Get reggae-led at Jamaica benefit gig

Jimmy Cliff

Ring in the New Year with pop reggae music and a good cause as JaSkaMon hosts a New Year’s Eve benefit concert at the Lincoln City Cultural Center on Wednesday, Dec. 31.

Proceeds from the evening will support World Central Kitchen’s hurricane relief efforts in Jamaica following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa, which struck Jamaica in late October as the third-strongest hurricane on record, with wind gusts measured at 252 miles per hour.

World Central Kitchen is a nonprofit known for providing fresh meals in communities impacted by disaster, and the organization is often first to the front lines during humanitarian and climate crises, offering freshly prepared meals that provide both nourishment and comfort to people in need.

The New Year’s Eve concert will also serve as a tribute to Jamaican music legend Jimmy Cliff, who died earlier this year. Cliff was a major influence on JaSkaMon frontman B. Klusman.

“Jimmy played left-handed guitar with the strings reversed, a little-known fact, and I do as well,” Klusman said. “He’s more famous for his tenor voice and songs like ‘The Harder They Come.’ At the event we’ll be performing ‘Many Rivers to Cross,’ ‘You Can Get It If You Really Want’ and others he made famous.”

In addition to Cliff’s music, JaSkaMon will perform original songs including “Raska-nitis,” “Miracle,” “Let’s Get Irie” and “Sha La La,” along with a selection of Bob Marley favorites. Giveaways during the evening will include band CDs, Jamaican-style wristbands and samples of Rhumbero, a wine-based, fermented rum-alternative used in tropical cocktails.

Wednesday’s concert runs from 6 to 9 pm at the Lincoln City Cultural Center, located at 540 NE Hwy. 101. Admission is $20. For more information, go to jaskamon.com.