For art or money? Matisyahu. Heeb. Guilt & Pleasure. Times are flush if you’re a young, culturally minded American Jew. Indeed, the last few years have seen an explosion in artistic and cultural activity by and for Jews. Matisyahu, a Hasidic reggae singer, for example, has sold more than 500,000 albums. And Heeb, a Jewish [...]
Rita Marley calls for Gov’t to pay greater attention to music business Montego Bay, St. James – Rita Marley, wife of music legend, Bob Marley, yesterday said it was about time that the Government streamlined Reggae music so that lyrical content could be monitored and royalty from the music would flow back to the artists [...]
New Caribbean dance craze worries parents in Grenada The woman in a flounced white micro-mini and green glitter tube top writhed to a dance-hall beat throbbing through the Q-West nightclub. She gyrated in a motion that sent her skirt riding high. Throughout the club, sporadically lighted by the flash of a camera or strobe light, [...]
Dancehall ROCKS gently When many think of rock music, images of head bangers in white face powder, eyes lined in black and reddened lips puckered, spring to mind. That extreme persona may soon be joined by that of a fashionable Jamaican bopping to rock, as more and more reggae and dancehall acts seem to be [...]
Film explores reggae’s roots The Canadian reggae scene is about to get more notice. Niagara College student, Brad Weiss, 21, of Stoney Creek is producing a documentary on the development of the reggae scene with director Alex Peers, also from Niagara College. Reggae is Mr. Peers’ passion and he and Mr. Weiss decided to make [...]
One love. One heart. One perfect day As the 25th anniversary of Bob Marley’s death nears, memories of seeing the supernatural legend in concert remain powerful Gather ’round, kids. I’m going to tell you about the time I saw a legend, a natural mystic, in the flesh. In the two and a half decades since [...]
Man from Wareika returns During a break in a Tokyo recording session, Rico Rodriguez puts down his trombone to lark around on the roof with the teenage members of Oreskaband, the all-girl ska band he’s been working with. That, at 72 years old, he is now old enough to be their grandfather doesn’t even faze [...]
Man from Wareika returns During a break in a Tokyo recording session, Rico Rodriguez puts down his trombone to lark around on the roof with the teenage members of Oreskaband, the all-girl ska band he’s been working with. That, at 72 years old, he is now old enough to be their grandfather doesn’t even faze [...]
Man from Wareika returns During a break in a Tokyo recording session, Rico Rodriguez puts down his trombone to lark around on the roof with the teenage members of Oreskaband, the all-girl ska band he’s been working with. That, at 72 years old, he is now old enough to be their grandfather doesn’t even faze [...]
Toots on a Roll The man who gave reggae its name brings back the Maytals. The career of Frederick “Toots” Hibbert predates reggae — in fact, he’s the guy most often credited with naming the genre. But the music’s reigning patriarch isn’t a museum piece just yet. Last year’s True Love — an album that [...]