Despite Reggae Month 2021 being held against the background of a global pandemic which has forced the lockdown of the entertainment ecosystem for nearly one year, and with no signs of relief any time soon, as the number of COVID-19 positive cases...
In 1964, when the Jamaica Tourist Board and record label owner and producer Edward Seaga arranged for band leader, Byron Lee, to take a ska group to the New York World’s Fair to showcase Jamaica and its music, band manager Ronnie Nasralla was very...
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Gramps Morgan released a “healing song”, People Like You. It was in May that he lost two persons who were very close to him, one of whom had succumbed to the coronavirus. That led Gramps to go in a friend...
Engineer Rorey Baker is beyond excited about being singled out by the Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) as one of the recipients of its 2021 Honour Awards. He will be officially handed his award at a ceremony scheduled for Sunday,...
For one hour on Tuesday, the Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival held the attention of music industry players and sponsors as they used their official launch event to cement the festival’s return, after a five-year hiatus. All the various elements of...
The Jamaica Reggae Industry Association (JaRIA) Honour Awards, the annual Reggae Month prestigious curtain-closer, will this year see 27 awards spread across 18 categories, as the organisation pays tribute to the stalwarts for their yeoman service...
While the music of reggae singer, Bobi Wine, is banned in his native Uganda and he is also not allowed to perform in the country, the artiste and politician is less concerned about that just now, as he fights for his life, while under house arrest...
With a Tuesday, January 19 deadline looming and 4,800 of the 6,000 signatures needed to get music icon Frederick ‘Toots’ Hibbert of Toots and the Maytals in the running for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the organisers of a petition are urging...
Autarchii (pronounced Aw-Tar-Chee), describes himself as a conscious reggae artiste whose mission is to elevate the mind of people through music. Quite focused on music as well as community service, he has a quaint way of painting the interaction...
Ugandan pop star-turned-politician Robert ‘Bobi Wine’ Kyagulanyi is scheduled to give the greatest performance of his life today, as Ugandans go to the polls to choose their president, and he is urging Jamaicans to continue showing their support...
A GoFundMe account has been set up to assist with the funeral expenses of veteran dancehall artiste, Sister Charmaine, who passed away last week in her sleep. The funeral is scheduled for this Saturday and the viewing takes place at the Crawford...
Producer Germaine ‘Blaqk Sheep’ Clarke had long ditched reggae in favour of dancehall, where he was convinced he had happily found his niche, turning out fast-moving projects which brought ultimate satisfaction. He earned his stripes for producing...
The year 2021 has started out with a bang for singer Nadine Sutherland, and at a time when the pandemic has reinforced life’s lessons on gratitude and the need to be constantly giving thanks to the Almighty for even the itsy-bitsy blessings, the...
From the spectacular launch event hosted at the Talk of the Town, Jamaica Pegasus, in December 2019, it was apparent that the stage was set for Reggae Month 2020 to be memorable. It was packaged as 29 days of live roots rocking reggae day and night...
Nearly one month after he allegedly hosted an illegal party in St Elizabeth, and was warned that he would be prosecuted, popular dancehall deejay Moses ‘Beenie Man’ Davis was served a summons to appear in the St Elizabeth Parish Court. “The summons...
Undoubtedly, there are some questions that are absolute no-brainers. When Little Theatre Movement (LTM) executive, Anya Gloudon-Nelson, was asked what she hopes 2021 will bring for theatre, her answer dropped even before the question sign: “That...
Caribbean-American immigrant, journalist, entrepreneur, and advocate, Felicia J. Persaud, is all about celebrating history, and at this moment in time, the name Kamala Harris is nothing short of historic. Persaud has seized the moment to rally the...
It was on the February 6 birthday of reggae greats such as Derrick Harriot and Bob Marley that the life of a musical genius was snuffed out. Seminal music producer and engineer Osbourne ‘King Tubby’ Ruddock was shot and killed on that day in...
In the roaring 70s Red Hills Road in St Andrew played host to an endless number of night clubs and was the acknowledged hip strip for city Kingston. In fact, two of Jamaica’s musical legends trace their genesis to Red Hills Road and the clubs with...
On the weekend of November 20, Merritone Disco celebrated a milestone 70 years of great music, 30 years of Merritone Family Fun Day, and the birthday of a legend, Winston ‘Merritone’ Blake, who would have turned 80 on November 19. The event,...
The Jamaica National (JN) Group’s ‘Together We’re Strong’ concert, streamed live via their social media platforms on Sunday afternoon, was festive in every sense of the word. The love of family, heart-warming messages in song and dub poetry, steel...
In a pre-COVID-19 era, Digicel Rising Stars finalist Jodian Pantry would by now be putting the final touches to her annual New Year’s Day concert staged in Clarendon, ‘Gospel Tenacity’. The event won’t see the light of day on January 1, 2021, but...
Reggae icon Bob Marley has been honoured with his own, dedicated, radio station on SiriusXM. The new station, launched on December 3 on SiriusXM radios (channel 19) and on the SiriusXM app, is called Bob Marley’s Tuff Gong Radio and it will play...
The numeral five is playing out its significance in the life of legendary reggae band Fab 5 this year, and, as some love to say, ‘numbers don’t lie’. Last November marked 50 years since the Frankie Campbell-led aggregation started its musical...
Pioneering reggae singer and musician Albert Griffiths of roots band The Gladiators has died, his former manager, Cabel ‘Jeffrey’ Stephenson, told The Gleaner. Griffiths, who had been ailing for some time, passed away on Wednesday morning at his...
