Superb ‘Moment’ with Beres

There were handclaps as a countdown from 10 seconds started on the large screens above the stage on Sunday night at the National Indoor Sports Centre (NISC) and a huge cheer as it was complete for Beres Hammond’s ‘A Moment In Time’ to begin.

There would be a wait for Hammond, though, the first cheers going up for a Whitney Houston style ‘exhalation’ from Dean Fraser and the individual performers entering through one section of the audience seated closest to the stage.

Alpha Blondy stages landmark concert in Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast’s biggest reggae star, Alpha Blondy, staged Sunday his first concert in his homeland since it was split by a failed 2002 coup, calling on his countrymen to put their bloody past behind them. President Laurent Gbagbo and some 5,000 fans turned up for the Peace and Reconciliation Concert in the picturesque coastal town of Grand Bassam, which served as the country’s capital in the early years of French colonial rule.

Beenie to close year in live entertainment

The ‘Undisputed’ King of the Dancehall headlines the Guinness Christmas Jam at the National Park tonight in what is expected to be another show of his lyrical prowess and hardcore dancehall style. It only seems natural that Beenie Man would appear at the final show of the year — a year that has seen solid performances on local soil from Jamaica’s Buju Banton, Third World, Tanya Stephens, DYCR and recently Shaggy.

Kenneth ‘Culture’ Dayes’ first solo album, Still I’ve Got Love

Kenneth Dayes, a founding member of Culture, the group led by the late Joseph Hill, has put out his debut solo album called Still I’ve Got Love. “Me and Ansel Colins did this album around four years now, and I just sit on it because I don’t have any distributor.,” Dayes said about the set for which his wife Gwendolyn Dayes, is executive producer.

Patrons still waiting for it to Sting

There was hardly anything to write home about at this year’s Sting as despite a few explosive moments, the show paled in comparison to previous years, and left the thousands of patrons who had converged on the Jamworld Entertainment Centre dissatisfied.

“This a the worst Sting ever,” one disgruntled patron muttered as other patrons filed through the turnstiles and left members of the Portmore Empire exchanging lyrics on stage.

‘I hate the word celebrity, but I definitely lead a crazy rock star life,’ says Collie Buddz

No matter where he is performing, from Japan to New York, Collie Buddz has just one backstage demand – a black and coke, with plenty of ice. The Bermudian reggae artist is now an international star. But he says you can forget expensive champagne and the other luxuries celebrities pick for their dressing rooms.

‘Doc’ medicates Montego Bay musically

Dancehall fans at the Aqua Beach Park, in Montego Bay, got a house call from the Doctor, Beenie Man, early Saturday morning, and, in a mere half hour, he had properly diagnosed, medicated and left the patrons in a state of musical wellness. Beenie Man, the STAR’s Artiste of the Month, actually started the day not feeling well and at one point it was feared that he might not have made the trip for the special autograph signing session and charity concert. However, he did not disappoint.

Bosstones Throwdown and Long Live Desmond Dekker!

A not-so-subtle subtheme of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones’s reunion in their hometown this week is the veneration of a ska, rocksteady, and reggae trailblazer for Bob Marley. The Bosstones’s latest radio cut, “Don’t Worry Desmond Dekker,”‘ references the onetime welder who sang the classic “Israelites” and was named in Paul McCartney’s ska-flavored “Ob-La-Di.”

Bounty dismisses – ‘never-see-come-see’ Beenie

After a display of musical versatility by Javaughn, who sang of Peer Pressure and played keyboards, drums and bass guitar, the regal prowl of Etana as she sang of the Wrong Address and encouraged all to hold on their Roots, the extended reggae rockers of Rootz Underground came to ‘Welcome To Jamrock’. Those gathered at the Constant Spring football field on Friday evening at The Gleaner-sponsored show which started just before its slated 9:00 p.m., cheered on Tarrus Riley’s advice to Beware, held up their Lion Paw and agreed that She’s Royal.

The Boys of Birmingham

It’s easy to assume that reggae music is a product of Jamaica alone. The island has produced all of the genre’s biggest names for the past 40 years, and it’s still ground zero when it comes to discovering what’s hot. Reggae music was undoubtedly born in Jamaica, but if you branch out across the Atlantic, you’ll see that for a considerable amount of time during the late ’70s and ’80s, England was an underappreciated mecca for reggae music as well.