslie Kong in Jamaica, and was eventually sold to PolyGram in 1989. Island and A&M Records, anoth ...

' ''Mango'' label. Fraser went on to record two albums of Marley covers, ''Dean Plays Bob'' and ''Dean Plays Bob volume II''. Dean Fraser married Sophia Wright on March 21, 1993 in Clarendon Jamaica. They share one daughter. The digital era of reggae, defined by the use of computers and drum machines to create the backing track, did not affect his output since acoustic instruments such as the saxophone were still in demand. Fraser has released several more albums since and he is recognized as one of Jamaica's top musicians. He toured extensively with Luciano from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s, as well as performing on and adding production to several of the singer's albums, including ''

A New Day A New Day can refer to: Music *'' A New Day...'', Céline Dion's 2003-07 Las Vegas show **'' A New Day... Live in Las Vegas'', Céline Dion's 2004 album with the show **'' Live in Las Vegas: A New Day...'', Dion's 2007 DVD with the show * ''A New D ...

'', '' Serious Times'' and ''Jah Is My Navigator''. More recently, Fraser has been recording, producing and touring with singers

Tarrus Riley Omar "Tarrus" Riley (born April 26, 1979, Bronx, New York, United States) is a Jamaican-American reggae singer and member of the Rastafari movement.Kenner, Rob (2009)Reggae Singer With a Legacy, a Following and a Mission. ''New York Times''. 21 ...

and

Duane Stephenson Duane Stephenson (born c.1976)Bonitto, Brian (2014)Cool Runnings for Duane, '' Jamaica Observer'', 26 September 2014. Retrieved 21 December 2014 is a Jamaican reggae singer who has released three albums on VP Records, and works primarily in the ...

. Also, Dean Fraser has redone 16 tracks on CD 2 of "We Remember Gregory Isaacs", which was recorded in 2011 on VP Records.

Discography

*'' Never Ending by

Beres Hammond Beres Hammond Order of Jamaica, OJ (born Hugh Beresford Hammond; 28 August 1955, in Annotto Bay, Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica, Saint Mary, Jamaica)Moskowitz, David V. (2006) ''Caribbean Popular Music: an Encyclopedia of Reggae, Mento, Ska, Rock St ...

'' (2018),

VP Records VP Records is an independent Caribbean-owned record label in Queens, New York (state), New York. The label is known for releasing music by notable artists in reggae, dancehall and Soca music, soca. VP Records has offices in New York City, Miami ...

- Horn Dean Fraser and Ernie Ranglin (Two Colors) (2022)

References

External links

Dean Fraser at Roots Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Dean Living people Jamaican reggae musicians Musicians from Kingston, Jamaica Jamaican saxophonists Male saxophonists Recipients of the Musgrave Medal 1957 births 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century male musicians VP Records artists Greensleeves Records artists