Jamaican music legend Lee 'Scratch' Perry will be performing at the Forum Hertfordshire in Hatfield

LEE ‘Scratch’ Perry – the Godfather of reggae music – will be appearing live at the Forum Hertfordshire in Hatfield next month.

Jamaican music legend Lee 'Scratch' Perry will be performing at the Forum Hertfordshire in Hatfield

The Jamaican music legend will be performing on stage at the Forum Hertfordshire on Friday, February 3 with his The Upsetter Band.

Once described as a ‘genius’ by Bob Marley, the eccentric Perry, now 75, is regarded in some quarters as the most influential producer, arranger, writer and musician in the history of reggae, ska and dub.

One of the leading innovators of Jamaican music, Perry was one of the first to use samples in their music, created the sound of reggae as we know it today and is often credited as being the inventor of dub.

Born Rainford Hugh Perry in March 1936, he began his musical career working for seminal producer Coxsone Dodd during the late 50s and early 60s, acting as a record scout, organising recording sessions, and later supervising auditions at Dodd’s record shop in Orange Street, Kingston.

Jamaican music legend Lee 'Scratch' Perry will be performing at the Forum Hertfordshire in Hatfield

By 1963, as well as handling production and songwriting for Delroy Wilson and The Maytals, Perry had released the first of his own vocal records through Dodd.

In 1968, Perry set up his own Upsetter label in Jamaica, and began having hits with David Isaacs and The Untouchables, and, in common with other early reggae producers, secured a distribution deal with the UK-based Trojan Records.

Perry experienced his first taste of UK chart success with tenor saxophonist Val Bennett’s spaghetti western-inspired title Return Of Django in 1969.

Around the same time, he began producing the Wailers – mentoring a young Bob Marley – on a series of classics, including Small Axe and Soul Rebel.

The enigmatic and colourful Perry later built his own studio, the infamous Black Ark, in his backyard in Kingston and later torched it in 1980.

Tickets to see the man regarded as reggae’s greatest producer and Rastaman at the Forum in Hatfield cost £17.50.

Doors open at 7pm. Over 18s only.