Roger Steffens and Peter Simon’s ‘Reggae Scrapbook’

“We’re more than a beach. We’re a country.” So a Jamaica Tourist Board ad campaign stated in the 1970s, as tourism became the bread and butter of the Caribbean and Bob Marley secured international fame. Promoting the radical notion that there was – gasp! – culture in resortland proved a smart strategy; today Jamaica is to the Caribbean as Starbucks is to coffee: the brand name that inspires fervent fidelity and chronic visits. To cite the current Jamaica Tourist Board motto, which has “cult” written all over it, “Once you go, you know.”

Jamaican Sets World Record in 100 Meters at 9.72

The Reebok Grand Prix meet took place at Randalls Island on Saturday night, but it was a home crowd for Jamaica’s newest sprint star at 100 meters, Usain Bolt.

And the 6,490 fans were greeted with a stunning performance as Bolt set a world record in 9.72 seconds, competing in the event for only the fifth time in a professional race. His mark eclipsed the previous record of 9.74, set last September by his countryman Asafa Powell, and left Tyson Gay of the United States, the 2007 world champion, more than a yard behind in 9.85.

The return of De Ashanti, again!

He is often described as “the people’s king”. Troubled Calypsonian Herman “Ashanti” has had a bond with Calypso lovers here, built on a rock of mixed emotions. Even those in competing camps, cannot deny his inimitable voice, his ability to connect with his audience in song and punctuate each line with just the right passion at the right time.

Ashanti made his debut in the Calypso arena in the eighties performing as “The Young Surpriser” at first, before a name change to “Ashanti.” For the next ten years or so Ashanti delivered a number of memorable hits from the pens of Trevor “Jah T” Anthony and Nahum Jn Baptiste. He went on to win his first title, the “road march” in 1986 with Sufferers Song (Malayway) and won the Calypso Monarch titles in 1990 and 1991. In 2004 Ashanti landed three songs in the top 25 Calypsos since independence event; Sufferers Song, Mele’, and Lucian Population.

Last Night: Best of the Best at Bicentennial Park

As if you need an introduction, Best of the Best is by far, the biggest annual dancehall/reggae festival in North America today, comparable to say, SumFest held in MoBay, Jamaica. Yet for the Caribbean community here in South Florida, their irie was strategically placed smack in the middle of Downtown Miami as Bicentennial Park filled up with approximately 30,000 Jamaicans, Haitians, Bahamians, Trinis, Bermudians, and every other island nation that repped their flags high in the air.

2 the Max

The talk circulating the globe about Maxi Priest being the new lead singer of UB40 is just that. Talk.

Throwing back his phalanx of ink-black natties, he laughed generously, flashing his playful signature smile.

“I ain’t in no UB40 band. Man, people say that and you know what, it suits me they’re saying it because it keeps people chatting,” the artiste born Max Elliot jokingly told SUNDAY SUN in an exclusive interview.

Jr. Gong rings the reggae bells

It’s been three years since Damian Marley totally blindsided mainstream America with the unapologetic reggae street salvo “Welcome to Jamrock.”

Those in the know could smell it coming.

Leader of the New School

There’s plenty of fuss made at times by journalists (like myself) about the negative direction reggae music seems to have gone in the past ten years. But for all our boo-hooing, certain artists like Tarrus Riley know how to rise up and silence the critics. The popular singer of the smash hit “She’s Royal” and odes such as “Far Away” and “Beware” has a crooning style that has captured the hearts of reggae fans worldwide.

Where poetry meets chaos

At two in the afternoon one day this spring, I stood on a crowded, noisy street corner in a “no-go” area of Kingston, Jamaica, where I was serenaded by a dreadlocked street vendor who, having given up trying to sell me a cheap Chinesemade belt, decided to demonstrate his talents as a rapper. Prefacing his performance with “I love Canadian people, man!” he sang as if he were a contestant on Idol and I somehow had the power to lift him out of grinding poverty and this chaotic place.

There are those who would say that I, a woman alone, should not have been on that street corner in the first place, and maybe not in Kingston at all. Many advised me against visiting here: I would be robbed, they said, or shot or, the worst vacation fate of all, bored. Kingston does have that reputation. Or no reputation at all. It is simply off the radar when it comes to the typical Jamaican holiday of sun, rum and a Sandals resort. I like that sort of thing, too, but Kingston — edgy, artsy and unmanageable — exerted a pull on me.

Rooted in reggae

Fort Collins band Dubskin is not completely boxed into its roots reggae descriptor.

But it also doesn’t reach far outside of the genre. The band picks up elements of dance hall and dub, with a little bit of hip-hop, instead of branching out into a mixed bag of music styles. The resulting sound is refreshingly consistent, sticking to Rastafarian roots in its message and its pace.

Jimmy Cliff Still Has More Rivers to Cross

When a musician finds out that a musical featuring their songs is in the works, the sensible thing is to follow Take That and David Bowie and disown it as quickly as possible.

Veteran reggae star Jimmy Cliff has other ideas. His tunes from the classic 1972 film The Harder They Come, in which he starred, are now being reprised in song-and-dance form at the Playhouse Theatre. I get the impression that the 60-year-old wishes he was still playing singer and gun-toting wanted man Ivanhoe Martin himself.