Noel Morris - Contributed Photo

Adrian Frater, News Editor

WESTERN BUREAU

A major musical revolution is now taking place in Westmoreland, the home parish of reggae icon Peter Tosh and like the legendary 'wailer', the project seems all set to have the same type of impact on local and international music that the celebrated musical revolutionary did.

The project, which incorporates a studio, music label, artiste management and distribution centre, was launched at Noel Morris' spacious and scenic House of Leeds headquarters at Bay Road, in the Little London area of the western parish.

It all started eight months ago when Morris, a businessman, decided to invest some time and effort in guiding the career of his son, rising DJ star X-Facta, whose talent he was impressed with and wanted to nurture.

However, after bringing communication consultant Donavan Reynolds aboard to offer professional guidance, Morris was convinced to widen the scope of his ambition and create a launch pad for other promising young artistes. It was his decision to buy into that idea that gave birth to The House of Leeds Production.

"The sky is now the limit." said Reynolds. "We now have three artistes signed to the label, our new state-of-the art recording studio is up and running."

While the House of Leeds is hardly known outside of Westmoreland, Morris is hoping that the growing popularity of X-Facta, who performed to rave reviews at Reggae Sumfest 2006 and has a hot new video with Tammy T, entitled, In the Ghetto, will help to draw attention to the organisation.

In addition to X-Facta, the other two artistes under contract to the House of Leeds are Tidal, a soulful crooner whose vocal styling could be likened to a blending of Wayne Wonder and Sanchez; and Iya Blaze, formerly known as African, who is adept at delivering classy love songs or fiery lyrics.

With major tours, scheduled for later this year, are already confirmed for Africa (Zimbabwe) and the Eastern Caribbean.

"Already, artistes are being groomed in areas such as voice training, cognitive behavior therapy and image development which are key ingredients for international success," said Reynolds, who is a trained psychoanalyst. "Our plan at the House Of Leeds is to revolutionise the way we present our music and artistes to the world so we can create maximum impact and returns."