World economic crisis affecting local shows
The Christmas season will be a little less cheery for patrons of some of the major shows usually staged at that time.
Rumours have been circulating that four major shows ‘East Fest, Reggae Camp Fire, Original Dancehall Jam Jam and Unity Splash ‘will not be held this year.
The Tribute to Peter Tosh concert which was sche-duled for this Saturday, in the reggae icon’s hometown of Belmont, West-moreland, is off.
The annual show, which was absent for the last three years and has been plagued with venue woes, was cancelled after police declared the Belmont site unfit.
Heavy D Returns with Hit Reggae Album Vibes
Don’t call it a comeback — more like a return to the righteous roots that nurtured him. Legendary Heavy D, (Dwight Myers) has found himself with one of the country’s hottest new reggae albums, Vibes, released on his own Stride Ent. Label and distributed by Universal Music executives’ Monte and and Avery Lipman’s UMG brainchild, Federal Distribution, in conjunction with UMG owned subsidiary Fontana Distribution. Renowned record executive Jordan Katz is overseeing Federal Distribution and the rollout for Vibes.
J’can CD sales fall worldwide – Downloads, piracy blamed for decline
The sales of Jamaican music CDs worldwide are declining, with Internet access and piracy major contributing factors.
With the great increase in Internet access, the sale of actual CDs has been declining significantly. In addition, with the easy access to pirated music (bootlegs), fewer people are buying CDs and vinyl.
‘Godfather of rocksteady’ Alton Ellis dies
Reggae music pioneer Alton Ellis, known as the godfather of rocksteady, has died at the age of 70 in London, England.
Officials at Hammersmith Hospital announced Sunday morning that Ellis, who had cancer of the lymph glands, died peacefully Friday night after he had been hospitalized for several weeks.
“His life was the music and the stage,” said his manager Trish De Rosa.
Complex Blog » Tami Chynn Talks Akon Collabos & Jamaican Tabloids
If Shaggy and Sean Paul were the pinnacle of the dancehall’s cross-over success in the mid-to-late ’90s, singer Tami Chynn has the potential to become the female equivalent today. With the exception of Rihanna, singers from the Caribbean have largely been unable to break out of the dancehall mold to achieve lasting success.
One thing’s for sure, it helps to have a major label backing the effort, which Universal did in 2006 when they released Tami Chynn’s debut Out Of Many One.
Beenie Man arrives late for function to honour athletes; apologises
Dancehall artiste Moses Davis, aka Beenie Man, who was one of the special guest performers on Wednesday night’s government-sponsored tribute to the Olympians in Trelawny, arrived when the show was over.
A release from his publicist, Ray Alexander, stated that the artiste “unreservedly apologises to the Ministry of Culture, the Olympians and all his fans for his late arrival at the official function to honour athletes at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium on Wednesday evening”.
The ‘Mystery Wailer’ joins those gone before
Singer Cherry ‘Smith’ Green, dubbed the “Mystery Wailer” by no lesser authority than Bunny Wailer, has gone to join the other departed members of the most famous reggae group ever.
Cherry Smith – as she is better known, on September 24 – joined those now regrouping in the great beyond – Bob Marley, Junior Brathwaite and drummer Carlton Barrett.
Kris Kelli continues to learn and grow musically
Kristen McGregor, known in the music industry as Kris Kelli, recently told SKNVibes in an exclusive interview that she has learnt and has grown in the music industry since she first started in 2003.
McGregor was born at the Nuttall Hospital in Kingston, said that when she first started out in the industry she was a young naïve artiste who did not know much about the music business and music itself.
All Rebel Rockers a real Reggae alternative
Michael Franti & Superhead might be old stuff for those into indie-rock, but the American band is poised to share their sound with a whole new audience, compliments of super-producers Sly & Robbie.
Franti’s latest release All Rebel Rockers is literally a melange of sounds that’s like drugs for the ears. Getting addicted to this sound is exciting since Franti and his bandmates experiment with folk, hip hop, reggae, jazz, jam band rock and seemingly anything else that the musical scale may accommodate.