Lance Hayward — one of the greatest musicians to come out of Bermuda — would have celebrated his 100th birthday this year and the occasion is being marked in New York and Jamaica where his groups and trios entertained thousands.

Born Lancelot Henry Stuart Hayward, the master pianist’s musical talents as an accompanist were requested by greats including Marvin Gaye, Carmen McRae, George Benson and Sarah Vaughn when they came to perform on the island.

Furthermore, it is hoped that his legacy will inspire young Bermudians to chase their creative talents by showing them what can be achieved on their island despite its relatively small size and isolation. Mr Hayward’s children Stuart and Sylvia have donated a second copy of their father’s record to the Chewstick Foundation after the first copy was destroyed in the fire on Front Street in July.

The album — Lance Hayward at the Half Moon [unfortunately misspelt on the cover art as Haywood] — was the first release on what was to become Island Records, one of the world’s biggest independent record labels.

There will be a celebration of Lance’s music at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay, Jamaica on December 17 and there will be a concert in New York this Sunday where the group he founded — The Lance Hayward Singers — will perform.

Stuart told The Royal Gazette: “The Half Moon Hotel was planning to do something this year and they wanted to get members of my dad’s band at the hotel for this event. Since the idea first surfaced in August of this year it has blossomed. For the past several months there have been a highway of e-mails about this event.

“The band members are going to present a plaque and have a ceremony correcting the name on the album.

Sylvia added: “The chairman of the Half Moon Hotel has been transforming the album to MP3 and he plans to play a lot of the music.”

Joining Stuart and Sylvia to the event in Jamaica will be Lance’s former drummer Clarence “Tootsie” Bean. The original guitarist Frankie Rabaine may attend if he is well enough while the latter guitarist Milt Robinson has now passed.

Lance, who passed away in 1991, performed across Bermuda’s nightclubs and hotels during its heyday in the 50s and 60s alongside the jazz legends of the time and appeared on TV and radio programmes in the US, Canada, Europe and Japan.

After suffering considerable prejudice in Bermuda as a black man who was blind, he moved to New York in 1966 including as house pianist for the Village Corner in Greenwich Village. There he played with jazz legends including Buddy Rich, Nancy Wilson and Bill Lee [father of filmmaker Spike Lee]. Through that friendship he was one of the musical consultants on the Spike Lee jazz movie Mo Better Blues.

His contribution to music in Bermuda has been recognised with several awards including the Queen’s Certificate and Badge of Honour in 1980 and a National Heritage Award in 1984. He was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Bermuda Arts Council in 1988 and in 2010 he was posthumously inducted into the Bermuda Music Hall of Fame.

In donating one of the last surviving copies of Lance’s record to the performing arts charity Chewstick, it is hoped future generations will be inspired.

Chewstick founder Gavin Smith created a painting based on Lance’s album cover — ironically featuring flames — that was also destroyed in the fire at the Chewstick Culture Hub on Front Street. He said: “Through Sylvia I learnt a lot about her father who I had been exploring casually over the years. That was the inspiration behind the artwork — it reflected the intention of Chewstick the organisation to pick up where there has been a bit of a gap in modern Bermuda when it comes to understanding our story and the calibre of our artists.

“Lance was introduced to piano overseas but he honed his craft to a world standard level here and its one of those things that is a great inspirational story not just for our artists but for all our people to learn what they can do with what they have got. To have another donated to the beginning of the new Chewstick collection is wonderful because it was one of those things that would have been irreplaceable — those are the things that were the most heartbreaking and this was the centrepiece.”

The concert in New York is due to take place at the Christ and St Stephen’s Church, 122 West 69th Street at 3.30pm this Sunday and the ceremony at the Half Moon Hotel, Montego Bay, Jamaica is set to take place on December 17.