Thursday 9 November 2017 Leeds schoolchildren are in the mix for an original reggae Christmas song featuring entrepreneur and musician Levi Roots, which is released today, Thursday 9 November. Jason Brooks of Beat Street Studio in Meanwood is aiming for the UK’s first ever reggae top 10 Christmas hit with his song Reggae Reggae Christmas by Levi Roots and The Source. Levi sings the lead vocal, while the festive sounds of brass and children’s voices are provided by young musicians from The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL). Composer and producer Jason came up with the idea for a reggae Christmas tune in contrast to the usual festive fare, and had Levi in mind as the ideal singer. Thanks to Facebook Jason was able to contact Levi, who was on board as soon as he heard the demo track, and the project took off from there. The record is almost entirely home grown in Leeds. Apart from recording the vocal in London due to Levi’s busy schedule, all the tracks were recorded and mixed at Jason’s studio in Meanwood, with a trip to Alwoodley to record the choir at GSAL (pictured at their recording session). Jason Brooks said: “Levi loves the finished record and we both agree the pupils bring just the Christmas brass band vibe we were looking for. The pupils were all very professional, easy to work with and did exactly what I asked them to do.” The record features a choir of pupils in Years 7 and 8, and instrumentalists from Year 11 and sixth form. The musicians are Charlotte Murdoch, Phoebe Brown, Abbie MacLeod and Manasvi Tyagi on saxophone, Nathan Rockley and Charlie Wu on trumpet, and Daniel Cockburn on trombone. Reggae Reggae Christmas will be aired by Heart FM at the switch on of the Leeds Christmas lights, the day the song is released, and it’s available to download from iTunes, Google play, Amazon, and Spotify. General Senior School News Community
