Fishbone: A little reggae, a little ska, some punk and metal

For a band named after the remnants of a good meal, Fishbone is a hearty hodge-podge of sounds and styles.

After nearly 30 years of rocking out, the seven-man ska-punk-reggae-metal fusion act is back with a new album and a new lineup. Since forming in 1979, the eclectic alternative rock band has amassed a loyal cult following. Its high-energy music mixes humor with activism. Earlier this year the band released its latest album, “Still Stuck In Your Throat.”

Another court date for ‘Family Man’?

An American show promoter has sued legendary reggae band The Wailers to recover US$2 million in concert fees he claims it owes him.

The promoter, Bill Reid, told the Virginian-Pilot newspaper last week that the funds represent eight years of unpaid concert revenues. As their promoter, Reid said he was contracted to receive 10 per cent of The Wailers’ live show fees.

Lee “Scratch” Perry: Repentance

Lee “Scratch” Perry is known for his role as the legendary Jamaican producer who helped usher in the genre of dub music over 40 years ago. Featuring experimental and spacey bass-laden effects on lyric-less versions of reggae classics, a new genre grew and was popularized by the storied producer. Having created and worked on countless albums with every dub artist imaginable, the storied Grammy winning icon is back with his 54th studio album, Repentance.

How the world tuned into Jamaica

Sly and Robbie lean ostentatiously against the wall of a small studio in a dusty street. Nearby, in the middle of the road, reggae star Eek-a-Mouse smiles for the camera, wearing a trademark waistcoat-and-bow-tie get-up in red, green and gold. In Chancery Lane, a young Gregory Isaacs holds a plastic cup while someone fills it from a beer bottle. Chancery Lane, Kingston, that is. The photographs in Beth Lesser’s new coffee-table book, Dancehall: The Rise of Jamaican Dancehall Culture, depict a society so obsessed by music and so suffused with a can-do, DIY spirit that its disproportionate presence on the world stage seems inevitable.

Lesser first visited Kingston in 1981 as a wide-eyed 28-year-old Canadian reggae fan.

Mostly quiet times for Beres

He might be a reggae legend, but Beres Hammond enjoys the quiet life. Beres Hammond is a pretty low-keyed guy. In fact, up until this point, The Voice’s Davina Morris had been given the impression that the reggae veteran didn’t do interviews.

“No man,” laughed Hammond. ‘Ah lie dem a tell!’

Sean Paul At Lehman Center

Reggae fans are expected to storm the Lehman Center for the Performing Arts, located at 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West in the Bronx, in a bid to get tickets for Lehman’s engagement of Jamaican superstar, Grammy Award-winning Sean Paul, who is expected to appear complete with band and dancers to blow the venue off the map when the superstar delivers what is anticipated to be an explosive show on Saturday, November 8th at 8:00 p.m.

Made in Jamaica: A look at music born though turmoil

Made in Jamaica opens with the death of Kingston dancehall icon Bogle, as ministers, warlords and musicians attend his funeral, his body carried in an Escalade hearse.

“We are a great people and we will be great again,” says a eulogist. “Our music is what put Jamaica on the map. It will not come from killing each other.”

Jamaica’s bad gyal Ce’Cile showing no sign of slowing down

CE’CILE has been in the game for a very long time and with her string of ‘bad gyal’, thought-provoking and provocative tunes, she is certainly showing no sign of slowing down anytime soon.

Ce’Cile has cleverly crafted her career into what she wants it to be by pacing herself within the industry. In an exclusive interview, she told SKNVibes that one of her secrets to her longevity is by not releasing too many songs at one time, which she believes could be detrimental especially for a female artiste.

Health, wellness and music take centre stage

A musical fete was the icing on the cake at the four-day WATA Rose Hall Triathlon & Wellness Festival at Cinnamon Hill, St James, last Saturday.

The Ocean Spray and WATA-sponsored free concert never fell short in promoting health and wellness along with great music.

Two for Reggae

Two female artists with distinctively different styles will share the same stage this week at the nightclub Room 960. The first is Etana, who, along with Queen Ifrica, is leading a female roots-reggae revival. The other, Barbee, is an up-and-coming dancehall singer overflowing with sex appeal.

The reggae world was introduced to Etana two years ago with the release of her first solo hit “Wrong Address,” which featured her playing an acoustic guitar and singing about class discrimination. With a natural hairstyle, a radiant smile, and long skirts, Etana’s image is a big change from her days in the all-girl quintet, GIFT, in 2000, while she was attending college in Miami.