Jason Griffith: Voyage of the Sailor Mas
Jason Griffith, one of Trinidad and Tobago’s renowned mas men was born on the 20th June 1927 at Pelham St. Belmont. He attended the Miss Lewis Private School and Belmont Boys’ Intermediate School. As a youth growing up, he was influenced by Jim Harding’s Mischievous Sailor Band, a very popular band in the thirties. He participated in the revelry of masquerading for the first time in 1946 and has been actively involved in the production of headpieces for the mas ever since. After working with the mas director, Cecil Jobe, Griffith felt ready to launch his own production unit – the “U.S.S. Sullivan” – in1949 and joined with other bands – the “Syncopaters” and the “Desperados”. This was done in the attempt to increase the band’s numbers to participate in “big band” competitions.