Nadine Sutherland in action again

She became a household name when she won the Tastee Talent Contest in 1979 and singer Nadine Sutherland has not looked back since. The child star has gone on to capture the world’s imagination, excelling in the field of reggae/dancehall music, blossoming into an internationally recognised artiste, acclaimed songwriter and dancer.

Reggae superstar Bob Marley, signed her to his Tuff Gong label while she was still an adolescent and Nadine went from being known as reggae’s “Teen Queen” with hits like Starvation and Until to garnering international acclaim as the co-lead on dancehall anthems Action and Anything For You.

Nine questions for Ziggy

Dread your locks and pack your pipes, Ziggy Marley takes the stage at the Shell this weekend. Honolulu Weekly caught up with the pop reggae superstar as he moved into the last leg of his tour.

Finding the rhythms of Porti

Port Antonio and the Jamaican music scene are not ideas you would readily put in the same sentence.

Marlon Minott, aka Marly B of Illmatic Records Inc, is looking to change that. He operates his studio, mixing lab and voice booth all from a little nook in Port Antonio.

Mr Vegas is ‘blessed’

Dancehall artiste Mr Vegas returned to Jamaica this week after completing a successful I Am Blessed tour in Europe.

He had kicked off the tour on July 13th with a rousing performance on a show dubbed Summer Reggae Fest at Fort de Saint Pere in France. The tour lasted for about three weeks with several gigs in Germany, Italy, France, Belgium, Holland and Spain. Notable performances included closing the Dour Festival show in Belgium with a high-energy, rain-soaked performance that captivated the large 30,000 plus crowd which flocked to the site for the final day of the annual four-day music festival.

‘Jamaican Woman’ a hilarious tribute

Whether walking runways all over the world, holding attention with form and figure, or urging the pilot on (in none too gentle terms) as the plane sits tantalizingly close to the runway (and their goods sit in the cargo bay), Jamaican women have made their mark on the world.

And, in travelling all over Jamaica playing music, the Fabulous Five Incorporated Band’s singing drummer Asley ‘Grub’ Cooper, noted some striking characteristics of the women they encountered and modified a mento song from his childhood to make the enduring hit, Jamaican Woman.

Reggae Rising draws artists and fans from throughout the world

People traveled far and wide this weekend to come to Reggae Rising at the Dimmick Ranch on the Mendocino-Humboldt County line. The festival is commonly referred to simply as “Reggae” for those who have attended the various incarnations of the festival in this location for years. Reggae Rising is known as the largest Reggae Festival in the nation, along with possessing an international reputation as one of the world’s best music festivals.

Lost in translation?

German radio disc jock Andreas Müller has criticised European and North American gay and lesbian rights groups for what he calls a coordinated campaign to tarnish reggae and dancehall music.

The 44-year-old, who doubles as an entertainment writer and has a vast library of some 15,000-20,000 reggae works – mainly on vinyl – in his Berlin home office, told Saturday Life in a recent interview that gay rights lobbyists have missed the mark by viewing dancehall’s vitriolic lyrics as a literal rallying cry for bloodletting.

‘Legend,’ Bob Marley’s best-of album, lands on a milestone

Released in 1984, Legend: The Best of Bob Marley and the Wailers didn’t stir it up on the charts. It entered Billboard at No. 168 and peaked at No. 54.

But the reggae icon’s posthumous collection has lived up to its name by becoming only the 17th album to exceed sales of 10 million copies since Nielsen SoundScan began tabulating in 1991.

Tarrus Riley is the real deal

On Friday, I had the great honour and pleasure of speaking at the launch of Tarrus Riley’s latest album, Contagious. Tarrus is the real deal. Clearly, he has talent and possesses a distinctive voice. He is also curious and persistent. Too often we place undue emphasis on talent. Certainly we should not discount it, but we should always bear in mind that talent without persistence is best described as unfulfilled potential.

Luciano brings old-school vibe to Mystic

It’s probably not the ideal scenario for an interview — a reporter on the phone in the Bay Area, a reggae singer eating tofu in tamarind sauce in a Kingston, Jamaica, cafe — but at some point we stumble on the very essence of the Reggae Rising festival:

“It’s one of those favorite shows of mine,” says Luciano. “Good music, good vibes and clean air. As opposed to performing clubs and all that, people smoking all different stuff — you don’t know what they’re burning.