Inna De Yard Inna De Yard

”INNA DE YARD on the road to Hollywood!” This familiar refrain from singer Cedric Myton on the set for a documentary directed by Peter Webber (3 Oscar nominations for “Girl with a Pearl Earring”) began as joke. Now it’s almost become reality.
It all started when this famous director, captivated by his subject, decided to help record the new album, before making it into a film. Several partners (including distribution outfit Le Pacte) then pulled out all the stops to see the film released. It’s now scheduled to hit around a hundred of France’s cinemas this July, and will also be screened in Europe and worldwide. In an unlikely coincidence, UNESCO has just added reggae to its Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list. Who better to embody Jamaica’s authenticity and culture than this group of forgotten legends who used to jam together in back yards in the 60s and 70s, playing reggae, ska and rocksteady, just as they now do with Inna de Yard?

Buoyed by the unexpected success of their 2017 album (“The Soul of Jamaica”) and a sell-out debut tour in France (including the now legendary concerts at the Philharmonie and Le Trianon in Paris), they decided to record a new album: a compilation of their most iconic tracks.

Fused around four great singers whose paths over the years have yielded varying fortunes (Ken Boothe, Cedric Myton, Winston McAnuff and Kiddus I), INNA DE YARD also brings together The Viceroys , a trio of musicians in their seventies, as well as the younger generation (Var, Kush, Derajah), who are keen to carry on the musical tradition of their roots. These superb sessions also feature several guests, such as Horace Andy and Judy Mowatt (one of Bob Marley's backing singers).

Their music conveys a timeless quality, while they themselves are not. Two of the mainstays (Wesley Tinglin, lead singer of The Viceroys, and trombonist Nambo Robinson) have passed away since the last album.