Remembering Bob Marley

Reggae icon, Bob Marley would have been 67 years old today. It’s interesting to see how many people Bob touched with the message of his music.

When I was planning my trip to South Africa, I happened upon a link to an Earth Festival that was being put on by the Knysna Rasta Village. I called the village right away and made arrangements to visit. I looked forward to the tour and to meet these South African Rastas. When we got to Cape Town, however, we had so many things scheduled, we had to postpone the trip which was about a day’s drive away.

Bob Marley, photo from the Jamaica Gleaner
Bob Marley, photo from the Jamaica Gleaner

If Bob’s music had reached this community in South Africa, imagine my surprise when I saw the documentary, He Koha Ma Bob Marley. It followed the Maori musician, Ruia Aperahama, as he traveled to Bob Marley’s former home in Trench Town, Jamaica and presented a gift to the Marley family. According to Aperahama, Bob came along “when it wasn’t cool to be Maori, it wasn’t cool to speak our language, it wasn’t cool to be ourselves.” His music gave them hope and helped them see themselves. Talk about reach and impact.

Here in Jamaica, a week of activities are planned to mark the singer’s birthday. Meanwhile, more voices here have been added to the list of people calling for the Jamaican government to make the Rastaman a national hero and to designate his birthplace and final resting place in Nine Mile, St. Ann, an official tourist attraction.

Listen here to Natural Mystic, one of my favorites.

A new biopic, Marley, which was created in collaboration with the family, will hold its World Premiere this month at the 62nd Berlin Film Festival. It will have its North American premiere at South by Southwest film festival in March and open in theaters on April 20th.

Without a doubt, Bob Marley is more popular now than when he was alive. From the Jamaica Observer, here are a list of awards and honors he has received:

* March, 1994 — Bob Marley was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In his tribute, British singer Robert Palmer said, “No one in rock and roll has left a musical legacy that matters more or one that matters in such fundamental ways.”

* Exodus, the ninth studio album for Bob Marley and the Wailers, was recognised as Time magazine’s Album of the Century in 1999. The album contains the tracks Waiting In Vain, Three Little Birds and One Love.

* On February 6, 2001, Bob Marley was honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It would have been his 56th birthday.

* February 2001, Marley received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. Rebel Music, the documentary on his life, was also nominated for Best Long Form Music Video at the Grammys.

* In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked Marley number 11 on its list of 100 Greatest Artistes of All Time. In the Rolling Stone article, rapper Wyclef Jean said, “Marley brought the idea that through music, empowerment and words, you can really come up with world peace”.

* One Love, the song Marley and the Wailers first recorded at Studio One in the 1960s, was named Song of the Millennium by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

* Marley was voted one of the greatest lyricists of all time by a BBC poll in 2004.

* 2006: A blue plaque was unveiled at his first British residence in Ridgemount Gardens, London. It was dedicated by the Nubian Jack Community Trust and supported by Her Majesty’s Foreign Office.

* In 2008, a statue of Marley was unveiled in Serbia during a rock festival as a token of peace. Musicians from Croatia and Serbia were joined by fans for the midnight ceremony

* In 2010, the classic 1973 album, Catch a Fire, was among 25 inductees into the Grammy Hall of Fame. Other Marley productions previously inducted include Get Up, Stand Up, No Woman No Cry, Exodus and One Love.

What’s your favorite Bob Marley song?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BOB!

Soulful Sundays: Etana

I saw Etana in concert a few years ago in Jamaica. About a year or so before I did, I had heard about a young singer who had given up a recording contract in the States to return to Jamaica to devote herself to the music she wanted to sing and to do it her own way. I was impressed and when I heard she was to perform at the 2009 literary festival in St. Elizabeth, I knew where I had to be.

Etana, photo from the Internet
Etana, photo from the Internet

Born Shauna McKenzie in 1983 in Kingston, Etana migrated to Florida in 1992. She intended to become a nurse but the musical talent that had been discovered when she was six took hold. She left Broward Community College in 2000.

She joined Grit, a female girl group. In 2005, Etana became a backup singer for another reggae musician, Ritchie Spice, and performed with him in Europe and North America.

Etana’s single, Wrong Address, hit the number one spot in Jamaica in 2006. She recorded her first album, The Strong One, in 2008.

Give a listen to another song from the same album, I Am Not Afraid.

Enjoy!

 

 

Soulful Sundays: Marcia Griffiths

Marcia Griffiths was born in Kingston in 1949. She started singing professionally in 1964 but became an international sensation in 1989 when a deejay in Washington, DC began playing a little song she recorded seven years earlier. The Electric Boogie, with its infectious, feel-good rhythms, spawned a new line dance, the Electric Slide, which still draws young and old to dance floors at weddings, family reunions and parties. It was featured in movies, The Best Man (1999), and on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

Marcia Griffiths, photo from the Internet
Marcia Griffiths, photo from the Internet

Griffiths was also part of the I-Threes, the trio of accomplished women, Judy Mowatt and Rita Marley, who provided back-up vocals for Bob Marley from 1974 until the singer’s death in 1981.

Griffiths has sang with the legendary band, Byron Lee & the Dragonaires and had a long collaboration with another gifted Jamaican artist, Bob Andy, with whom she recorded, Young, Gifted and Black.

In recognition of her contribution to reggae music, the Jamaican Government awarded Griffiths an Order of Distinction in 2002.

Griffiths, who has 14 albums to her credit, continues to perform. She recently performed on opening night at this year’s Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival.

 

 

 

Celine Dion Headlines the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival 2012

This week, all roads will lead to the Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival which is set to start tomorrow, January 26th and run until January 28th at Greenfield Stadium in Trelawny.

Headliner Celine Dion, who’s performing for the first time in the Caribbean, The Voice’s Cee Lo Green, Earl Klugh, The Temptations Review, featuring Dennis Edwards, Heads of State (Bobby Brown, Johnny Gill, Ralph Tresvant), Shaggy, Etana, Marcia Griffiths, John Holt, Yellow Man, Destra and Damian Marley are among those who are scheduled to perform

In tribute to the celebration of Jamaica’s 50th anniversary of independence, general admission tickets on opening night will be $50 for a single event. On Friday, $100; $80 on Saturday. Weekend passes are $175. The $250 season pass ticket gets you in for all events.

Getting There:

Greenfield Stadium is located about an hour’s drive from Montego Bay. Jazz Shuttle & Taxi Service is available from most hotels.

The Jamaica Jazz & Blues Festival, Greenfield Stadium, January 26-28, 2012.

Soulful Sundays: Etta James, RIP

This week, we received news that Grammy award winning singer, Etta James, had passed away five days before her 74th birthday. I was ‘introduced’ to Ms. James when I was a student at university. Back then, as I’ve written in previous posts, my friends and I would share the music of our favorite artists. Etta James was one of my friend’s.

Born Jamesetta Hawkins in Los Angeles in 1938, Etta James began singing in her church at age 5. She is best known for her signature song, At Last, which was recorded in 1960. It brought her renewed interest when it was featured in the 2008 film, Cadillac Records.

Etta James, photo from the Internet
Etta James, photo from the Internet

During a career that spanned nearly 60 years, Ms. James recorded more than 35 albums. She won six Grammy Awards and 17 Blues Music Awards. In 1993, she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; the Blues Hall of Fame in 2001 and the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999 and 2008. She also received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Ms. James has been a musical influence to artists such as Diana Ross, Christina Aguilera, Joss Stone, Adele, the Rolling Stones, Amy Winehouse and Rod Stewart.

She is survived by her husband, Artis Mills and her sons Donto and Sametto.

Take a listen to this selection from Ms. James, I’d Rather Go Blindand my absolute favorite, Sunday Kind of Love.

Rest In Peace, Etta.

 

Soulful Sundays: Don Drummond

Ska trombonist and composer, Don Drummond, was one of the original members of the Jamaican Ska band, The Skatalites. He was educated at Alpha Boys School where he also taught. Drummond began his musical career with the Eric Dean’s All-Stars.

A household name in Jamaica in the 60s, pianist George Shearing rated him one of the world’s top five

Don Drummond, image from Wikipedia
Don Drummond, image from Wikipedia

trombone players. By 1965, Drummond had over 200 songs to his credit.

He suffered mental problems and in 1965, was convicted of killing Marguerita Mahfood, his longtime girlfriend, and confined to Kingston’s Bellevue Hospital, a mental institution.

In 1967, his adaptation of The Guns of Navarone hit the UK Top 10.

Drummond died in May, 1969, four years after being sent to Bellevue. He was just 37 years old.

Here are Man in the Street, which reached the Top 10 in the UK in 1965, and Jungle Reggae.

A Jamaican Christmas – Reggae Carols, 2

Most of the Christmas carols we learned over the years mention things like snow, mistletoe, stockings, chimneys, etc., that we don’t see here in Jamaica. So after years of singing these songs, several performers began Jamaicanizing the carols, adding a reggae beat and substituting items that local people could relate to.

Here now are a few more reggae carols, by John Holt, The Tamlins and Toots & The Maytals.

Holly, maynefoto
Holly, maynefoto

The Tamlins – Carlton Smith, Derrick Lara and Junior Moore – began as a nightclub act in 1970. By 1972, they had won the Most Outstanding Group award. They’ve recorded a string of hits and backed up performers such as Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh, John Holt and others. Here’s their song, This Christmas.

Singer/songwriter, John Holt, was the lead singer for the rocksteady band, The Paragons. He wrote the hit song, The Tide is High, made famous by Blondie. Take a listen to Happy Xmas.

Well-known ska and reggae group, Toots & The Maytals, also marked the season with Happy Christmas.

Hope these carols will have you singing along or shaking your feet as you bake your cookies, wrap gifts or decorate the house.

Happy Holidays!

Soulful Sundays: Cesaria Evora – RIP

Cape Verdian singer, Cesária Évora, died on Saturday, December 17th in Baptista de Sousa Hospital in Mindelo, on her native island of Sao Vicente. She was 70 years old.

Cesaria Evora, photo from the Internet
Cesaria Evora, photo from the Internet

Évora was featured on Soulful Sundays in April. Take a listen to Petit Pays.

Soulful Sundays: Desmond Dekker

As I write about Desmond Dekker, a Gregory Isaacs song (Love is Overdue) is coming to me from across the way. I’m thrilled to see that the music popularized by artists such as Dekker, Isaacs, Marley, Dennis Brown, etc., is holding its own against dancehall.

Desmond Dekker
Desmond Dekker, photo from the Internet

Desmond Dekker and his backup band, the Aces, won the Jamaica Festival Song Competition in 1968 with Music Like Dirt and had a string of hits that year, including A It Mek and Poor Mi Israelite. Israelite topped the charts in the UK and made Dekker the first Jamaican artist to have a UK hit. The success of Israelite paved the way for other Jamaican artists who made up the ska/reggae “invasion” of the UK that went on to influence punk music there.

Dekker was born Desmond Dacres in St. Andrew on July 16, 1945. He died in the UK on May 25, 2006. Please listen to Poor Mi Israelite and another hit, 007 Shanty Town.

Soulful Sundays: Nana Mouskouri

A few weeks ago, when I featured Shirley Bassey on Soulful Sundays, my blog buddy, Narelle mentioned Nana Mouskouri. I hadn’t thought of her in quite a while but I promised Narelle that I’d feature her soon.

I was introduced to Mouskouri when I lived in Ottawa — feels like decades now. I remember the media referring to her as the woman who made wearing glasses ‘sexy.’  One story that made the rounds then was that when she toured with Harry Belafonte, he asked her not to wear her glasses. She refused. Indeed, she is a very attractive woman. But it’s her voice that is captivating in its simplicity. Give a listen to her singing The White Rose of Athens. I also love her rendition of Amazing Grace.

Nana Mouskouri, from sweetslyrics.com
Nana Mouskouri

Born Joanna Mouskouri on October 13, 1934 in Crete, she became known to family and friends simply as Nana. She has recorded jazz, world, Greek folk, Pop, and Classical music. Mouskouri has more than 230 gold and platinum albums and nearly 400 million discs worldwide, making her one of the best-selling female recording artist of all time.

In addition to her music, Mouskouri was appointed Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in 1993 and was elected a Member of the European Parliament from 1995-9.

Mouskouri retired in 2008 giving a farewell concert in Athens, Greece.