sounds of Brazil & Jamaica
Slavish imitation. Contrived reinvention. Tributes usually leave me wondering why they even bothered. Not this.
Gilberto Gil (1942-), Tribute to Bob Marley, live, Brazil (Sao Paulo), 2001
passings
Bunny Rugs (AKA Bunny Clarke, William Clarke), singer
February 6, 1948-February 2, 2014
Live (with Sly & Robbie), “Revolution,” “Love Is Blind,” New York, 2013
***
Live (with Third World), “Now That We Found Love,” Los Angeles, 2013
***
Recording (Lee Perry, prod.), “Be Thankful,” 1975
two takes
Alton Ellis (1938-2008), “Breaking Up Is Hard To Do”
Live
Recording
*****
lagniappe
reading table
First day of spring—
I keep thinking about
the end of autumn.—Matsuo Basho (1644-1694, translated from Japanese by Robert Hass)
two takes
The Heptones, “Book of Rules”
Recording, 1973
This bass line I could live in all day.
***
Live, London (Jazz Cafe), 2009
**********
lagniappe
radio
WKCR Proudly Presents: The Jamaican Independence Festival
Starting at 8 a.m. on Saturday, July 28th, 2012, WKCR will broadcast 43 hours of music from Jamaica spanning the development of more than 50 years of recorded music. August 6, 2012 is the 50th anniversary of Jamaican independence from Great Britain. The emergence of Jamaica’s modern recording industry began in the late 1950s followed by the emergence of ska in the early 60s. Ska was the first in a continuum of music genres–rock steady, reggae, dub, lover’s rock, and dancehall–that would have global influence in the next 50 years. The WKCR Jamaican Independence Festival will celebrate this musical and cultural legacy through a 43 hour broadcast running until 3 a.m. Monday, July 30th.
The dates of the festival fall between Jamaican Independence Day and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie’s birthday on July 23rd. Saturday evening, a segment of the festival will focus on Rastafarian music specifically. The Rastafarian movement, which began in Jamaica in the 1930s after Ras Tafari Makonnen’s coronation as Haile Selassie, was a major cultural force in the Jamaican recording industry as many musicians were Rastafarians. The festival will celebrate the Jamaican community, and educate the larger New York audience in preparation for other cultural events the following week. The festival will be segmented to illustrate specific developments in genres, and periods of Jamaican music. Iconic artists whose influence deserves recognition will receive special one-hour profiles, and Sunday evening will feature a live, in-studio performance by the Brooklyn-based Full Watts Band, which specializes in rock steady and early reggae.
Here is a full schedule of the festival:
Saturday:
8-10 Festival Reggae / Independence Songs
10-12 Ska
12-14 Reggae Got Soul
14-19 Tributes to Deceased Icons: Alton Ellis, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott, Bob Marley/Peter Tosh 1 hour each.
19-21 Early Dancehall/Rubadub/Early 80’s Sound
21-23 Guest (stay tuned for details)
23-(1 Sunday) RastafariSunday:
(23 Saturday)-1 Rastafari
1-3 Deejay Style
3-6 Digital Reggae
6-8 Dub
8-10 Jamaican Gospel
10-12 Mento
12-14 Rocksteady/Early Reggae
14-20 Tributes to Living Icons: Bunny Wailer, Bob Andy, Ken Booth, Leroy Sibles, John Holt, Jimmy Cliff 1 hour each.
20-22 Full Watts Band Live Set/Interview
22-(1 Monday) Harmony GroupsMonday:
(22 Sunday)-1 Harmony Groups
1-3 Dub Till Dawn
more favorites from the past year
Dub shows aren’t an everyday thing in Chicago, so last night, despite the weather (rain) and weariness (from traveling to see a client in prison), I ventured out to a club to catch this guy. A show like this isn’t just an aural experience: each beat of the bass vibrates your ribcage.
Mad Professor (AKA Neil Fraser, born 1955, Guyana)
Live, London, 2011
Vodpod videos no longer available.******
Live remix, Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Lively Up Yourself,” c. 2008
Vodpod videos no longer available.(Originally posted 9/19/11.)
*******
Life thickens as you get older, becoming more layered. The other night, for instance, listening to Mad Professor dub Bob Marley at a club on Chicago’s south side (Reggie’s, State near Cermak), I found it hard not to think of another night over thirty years ago, of another club on the other side of town (Quiet Knight, Belmont near Clark, now gone), of hearing Bob Marley not dubbed but live.
Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Trenchtown Rock”
Live, Chicago (Quiet Knight), 1975
(Originally posted 9/20/11.)
three takes
“Now That We Found Love” (AKA “Now That We’ve Found Love”)
(K. Gamble & L. Huff)
take 1
Heavy D (AKA Dwight Arrington Myers), May 24, 1967-November 8, 2011
Heavy D & the Boyz, 1991
*****
take 2
O’Jays, 1973
*****
take 3
Third World, live
Life thickens as you get older, becoming more layered. The other night, for instance, listening to Mad Professor dub Bob Marley at a club on Chicago’s south side (Reggie’s, State near Cermak), I found it hard not to think of another night over thirty years ago, of another club on the other side of town (Quiet Knight, Belmont near Clark, now gone), of hearing Bob Marley not dubbed but live.
Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Trenchtown Rock”
Live, Chicago (Quiet Knight), 1975
Dub shows aren’t an everyday thing in Chicago, so last night, despite the weather (rain) and weariness (from traveling to see a client in prison), I ventured out to a club to catch this guy. A show like this isn’t just an aural experience: each beat of the bass vibrates your ribcage.
Mad Professor (AKA Neil Fraser, born 1955, Guyana)
Live, London, 2011
Vodpod videos no longer available.******
Live remix, Bob Marley and the Wailers, “Lively Up Yourself,” c. 2008
Vodpod videos no longer available.three takes
Is this—the new cover—great?
Maybe, maybe not.
No matter—I, uh (to dip into the aging hipster’s lexicon), dig it.
“Is This Love” (Bob Marley)
Corinne Bailey Rae
Take 1: recording, 2010
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
Take 2: live, Los Angeles, 2010
Vodpod videos no longer available.***
Bob Marley
Take 3: live, Santa Barbara, 1979
Vodpod videos no longer available.More Bob Marley? Here.
music clip of the day 