News & Updates — dub

Happy born day to the ex-Skatalite bassist Lloyd Brevett. He played the upright and was a founding member of the Skatalites, one of the most important bands the planet has ever known. One of their best albums came under the leadership of Brevett, the amazingly funky 1975 classic African Roots. He was a trained jazz bassist and knew how to build & repair them. With the Skatalites he provided backing to early recordings by The Wailers, as well as early Lee Perry and Alton Ellis records. He played with The Soul Vendors and Herbie Mann while the Skatalites were broken up,...

There are so many interesting artists born on July 15 that it is impossible in my schedule to write pieces about them. So here are some shorties, along with a video or two for each. --Francis Bebey / July 15, 1929 - May 28, 2001 This unique Cameroonian composer and his interesting DIY synth-pop crossed with traditional music has been justly making new fans in recent years. --James Jacson / July 15, 1932 - Aug 10, 1997 Happy cosmic birthday to James Jacson, one of my favorite characters from Sun Ra's Arkestra. Jacson is the one who was instructed to...

Definitely the world's most famous melodica player, Augustus Pablo was a crucial figure on the reggae and dub scene for two-plus decades. Born Horace Swaby in Jamaica, he learned organ and keyboards while in school before becoming addicted to playing the melodica, a free-reed mouth keyboard mostly used as a tool to teach children music. While still a teenager he cut his earliest sides in '71 for Aquarius Records, taking on the name "Augustus Pablo", which had previously been used by other musicians for records on the label. He began working with Randy's and other labels and "East Of The...

A huge talent lost much too early, Angá was an ace Cuban percussionist who employed an army of congas, as well as timbales and other percussion instruments. A lifelong follower of Santería, he was born in Pinar del Rió, Cuba, to a musical family. He played professionally with jazz group Opus 13 while studying college before joining the greatest Cuban group of all time, Irakere, in 1987. He's worked with Buena Vista Social Club (and member projects), hiphop group Orishas, trumpeter Roy Hargrove, Afro-Cuban legend Tata Güines, progressive jazz pianist Omar Sosa, Malian jeli musician Baba Sissoko, avant-jazz/M-Base saxophonist Steve...

Happy born day to Jamaican roots singer Hugh Mundell, most famous for the classic "Africa Must Be Free By 1983". Born in East Kingston, Jamaica, he grew up with Earl Sixteen, Winston McAnuff and Wayne Wade. He cut an unreleased tune for Joe Gibbs, after which Mundell hooked up with Augustus Pablo for a bunch of productions from '75-78, becoming his Africa Must Be Free album. Mundell wrote all the tracks and two of them were recorded at Lee Perry's Black Ark studio. He performed just a handful of concerts in the Caribbean, US, UK and France. He also worked the...