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Home Entertainment: ‘Inna De Yard’ DVD review

Interviews taking place in amongst mountains of records, piled from floor to ceiling, archive footage of the beautiful old days of Kingston Town – ‘the days when you had to be good in the business’ – and beautiful sun-soaked nostalgic reggae are the order of service in this laid-back documentary from Peter Webber (Girl With The Pearl Earring). Inna De Yard is a wonderful documentary looking back at the history of reggae and a band of pioneers that come back together to perform at glorious open-air concerts in the country in which they are absolutely worshipped.

“Some countries have diamonds, some countries have pearls, some countries have oil. We have reggae.”

Artists – legends in the scene like Ken Boothe, Cedric Myton, Kiddus I, Winston McAnuff, and Judy Mowatt unite for the involving documentary. The artists recount life on the island, being exploited by corporations- their music stolen, and their unrelenting pursuit of the art and to keep going. Better days are still ahead, one of them recounts after showing his frustration in an early scene. We see them collaborate with up and coming artists, relaying their gift onto the new generations. A wonderful moment comes during the first reel where one musician spots that there might be a ‘timing problem’ whilst recording a lead vocal, so take a quick time out with a smoke before attempting it once again.

There’s an insight into ‘Rasta life’, looking back to the ‘old days’ where anyone who was a Rastafarian wasn’t allowed to attend school. The music then became protest music and evolved. Roots music – black liberation, Jamaican liberation – reggae is a product of that time.

Webber’s camera jumps from handheld style during the interviews and concert footage to sweeping, high-point drone photography capturing the tropical paradise of Jamaica from hundreds of feet above. It brings a true cinematic element to proceedings.

It’s a really engrossing, interesting, highly entertaining and brilliant watch all of the way through.

A must for fans of the genre and music as a whole.

Inna De Yard is available now on DVD, Blu-ray and digital.

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