Jay Douglas (reggae)

Jay Douglas is a Toronto based Canadian-Jamaican musician. He was born in Jamaica, and first performed in Montego Bay, and is now a senior respected member of the Toronto Music Scene.

Douglas spent his childhood in Montego Bay, Jamaica, moving to Toronto, Ontario to join his mother in 1963 when he was a teenager. According to a 2012 profile in Now magazine Douglas first Canadian performances were at Toronto's Central Tech High School, when he was a student there.

His first professional group was The Cougars, a funk band.

Since then Douglas has performed steadily at clubs and festivals all over Ontario. He has performed at Toronto's prestigious Massey Hall, Roy Thompson Hall, and the Glenn Gould Studio. In 2012 his album Lovers' Paradise was one of that year's five nominees for best reggae album.

Now magazine described Douglas as a "treasure trove of Toronto-Jamaican musical history".

In 2012 Seattle based Light in the attic produced a retrospective on the arrival of Reggae to North America that relied heavily of Douglas's performances, knowledge, and contacts.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.

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Wikipedia