Carl Ayton, multi-talented drummer and music union executive, died at the University Hospital in St. Andrew, after suffering a stroke. The veteran musician, who was a founding member of the groundbreaking bloodfire Posse band, was 45 years-old.
He had complained of feeling ill the previous evening before the couple left home to attend a wedding, and experienced a seizure shortly after the couple retired to sleep.
Doctors at Andrews Memorial Hospital recommended Ayton be taken to the University Hospital for a CAT scan. He died there while undergoing treatment.
"Carl wasn't just a drummer. He was involved in so many aspects of the music business," said A friend of over 25 years The two were members of The Carriers, a roots-reggae group that recorded one album (The Beginning) in the late 1970s.
Over the years, Ayton recorded and toured with Beres Hammond, Marcia Griffiths, Judy Mowatt, Bunny Wailer, Israel Vibration and Sugar Minott. In the early to late 1980s, he was a member of the Bloodfire Posse, the cutting-edge band that introduced a computerised sound to the live reggae scene. In the early 1990s, Ayton joined the Roots Radics and toured the world with Wailer and Israel Vibration.
Never far from the administrative side of the music business, Ayton, at the time of his death, was first vice-president of the Jamaica Federation of Musicians (JFM) and a director of the Jamaica Association of Composers, Authors and Publishers (JACAP).
Carl Ayton is no longer with us. He will be sadly missed. May his soul rest in peace. Our sincere condolences to Carl Ayton's family and friends.
