Musician honoured by Dean Fraser Day; talks ‘Sax in Dub’

As a young musician, Dean Fraser had one musical dream, and reflecting on it decades later, the renowned saxophonist can only smile the smile of the grateful, having achieved that dream on repeat throughout the decades while also amassing a truckload of accolades along the way. “The only thing I wanted to do in music was play on a record and hear that record play on radio. My only thought was to turn on the radio and hear my horns,” Fraser, who recently had a whole day named in his honour, told The Gleaner .

And he can still remember what he did on that auspicious day way back in the day. “As a lickle youth inna Trench Town, I go fi all of my friend dem and seh ‘Listen to dat ..

. a my horn dat.’ Some of dem believe and others didn’t,” Fraser shared.

The song, he believes, was the Channel One version of the iconic Death in the Arena . “That was the first song that I played on that was a big song. It play at every dance, every radio station .

.. it mash up the place,” Fraser shared.

“And that was it for me. Mission accomplished.” But in reality, it was just the start of a monumental mission that would see the name ‘Dean Fraser’ decorating hundreds – if not thousands – of albums, whether as a supporting act or as the main character.

On August 10, six days after his birthday, Dean Fraser Day was proclaimed through a declaration issued by the Mayor of New York City, Eric Adams. The presentation was made to Fraser by US Congresswoman Yvette Clarke at th.