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?”
Download DJ Green B’s Latest Mix for Free
The Female DJ Represents for the Ladies
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.
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.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.
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.
CD Review: Shango Trex, Shango Trex
[Stashang/E2 Recordings, 2009]I don’t know where this guy is from or how his self-titled CD reached me (apparently a couple of years after its release). But whoever Shango Trex is, he can sing, and apart from a few tiresome girl-you’re-so-sexy sentiments, he’s singing about things that matter.
CD Review: Warrior King, Tell Me How Me Sound
[Tads, 2011]If the title of this album is Warrior King’s way of asking for an honest assessment of how he sounds at this juncture in his career, I’m happy to respond. And while his vocals are strong and supple, I have to say that it takes some time for him to sound much like a warrior or a king.
CD Review: Three Legged Fox, Always Anyway
[2011]Is this reggae or is it rock? I dunno. It’s certainly not “Rasta music” – the lyrical focus sees to that and the rock sensibility is far too strong anyway. But it’s also not merely rock done with a reggae beat in the manner of say, The Clash or Blondie of old – the role of the roots rhythms in the overall sound is too profound, too complete, too subtly integrated. Hey, these rhythms are contained within the music’s very DNA! So let’s just admit that Always Anyway can lay claim to being either rock or reggae, and that in any case the excellence of the music transcends whatever label you assign.
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