Making a good life wherever we are
As a Jamaican in Cayman who has contributed significantly to the commercial and social fabric of this society, what is also important is that Mr Guilfoyle and his family have spent more than half of that number of years living here in Cayman, but he still keeps an eye on what happens in Jamaican and above all what happens to Jamaicans wherever they are.
Jamaica signs on to Venezuela’s plan for cheaper oil in Caribbean
Jamaica became the first Caribbean country to sign an agreement with Venezuela on a new plan for the South American nation to supply oil to countries throughout the region at below-market prices.
Roots reggae and resistance from Jamaica to Brixton
Once feared by the authorities and celebrated by rebels from Notting Hill to Zimbabwe, roots reggae has been sanitised. Bob Marley is presented as simply uplifting summer music. But a series 1970s reggae reissues is making it possible to see how innovative, influential and politically aware it was.
Alicia Keys Set To Release Unplugged Record
Just when you’ve had enough of Alicia Keys and her piano, she’s back — and this time, she’s unplugged.
Jamaica Gleaner – Music mogul optimistic
He has earned his reputation as the successful businessman who took Bob Marley and reggae music to the world. Chris Blackwell, O.J., is founder of Island Records, Palm Pictures and the Island Outpost Group, as well as the owner of some choice resort properties in Jamaica and Harbour Island in The Bahamas.
The Skatalites are living musical legends, founding fathers of the modern Jamaican sound. Four decades ago, the group virtually invented ska, the upbeat dance music that spawned rock steady and reggae, and inspired three waves of British and American ska revivalists. A triumphal 1983 reunion performance at the Reggae Sunsplash Festival eventually inspired the group to reform on a permanent basis in 1986. For nearly 20 years, the modern incarnation of this legendary band has brought classic ska to audiences around the world. Billboard has called the group “Jamaica’s supreme instrumental band,” and Rolling Stone’s description is: “The Skatalites — Jamaica’s answer to the Motown house band and Booker T. and the MG’s combined.”
With the assistance of noted producer Tad A Dawkins, George Nooks has assembled an album which pays tribute to the late Crown Prince of Reggae, Dennis Brown. The album, titled George Nooks Sings Dennis Brown: The Voice Lives On, is due for release next month.
Beenie Man Catches a Fire 2005-08-03
It took him just shy of a full year, but dancehall titan Beenie Man finally took a Bay Area stage in late July, rocking Berkeley’s Shattuck Down Low for two straight nights despite the best efforts of infuriated gay-rights activists and a hilariously brazen con-man promoter.
You may recall that last year, the UK gay activist group OutRage declared PR war on Beenie Man and fellow dancehall stars Sizzla, Bounty Killa, Elephant Man, Vybez Kartel, Capleton, Buju Banton, and T.O.K., assailing their blatantly homophobic lyrical content…
When the Latin hip-hop fusion called reggaeton began popping up on urban stations a couple of years ago, few sensed the start of a trend. If anything, the bouncy but simple Spanish-language music sounded like a novelty: the “Macarena” of the new millennium, perhaps.
Then, the Daddy Yankee tune “Gasolina” began flooding the airwaves, and other reggaeton and Spanish-language singles followed, including Wisin y Yandel’s “Rakata,” the Frankie J and Baby Bash collaboration “Obsession (No Es Amore)” and Don Omar’s “Reggaeton Latino.”
Reggaeton – The Story So Far..
…If you’re feeling poetic, you could call reggeaton a homage to the first Jamaicans who were taken to Panama in the early 1900s to build the Canal, and paid the price in blood and tears. These canal workers were also the first to bring the sounds of Jamaica to the Spanish speaking Americas, planting the seeds of the first reggae in Spanish. The strong connection between Panama and Jamaica lived on and in the early eighties, El General, a dude in a white military suit, with tassles of his shoulders and shades, was the first Panamanian reggae star to gain international recognition.