News & Updates — ska

Good news! Dave Noonan's new island-jazz ensemble is playing their third ever concert this Saturday at The Root Cellar, our Greenfield MA home base venue. We had the group for their debut concert as part of our Peace & Rhythm Presents weekly series last summer/fall and the results, musically and crowd-wise, have been quite pleasing for the first two shows. This group is a collection of some of the finest musicians in the region and their blend of Ernest Ranglin-inspired jazz, Marvin Gaye-inspired soul and roots reggae is quite a flavorful recipe. This time out they present a special Bob...

Perhaps the single most important name in Jamaican music and one of the most important record producers the world over, Clement "Coxone" Dodd helped bring ska (and eventually reggae) to the world. Youthful visits to the US allowed him to hear and import new records to Jamaica for play on his sound-system. He started several labels, including the iconic Studio 1, which created the national music of ska. Bob Marley and Lee Perry were early employees and Studio 1 produced songs for virtually every Jamaican artist. Studio 1 stands as somewhat like a Jamaican equivalent to Motown, a black-owned success...