Positive Vibes, which has consistently drawn listeners to CKUT radio for four decades with reggae, roots, rub a dub, ska, dancehall, and vintage rarities – and still does to this day – is part of an airwaves takeover that music archivists are calling an act of resilience in the name of cultural preservation.

The Canada Black Music Archives (CBMA) is partnering with campus-community radio station CKUT 90.3 FM, located at McGill University in Montreal, and the University of Toronto’s Afrosonic Innovation Lab. They plan to take over CKUT’s airwaves to deliver an important message.

Phil Vassell, Executive Director of CBMA, says the event is more than just a broadcast. He describes The Takeover: Black Music / Black Montreal as an act of cultural preservation. It serves as a rallying call to reclaim the narratives of Black musical contributions. The reason for this, he says, is that Canada’s official stories and music archives often exclude Black music.

CBMA is building archives, hosting community-based events, and collaborating with scholars and artists to restore and position the voices and contributions of Black cultural workers across genres and generations.

From August 21–24, The Takeover will spotlight artists, DJs, promoters, and influencers who have played major roles in shaping Montreal’s Black and Caribbean Canadian cultural identity. These contributions go far beyond the geographic boundaries of local Montreal communities. 

They plan to broadcast nearly 15 hours of live programming on traditional radio. The shows will be available online for listening internationally. The original content will come from both the historic McGill Ballroom and CKUT studios in Montreal.

This multi-day celebration explores the rich history of Montreal’s Black musical culture. It covers everything from jazz, rooted in traditions of the African diaspora, to waves of Caribbean migration. It also includes the explosive innovations of reggae, dancehall, hip-hop, Kompa, Soca, afrobeat, and their variations.

The music has a lot to teach us. It holds memories of our past and is a guidebook for our future. But when we tell those stories, we often forget our Canadian cultural architects.

“The stories of Black musicians in Montreal tell us about survival, innovation, and the relentless fight to be heard in our country,” Vassel says. 

Mark V. Campbell is an associate professor in the Faculty of Music and the Department of Arts, Culture & Media at the University of Toronto. He teaches courses on Black popular music, remix and DJ culture. He is also the founder of the Afrosonic Innovation Lab at the university.

The lab’s members are artists, creators, and scholars. They write, publish, and perform. They also do sound experimentation and study music from their base in Toronto. Their work extends to sites across Canada and internationally.

Professor Campbell believes it’s not too late to capture the layered histories that gave rise to these genres of music. He also believes in the cultural dialogues that shaped them. He says the most urgent work we can do is to document the polyphonic stories of Montreal’s Black musical histories. These stories go far beyond jazz.

Many voices remain underappreciated in the national music narrative, says Campbell. However, we can still document and celebrate these genres and scenes and recognize those that continue to shape our country’s cultural fabric.

Montreal — once dubbed the “Harlem of the North,” has long been a cultural crossroads. Musical traditions transformed the people, changed the scene and the sound. Immigrants brought with them the music of the Caribbean, Africa, and Latin America. They mixed these emerging sounds with the deep-rooted traditions of Black North American jazz pioneers. New ideas emerged from this newfound fusion of cultures.

New music, new ways of presenting and sharing music, and unique ways of telling stories were created through these connections. Yet, much of the history has been ignored, minimized, or cherry-picked by mainstream archives. The Takeover is an act of resistance where the airwaves become a conduit to that legacy. Live interviews, music, and oral storytelling connect the past with the present, shaping the future of those it touches. 

Up for a trip down memory lane?

Listeners will hear firsthand accounts from DJs, broadcasters, and promoters. They will also hear from sound system crews, historians, and artists who helped define Montreal’s Black music history. 

Shows like Positive Vibes go way back to 1986. It’s one of the longest-running shows on the alternative community radio station. Founded by Janice “J.D.” Dayle, the show paved the way for many other Caribbean and Afrocentric programs to take shape. The radio show has had other hosts over the years. Pat “Sistah P” Dillon, once the Station Manager and the current host of Bhum Bhum Tyme, hosted the show. Former CKUT Production Coordinator Prym Tyme, and Majesty were hosts. Roger Moore is now at the helm.  

Butcher T’s Noontime Cuts and Funky Revolutions will take you back decades. West Indian Rhythms offers nostalgic tunes. The Magic Roundabout and Bhum Bhum Tyme evoke a rich musical history. These shows were at the height of popularity. They connected communities and shared a slice of culture from back home. They consistently broadcast to audiences that were sometimes bigger than shows on mainstream commercial radio stations.

Each of the seven programs will showcase music and storytelling. The Takeover will also feature exclusive interviews with cultural architects. Artists include David Torné, Jah Cutta, Wavy Wanda, Johnny Black, Raymond Laurent, Howard “Stretch” Carr, Sampaloo, Dr. Dorothy Williams, and DJ Andy Williams.

The McGill Ballroom hosts live performances by Jah Cutta, Smurfette, Sampaloo 

The Takeover will broadcast on some of CKUT’s most iconic Black music programs.

• Positive Vibes – Thursday, Aug. 21, 3–5 PM – Playlist
• Butcher T’s Noontime Cuts – Friday, Aug. 22, 12–2 PM – Playlist
• Funky Revolutions – Saturday, Aug. 23, 2–4 PM – Playlist
• West Indian Rhythms – Saturday, Aug. 23, 3–7 PM – Playlist
• The Magic Roundabout – Sunday, Aug. 24, 2–4 PM – Playlist
• Bhum Bhum Tyme – Sunday, Aug. 24, 4–6 PM – Playlist

The celebration launches with a free public event at the McGill Ballroom on August 21, from 5 PM to 8 PM with live performances from Jah Cutta, Juliet “Smurfette” Nelson, Deniston “Sampaloo” Mullings, and a special guest DJ will transform the ballroom into a sonic time machine, bringing to life the music and movement of Black Montreal’s soundscape.

“This is just the beginning of a deeper dive into Montreal’s impressive Black music history,” says Vassell. Montreal has been a trailblazer in many genres. Jazz, blues, hip-hop, and gospel have taken on new forms in Montreal.

Haitian musical forms such as Kompa, Twoubadou, and Bolero have also evolved uniquely here. African genres like afrobeat, Congolese Rumba, Makossa, and Mbalax are thriving. These genres coexist with Latin music such as salsa, merengue, cumbia, bachata, and reggaeton.

This is the first of several initiatives that CBMA will undertake in Montreal. Their goal is to preserve the oral histories of Black musicians who they say have been written out of Canada’s cultural memory.

These contributions, Vassell says, reflect a rich tapestry of sound that is too important to lose. They must be shared with educational institutions and the public.

by Cherryl Bird – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
X @ladycbird | Instagram @cherrylbird