Ska! Ska! Ska! and other Jamaican classics
Jamaica has touched the hearts and tickled the stomachs of many with its multi-genre music and tasty food. Ska music, the melding of mento, traditional rhythmic Jamaican music, and Caribbean music called Calypso. Ska was in its heyday in Jamaica in the mid-sixties, and its happy sound paved the way for rock steady, a combination of ska, pop and r&b, and reggae.
Fans: Banton case strikes sour chord
His fans have launched a letter-writing campaign against his prosecution and plan a rally outside the courthouse when he goes on trial on Monday.
Facebook pages, websites and T-shirts all support Buju Banton, a four-time Grammy-nominated reggae musician facing federal drug charges in a case his lawyer says was entrapment. More than 100 people have responded to a Facebook invitation posted by Tampa area supporters to rally outside the federal courthouse on North Florida Avenue.
Various sentiments have been expressed regarding the current status of the Dancehall genre. Some think it is slowly dying as the mediocrity to which it has been reduced has left a lot to be desired.
For others, the once popular music has evolved into a mere shadow of the vibrant force that it used to be in the halcyon days of the 1980s and 1990s.
Jamaican Dancehall: Gangster’s Paradise
The Sun Sets behind Tivoli Gardens on a warm Wednesday evening in late June, shooting streaks of burnt-orange light between this West Kingston community’s crumbling buildings. Tarrus Riley’s “Good Girl Gone Bad” blares from three-foot speakers inside a small storefront that sits on Spanish Town Road, across from the concrete wall that runs along the neighborhood’s northern edge.
The store, a faded white building with blue trim called Miles Enterprise, features a horseshoe-shaped counter; shelves behind it stock a spare assortment of bread, crackers, and other dry goods, along with a robust selection of booze.
‘Buju Banton’ is facing further woes after James Mack, the second co-defendant in the drug case against him yesterday signed a plea bargain deal with the United States District Attorney, agreeing to testify against the Jamaican reggae singer.
Mack’s deal comes five days after another co-defendant, Ian Thomas, also agreed to give evidence against the four-time Grammy nominee whose correct name is Mark Myrie.
Bob Marley Family Loses Case Over Hit Records
Bob Marley’s family lost a lawsuit seeking the copyrights to several of the late Jamaican reggae singer’s best-known recordings.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan said the UMG Recordings unit of Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group is the rightful owner of copyrights to five albums that Marley had recorded between 1973 and 1977 for Island Records.
Hamilton’s first attempt to ‘Let It Rain’
“After I became a Christian I started singing at my church, Boulevard Church of the Nazarene,” said Abigail Hamilton of her humble beginnings as a gospel singer.
“My father always used to sing to me and I always liked music from a tender age,” she added.
Rogue Valley reggae band Indubious took the No. 1 slot Wednesday night at the Last Band Standing competition at Shenanigans in downtown Medford.
Judges included James Book with Top Secret Records, Peter Britt of Medford’s Guitar Center and guitarist Craig Chaquico. Audience members got a say in the judging, as well.
I’d always thought that finding a Jamaican who didn’t like reggae would be akin to finding a Northern Territorian who would turn down a cold beer on a 45-degree day. As we roll into Kingston I ask our taxi driver if he counts himself a fan of the nation’s most famous export.
He unleashes a booming laugh and exposes a wall of white teeth. “You be joking mon! What country did you tink you were in?”
Reggae musician’s cohort cuts deal
A co-defendant of Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton has agreed to cooperate with the government as part of a plea deal in his drug case.
Banton, a four-time Grammy nominee, is set to stand trial Sept. 20 along with another co-defendant, James Mack, on charges they participated in a cocaine deal in Sarasota.