JahWorks.Org

The Intelligent Online Caribbean Music, Culture, and Travel Magazine

On Racial Frontiers: The New Culture of Frederick Douglass, Ralph Ellison and Bob Marley

Interview with author Gregory Stephens

(January 2000)

“I don’t think enough people look at Bob Marley’s European audience and ask: what is that all about?” Gregory Stephens tells me one sunny day outside of his El Cerrito, California home, “And what does that mean about cultural ownership?”  Read more... (2793 words + 3 images)

Download DJ Green B’s Latest Mix for Free

The Female DJ Represents for the Ladies

Selecta Green B

Selecta Green B

Bay-Area based DJ, Green B, has recently released her latest mix as part of her Hot Gyal Promotions Series, 4.2. The female selector is part of the Coo-Yah! Ladeez Sound, who play every Wednesday night in San Francisco. Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, Selecta Green B is part of a greater movement of females who have been getting involved in all aspects of the male-dominated reggae landscape.  Read more... (118 words + 2 images)

CD Reviews: Various Artists, African Beat & Latin Beat

Putumayo World Music, 2011

Things are getting to where just about every music compilation with “beat” or “groove” in the title is bound to be a collection of tunes designed for contemporary dance floors. I’m not opposed to the idea of letting remixers and electronica tinkerers get their hands on traditional music in order to make it more danceable for the club crowd. All too often, though, the traditional aspects of the music get so smothered in stiff, computerized gimmickry that the end result sounds like dumbed-down crap. So the challenge is to modernize what we call world music without putting off the purists who created a market for the stuff.  Read more... (457 words)

CD Review: The Simpkin Project, Everything You Want

[Hughes Drive Productions, 2011]

 The latest from the Huntington Beach, CA-based Simpkin Project is another smart set of inspired and dance-inducing reggae from a band that’s on the rise and sounding great. Their band members – two guitarists, two keyboardists, bassist, drummer and percussionist – lay into the opening instrumental “Showtime” with the expertise of a crack Jamaican studio band, fortified by the blazing addition of Jah Horns.  Read more... (258 words)

CD Review: Ruff Scott, Roots and Culture

[Cool Breeze Records, 2011]

If you’re a reggae artist and you release an album called “Roots and Culture,” you had best be certain that the music is reflective of such a title and that yours is a voice strong and distinctive enough to overcome a title that’s, well, kind of generic. Ruff Scott hails from Manchester, Jamaica but has spent most of his life in New York City. And as far as his having a distinctive voice, his growling but articulate singjay style was one I’d already heard and enjoyed on a few reggae compilations originating in the NYC vicinity.  Read more... (388 words)

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