News & Updates — reggae

One of Jamaica's great drummers, Sticky Thompson played on many, many reggae sessions with The Wailers, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jimmy Cliff, Dennis Brown, Junior Byles, Grace Jones, Culture, Gregory Isaacs, Black Uhuru, The Techniques, Mighty Diamonds, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Ziggy Marley, John Holt, Soul Syndicate, Yabby You, Tommy McCook, Burning Spear, Tom Tom Club and many, many others. A few of his catalogue credits: "Beat Down Babylon", "Soul Rebel", "Duppy Conqueror", "I Need A Roof", "Pull Up To The Bumper" and other classics. He was a member of the Compass Point Studio band for Island Records. He was also...

Happy birthday to one of my very favorites, the soulful saxophonist Dudu Pukwana, an exile from apartheid South Africa and a major contributor to the '70s creative jazz landscape. He started playing professionally in the '50s with Kippie Moeketsi and Nik Moyake. Pukwana and Moyake became members (along with Johnny Dyani, Mongezi Feza and Louis Moholo) of the Blue Notes, a group led nominally by white pianist Chris McGregor, but were essentially a collective. They became a sensation for both the quality of their music as well as the fact that they were a mixed-race band, something that was illegal...

Happy birthday to the Desmond Dekker, best known for singing his original compositions "The Israelites" and "007 Shantytown", among others. In the early '60s he signed to Beverly's Records, recorded some ska singles and became well-known on the island. In the late '60s he became popular in the UK with his rocksteady songs commenting on rudeboy culture. "Israelites" was a huge world-wide hit in '69 (including being the first charting reggae song in the US). His music was featured in The Harder They Come, but his career sagged a bit in the '70s until the Two-Tone bands helped bring a revival....

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...

John Holt was a successful Jamaican singer from the rocksteady years thru to pop-reggae, lover's rock/ballads and into the dancehall era along with contributions to some house music productions. Kingston-born, he got his start as a teenager, winning local talent contests before recording sides with Lesley Kong and "Rum Bumper", a duet with Alton Ellis, for Randy Chin. He joined The Paragons, one of the great groups of the rocksteady era, releasing several singles for Studio 1 and Treasure Isle, including the original versions of "The Tide Is High" and "Wear You To The Ball" (a tune U-Roy had a...