To commemorate Jamaica’s 61st year as an independent nation, Tad’s International Record today (Aug 4) released ‘Celebrating Jamaica 61’, a multi-song album capturing the innate freedom of the Jamaican musical expression.

Celebrating Jamaica 61 features songs by stalwarts of Jamaican music, such as Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Big Youth, Dean Fraser, Sister Carol, Josey Wales, Glen Washington, and Franklyn “Bubbler” Waul, as well as the ‘Young Generation’, Jesse Royal, Kelly Shane, and Okiel McIntyre.

Also showcased on this commemorative album are Hezron, Richie Spice, George Nooks, Dwayne Stevenson, Chevaughn, Caryl Jacobs, Screwdriver, Brigadier Jerry, Big Mountain, Terry Linen, and Chezidek.

Tad Dawkins, founder and head of Tad’s International Record, along with his son Tad Dawkins Jr., selected the artists for this phenomenal project.

He said Celebrating Jamaica 61 will be used, “to promote Jamaica to the world.”

Jamaica gained independence from the United Kingdom on August 6, 1962, in a grand ceremony at the new National Stadium in Kingston.

The spectacle was attended by Alexander Bustamante, Jamaica’s first Prime Minister, and Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth II, who helped officiate the rites that signalled Jamaica a sovereign country.