MUSIC REVIEW: The Wailers

Even the most casual of music fans knows
that the late Bob Marley, along with his band,
The Wailers, was almost single-handedly
responsible for bringing reggae out of the
streets of his native Jamaica and into the
mainstream of American popular music.
The Wailers have done little recording
since some very productive years in the
1970s . But since Marley's death in 1981,
the band has maintained a touring presence
in an effort to keep Marley's music and
message in the ears and minds of American listeners
BY BILL CRAIG

Rap, rock and reggae are among the year's best albums

From the Baltimore Sun

"Damian Marley

Welcome to Jamrock

Like father, like son, Marley released a smartly produced set of songs that spotlight socio-political strife and celebrate the power of love. Though not the charismatic, transcendently soulful vocalist his father Bob was, Marley establishes his own flavor with this album, his third release. The youngest son of the reggae king worked with his half-brother, Stephen, on the production. The two mingle roots-reggae with threads of slick R&B and hard-hitting hip-hop. Easily the year's best reggae CD."

The Man With the Pan

Byron Lee, undoubtedly one of Jamaica’s finest musical ambassadors and with 46 years of experience and over 150 awards he continues to command respect and admiration world-wide.
He attributes the success of Byron Lee and the Dragonaires to the image and reputation of a band, comprising of slick-looking member that would take minimum breaks, play good music and ensure that patrons got their monies worth.
The Dragon’s “no bull” attitude helped shape the current industry. He was against musicians being slighted by management be it clubs or individual. Byron, along with other major players in the music industry revitalised the Jamaica Federation of Musicians, enlarging its membership with a band-registration drive, and giving its president Sonny Bradshaw the clout he needed to operate.

Swiss Reggae Ambassador

-The reigning Swiss roots reggae champ Thomi Nikles, aka Famara, is not relenting in exposing his dual racial personality. "I am white outside and black inside," he confessed over the phone from Europe. "Reggae is black music and that's all about me." The vibrant performer, who's toured Western Africa a couple of times, wittingly captioned his recent and fifth full-length album "Double Culture." In Nikles's previous albums he loudly intimated that Africa has a deep place in him. Born in Basel, Switzerland, and after going through the grooming of percussion skills, Nikles ventured with the mic in 1996. "I love the songs of reggae greats like Bob Marley, Jacob Miller, Peter Tosh and U-Roy. But when I realized that the originality of reggae music is rooted in Africa I decided to visit the sun continent and get the actual traditional feel of the music I intend to venture in." -
http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/5-12-25/36152.html

Black Cinderella <> Mother Culture

Known as the "Black Cinderella" and "Mother Culture," Sister Carol has led the way for women in reggae. Her music is rich with cultural heritage and infused with a vital social consciousness that permeates every aspect of life in the new millennium. She has also had a prolific music career during the past 20 years, that has included over 8 albums, a Grammy nomination, several world tours, and network television appearances. Her music carries a social message for people all over the world. Music has always been close to Sister Carol's heart. In fact, her father was an engineer that worked in radio at RJR in Jamaica and would regularly be part of the music scene that was being established in the 1960's by Studio One's legendary Clement "Coxsone" Dodd.

Reggae Gold 2006 Goes Digital Early

This year reggae fans will not have to wait until the weather starts warming up for their hearts to be warmed with the beautiful musical sounds from Jamaica. In fact for all the reggae lovers who already have or are planning on buying or receiving a digital music player soon, they have a lot to be cheerful about. Yes indeed, this year Reggae Gold 2006 is getting a very early release. To prove its weight in gold the album is also called 18 Karat Reggae Gold. With 18 tracks on the album it can be assumed that each track represents a karat of gold. While the physical CD is not yet available and probably wont be until about June 2006, all the MP3 lovers can lick their chops and rejoice. Reggae Gold 2006 is already available at places like ITunes, Yahoo Music, MP3 Tunes and other leading digital music download stores.

Reggae Explosion: The Story of Jamaican Music

The book, done by photographer Adrian Boot and writer Chris Salewicz and charts the development from the sound systems of the 1950s, through ska and dub to the rise of Bob Marley and Rastafarianism. It also explores the 1990s blend of high tech and local rhythms.
Reggae Routes: The Story of Jamaican Music was written by Brian Chang and Wayne Chen and published by Ian Randle Publishers. The authors trace the history of reggae music and examine the ways in which it expresses the dreams, desires and realities of the Jamaican people.The pages are full of information on reggae artistes. It also includes song lyrics, charts from 1960 to 1996 and a provocative reggae all-time top 100 chart.

Reggae: Globalisation in reverse

Noted Jamaican musicologist, Dermot Husssey has observed reggae music's global penetration as one of Jamaica's greatest victories. Describing the music's global reach as "globalisation in reverse", he contends that this is a feat that only superpowers like Britain and America have matched."The penetration of reggae globally, is one of Jamaica's greatest victories, especially as globalisation is becoming one of today's more controversial topics," Dermot Hussey told the recent Reggae Studies Unit lecture at the Undercroft of the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Tomorrow's People The Melody Makers

The oldest son of reggae legend Bob Marley and his wife Rita, Ziggy Marley was the natural heir to the throne left vacant by his father's untimely 1981 death; along with backing band the Melody Makers, a unit comprised of his brothers and sisters, he successfully carried on the tradition of communicating the music's message to a growing global audience, in the process even scoring a U.S. Top 40 single -- a claim neither of his parents could make. Born David Marley in Kingston, Jamaica on October 17, 1968, he received guitar and drum lessons from his father, and began sitting in on Wailers recording sessions at the age of ten. In 1979, Ziggy, his sister Cedelia, brother Stephen and half-sister Sharon all joined Bob in the studio to record the single "Children Playing in the Streets"; christened the Melody Makers, the four siblings continued playing together at family events, and even performed at their father's state funeral.