Dean Fraser
b. c.1955, Kingston, Jamaica, West Indies. The premier modern Jamaican reggae saxophonist, Dean Fraser has long been known amongst the reggae cognoscenti for his fulsome, warmhearted tenor tone, a sound that matched both his size and demeanour. Fraser first emerged in the Jamaican music business in the mid-70s when horns were starting to diminish in importance within reggae bands. His own first musical experiments were as a clarinetist, at a youth club in Jonestown, as part of the National Volunteer programme. There he met fellow musicians Ronald Nambo Robinson and Junior Chico Chinn, who played trombone and trumpet respectively. Together with Fraser on sax they were to become the foremost horn section in Jamaica throughout the '80s. Initially they played at old people's homes, covering jazz and R&B standards, until Dean left to join Sonny Bradshaw's band, a large ensemble playing mainly jazz arrangements and offering much scope for young musicians seriously wishing to learn all aspects of the music business. In 1975 he played on his first recording session with Lloyd Gitsy Willis and two years later joined the We The People Band, led by singer, producer and bassist Lloyd Parks. Nambo and Chico were enrolled shortly afterwards as the band achieved prominence backing Dennis Brown, then in the midst of recording a string of successful records for producer Joe Gibbs. 
It was Gibbs who produced Dean Fraser's first album, BLACK HORN MAN, in 1978, followed by REVOLUTIONARY DREAM for Donovan Germain some two years later. Fraser's early singles included several vocal records rendered in a pure, gentle tone somewhat akin to that of Slim Smith. In the early '80s, known as Youth Sax, he would fire up the sessions of Sly & Robbie, and became a regular on both their world tours and in support of other acts like Gregory Isaacs. An emotional instrumental version of Bob Marley's Redemption Song at the 1981 Reggae Sunsplash, the first held since the late Marley's death, put Fraser uncharacteristically in the spotlight, and prompted Mango to commission the PUMPING AIR set. 
Ironically, as reggae was swept by ‘computerized’ music in the mid-80s, Fraser was suddenly in-demand as the best-known human instrumentalist, and his saxophone tones sweetened literally dozens of pre-recorded ‘digital’ rhythms .He would enjoy a surprise hit with Girlfriend for Dennis Star in 1987, encouraging him to rediscover his singing voice for the excellent SINGS AND BLOWS and DANCEHALL SAX for the same producer, which delivered several Jamaican vocal hits. From 1988 onwards he worked increasingly with Gussie Clarke at Music Works, first as a session musician and guest instrumentalist on Gussie's one-rhythm albums, then as an invaluable part of the production team, arranging and playing on a variety of albums by artists such as Cocoa Tea, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown and Freddie McGregor. It is a function he also provides for the producers Carlton Hines and Phillip Fatis Burrell. Fraser remains as popular today as ever and forms part of a saxophone tradition that goes back to the likes of Tommy McCook and Roland Alphonso in reggae, and his records, like those of R&B player Ace Cannon, will remain endlessly popular with the older Jamaican community. In recognition of his musical services he was awarded the Musgrave Medal from the Jamaican government in 1993.