Nice Up (Free subscription) | 06/09/2008
Foundation reggae singer Leroy 'Don' Smart has returned to the forefront with his latest single, One Of A Kind, doing well among the current crop of dancehall/ reggae songs.
The Allmusic Blog (Free subscription) | 11/08/2008
Stories surrounding Jamaican singer Slim Smith’s final recording session and tragic early death are many, and conflicting, and we may never know definitively what happened in his last days. The former lead singer of rocksteady groups the Techniques and the Uniques, Smith’s fragile tenor was easily one of the finest and most recognizable voices to [...]
Nice Up (Free subscription) | 21/05/2008
The sets have been compiled to reflect not just the major recordings of some of Jamaica’s greatest performers the performers, but also highlight the best of their lesser known work, thereby giving the listener a perfect overview of the artist‘s career.
Times Online (Free subscription) | 21/03/2008
When the ska and reggae rhythms of Jamaica were changing the face of popular music in the 1960s and 1970s, at least as vital as the singers and musicians in the development of the sound were the producers and engineers. Like Phil Spector in America, entrepreneurial producers such as Bunny Lee, Coxsone Dodd, Leslie Kong and Joe Gibbs were all powerful, choosing the songs and the singers, hiring the...
Nice Up (Free subscription) | 20/03/2008
There has long been a fascination with singers at a child stage in worldwide popular music, Jamaica is no different. Delroy Wilson springs to mind first and foremost, no doubt the biggest child star the island has ever seen. Errol Dunkley was another teen sensation back in the mid sixties.
Nice Up (Free subscription) | 25/02/2008
The legendary producer Joe Gibbs (born Joel A. Gibson) has passed away at the age of 65.
the central shaft (Free subscription) | 04/02/2008
Bunny Lee, Prince Jammy & Scientist doing "Jailhouse Rock". Exerpt from the DVD "Deep Roots Music, Vol. 1: Revival - Ranking Sounds" Inspired by my old friend Amy's cool blog'o stuff "If The Birds Knew" .
DVD Talk (Free subscription) | 30/01/2008
Rent It Deep Roots Music 2: Bunny Lee Story/Black Ark: This is the real roots music, with awesome footage from the early 1980s and much earlier, with great informal interviews, vintage performances and studio sessions. Deep Roots Music, a six part series filmed by Howard Johnson directly after Bob Marley's death in 1981, examines the origins of reggae music, its performers, producers, toasters, and...
Nice Up (Free subscription) | 16/01/2008
There's countless excellent Jamaican singers who put out an impressive body of work during the golden era but still didn't quite make it. I would count Al Campbell to one of those in that 'category'.
Soul Cocina (Free subscription) | 04/01/2008
Thank you for all the responses to the W h a t's T hi s? series from Nov and Dec. I will revisit the foodstuffs in question later this month for a recap. The Thanksgiving Mis en Place from the picture below was the beginning of another batch of Soul Cocina Birria To prepare the Birria you need to start the day before serving. First I toasted the spices, chillies, garlic, and other ingredients for the...
