Friday, 11 September 2015
Tomorrow Night - Dancehall Tunn Up!! at Revival
The Dancehall Tunn Up tomorrow night at Revival. Mr. Lexx, Spragga Benz and General Degree are going to be in the spot performing all their hit songs. Lindo P will also be there to bring some fire to the start of the show. Advance tickets are still available, so get them before they're all gone.
Thursday, 10 September 2015
"What Happened to the Harmonies?" The Decline of Vocal Groups in Reggae
"Bring back the memories of the songs we used to know. Bring back the harmonies of sweet music like before..." Matumbi
In recent years there has been a resurgence of classic or foundation elements of Jamaican music. Music incorporating early musical traditions such as Nyahbinghi drumming have become more popular with many young conscious artists. Artists like Jah 9, Protoje or Chronixx will all have at least one or two tracks on each album backed by drummers. Dub music has also been embraced by many of the younger generation. Even popular artist Busy Signal released Reggae Dubb'n Again, a vinyl only dub version of his album Reggae Music Again. Despite this revival one element of Jamaican music that hasn't seen a popular comeback over the years is harmony vocal groups.
Harmony groups were a crucial part of the development of Reggae music and Jamaican music more generally. During the ska years vocal groups had big hits with tunes like Life Could Be A Dream by the Maytals and Simmer Down by the Wailers. The popularity of vocal groups gained prominence in the Rock Steady years with vocal groups such as the Heptones, Paragons and the Gaylads being the biggest acts of their day. As the music turned once again with Roots Reggae, vocal groups were at the front line.
There were dozens of harmony vocal groups, mostly harmony trios, during the early days of Reggae music. Songs from that time that are now considered anthems and classics were often the work of harmony groups like the Abyssinian's with Satta Massagana or the Mighty Diamonds with Pass the Kutchie. The importance of vocal groups in reggae goes beyond Jamaica. The vocal groups Matumbi and Steel Pulse were pioneers in the establishment of reggae music overseas in England. Vocal groups such as Black Uhuru continued into the 80's but the era of vocal groups had already peaked and started to decline.
Some of the writing on the wall could be seen as popular groups broke up or became focused around a single lead singer. The most famous case of this being the Wailers with Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley. First it became Bob Marley and the Wailers and than the group split, with Bob becoming the single lead singer. Despite the decline, one place that harmony vocals lived on was in the female harmony singers. Bob's music after the split with Bunny and Peter has very strong vocal support from the I-Three's (Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths) which helped shape Bob's music into the classic sound that people all over the world know and love. To this day female harmony vocalists don't get much respect or congratulations for their contribution to reggae but that's a reasoning for another day.
Today harmony vocal groups barely exist. Even the members of Morgan Heritage probably the most successful modern vocal group are off doing solo projects. There are some notable exceptions, with a few groups still carrying on the torch. One of my favourites is the Rasites who delivered a modern classic with their album Urban Generation. They're still recording and released the single Drum and Baseline recently which we featured on our site. Another group I'm excited about is the No-Madd's a young group out of Jamaica who's musical influences vary too much for me to want to categorize. As promising as these groups are they still represent a drop in the current ocean of reggae music.
I'm personally passionate about the subject of harmony groups because they are what made me first start listening to Reggae music. First it was Israel Vibration who with their off key harmonies and deep roots sound captured my spirit. From there the mystical sounds of groups like the Abyssinian's and the Congos deepened my love for the music and its kept a hold on to me ever since. While I've embraced many of the new turns in reggae music like the singjay revolution and now the reggae revival or new roots I still hold on to the hope that one day those sweet harmonies will come back to Reggae.
For all those new to Reggae music or who would like to grow their understanding of reggae music I've included a ten album/cd list. Its not a ranking more like a musical study guide. Support your local record shop and pick them up there or you can find them on itunes. Here they are in no particular order:
1. Abyssinian's - Satta Massagana
2. Congos - Heart of the Congos
3. Meditations - Deeper Roots : Best of the Meditations
4. Black Slate - Amigo: Best of Black Slate
5. Earth & Stone - Kool Roots
6. Culture - One Stone
7. Mighty Diamonds - Deeper Roots
8. Matumbi - Empire Road
9. Black Uhuru - Ultimate Collection
10. Rasites - Urban Generation
balance and blessings,
Jahzilla
In recent years there has been a resurgence of classic or foundation elements of Jamaican music. Music incorporating early musical traditions such as Nyahbinghi drumming have become more popular with many young conscious artists. Artists like Jah 9, Protoje or Chronixx will all have at least one or two tracks on each album backed by drummers. Dub music has also been embraced by many of the younger generation. Even popular artist Busy Signal released Reggae Dubb'n Again, a vinyl only dub version of his album Reggae Music Again. Despite this revival one element of Jamaican music that hasn't seen a popular comeback over the years is harmony vocal groups.
Harmony groups were a crucial part of the development of Reggae music and Jamaican music more generally. During the ska years vocal groups had big hits with tunes like Life Could Be A Dream by the Maytals and Simmer Down by the Wailers. The popularity of vocal groups gained prominence in the Rock Steady years with vocal groups such as the Heptones, Paragons and the Gaylads being the biggest acts of their day. As the music turned once again with Roots Reggae, vocal groups were at the front line.
The Heptones
There were dozens of harmony vocal groups, mostly harmony trios, during the early days of Reggae music. Songs from that time that are now considered anthems and classics were often the work of harmony groups like the Abyssinian's with Satta Massagana or the Mighty Diamonds with Pass the Kutchie. The importance of vocal groups in reggae goes beyond Jamaica. The vocal groups Matumbi and Steel Pulse were pioneers in the establishment of reggae music overseas in England. Vocal groups such as Black Uhuru continued into the 80's but the era of vocal groups had already peaked and started to decline.
Some of the writing on the wall could be seen as popular groups broke up or became focused around a single lead singer. The most famous case of this being the Wailers with Peter Tosh, Bunny Wailer and Bob Marley. First it became Bob Marley and the Wailers and than the group split, with Bob becoming the single lead singer. Despite the decline, one place that harmony vocals lived on was in the female harmony singers. Bob's music after the split with Bunny and Peter has very strong vocal support from the I-Three's (Rita Marley, Judy Mowatt and Marcia Griffiths) which helped shape Bob's music into the classic sound that people all over the world know and love. To this day female harmony vocalists don't get much respect or congratulations for their contribution to reggae but that's a reasoning for another day.
The I-Three's
Today harmony vocal groups barely exist. Even the members of Morgan Heritage probably the most successful modern vocal group are off doing solo projects. There are some notable exceptions, with a few groups still carrying on the torch. One of my favourites is the Rasites who delivered a modern classic with their album Urban Generation. They're still recording and released the single Drum and Baseline recently which we featured on our site. Another group I'm excited about is the No-Madd's a young group out of Jamaica who's musical influences vary too much for me to want to categorize. As promising as these groups are they still represent a drop in the current ocean of reggae music.
I'm personally passionate about the subject of harmony groups because they are what made me first start listening to Reggae music. First it was Israel Vibration who with their off key harmonies and deep roots sound captured my spirit. From there the mystical sounds of groups like the Abyssinian's and the Congos deepened my love for the music and its kept a hold on to me ever since. While I've embraced many of the new turns in reggae music like the singjay revolution and now the reggae revival or new roots I still hold on to the hope that one day those sweet harmonies will come back to Reggae.
1. Abyssinian's - Satta Massagana
2. Congos - Heart of the Congos
3. Meditations - Deeper Roots : Best of the Meditations
4. Black Slate - Amigo: Best of Black Slate
5. Earth & Stone - Kool Roots
6. Culture - One Stone
7. Mighty Diamonds - Deeper Roots
8. Matumbi - Empire Road
9. Black Uhuru - Ultimate Collection
10. Rasites - Urban Generation
balance and blessings,
Jahzilla
New Music Video of the Week- Shaggy - GFY
Well we've all been there before haven't we? We try to be considerate and thoughtful but sometimes, hopefully rarely, we just have to say it. For all those times and all the times you wanted to but restrained yourself, here's Shaggy with a tune for you. What was the last time you felt like the songs lyrics? Let us know in the comments below. The tune is a bit vulgar so fair warning.
Wednesday, 9 September 2015
Words From Reggae - Christopher Martin
This week's words from reggae comes from Christopher Martin's big tune I'm A Big Deal. If you know your a vip celebrate it with the video for the tune. If your a big deal let us know in the comments below.
Reggae Run Tings! We Run Reggae!
Reggae Run Tings! We Run Reggae!
Friday, 4 September 2015
New Music Video of the Week- Miss You So Much by Dexta Daps and Blakk Man
This week's featured music video is Miss You So Much by Dexta Daps and Blakk Man. This one goes out to everyone who's lost someone special. They maybe gone but they live on in our hearts and memories.
Reggae Run Tings! We Run Reggae!
Thursday, 3 September 2015
The Toronto Reggae Festival Season Wrap-Up
Reggae music is a sunshine music. The rhythms envelop you like the sun when you step out on a sunny day. Unfortunately here in Toronto we don't get much sun. Since no one really associates reggae with winter, we jam pack as much reggae music into the little sunshine time we get each year.
After that the snow falls and its kind of hard to convince reggae artists and fans to come out when it's -20 outside.
Between July and September each year there is the Irie Music Festival, Island Soul Festival, Toronto Reggae Festival, Rastafest, Jamaica Day, Jambana and the Reggae Night at the CNE (Canadian National Exhibition). Basically for a couple months each year you can go out to a different reggae festival each weekend. Since most of them are very reasonably priced its easy on the wallet and lets people come out with the whole family. Lot's of the festivals have additional activities and food vendors making it a fun way to spend the day, with the evening concert a cherry on top.
One thing that is a constant struggle, is trying to coup with the chance of being rained out. All the events previously mentioned take place outdoors and with so many a few will get rained out each year. The weather can turn bad pretty quick. This year at Iriefest there was even hail, which along with the lightening storm caused the show to be cancelled before the headliners could perform. It's a lot of work to organize such a large festival and a heartache when it gets washed out.
Give thanks to all the organizers, volunteers, funders, partners and everybody who came out and made it a wonderful summer for reggae music in Toronto. Special thanks goes out to all the artists who graced our stages. Hopefully some of the artists will be brave enough to come back and perform during the long, cold winter months.
balance,
Jahzilla
Reggae Run Tings! We Run Reggae!
Tuesday, 1 September 2015
Top 10 Reggae Videos - August 2015
The top ten reggae video ranking and playlist for August is now up on the site. Kabaka Pyramid had the top ranking video this month for his hit tune Well Done. Kabaka was also featured on Inner Circle's We The People Ha Fi Talk which was the runner up video of the month. The list has a lot of variety with some party tunes, lovers tracks and conscious anthems. Let us know what you think of the ranking by leaving a comment below.
Reggae Run Tings! We Run Reggae!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)