The Mid Week Beat: Dancehall, Mod Soul and a Hip Hop Brass Band!

October 23, 2013
By Jimmy Berg

Some good stuff coming up this week kiddies! We got a legendary Jamaican dancehall artist in Austin tomorrow night, an excellent night of mod soul and vintage reggae in San Diego on Friday and a Halloween masquerade of legendary proportions in New York on Saturday.

If you live in or near any of these towns, do not miss these shows. I got to say, being stuck here in Seattle, I’m a little jealous. Anyone want to buy me a plane ticket for the weekend?

Enjoy!

Thursday, October 24 I Capleton – Austin, Texas

Capleton, is a force to be reckoned with in the fast-moving world of dancehall reggae. Fame and success are hard to obtain and easy to lose. Fans can be fickle, and trends change in the blink of an eye, leaving most entertainers with painfully short career spans. Only a rare few can remain relevant from year to year, holding their audience’s attention and leaving them crying for more. Capleton’s lyrics are deep, precise, and thoughtful. His stage shows are nothing less than dynamic, explosive performances. But his remarkable staying power and longevity may be Capleton’s greatest gift.

Capleton was born Clifton George Bailey in St. Mary, Jamaica. As a youth, he was given the surname of a popular St. Mary lawyer and friend of the family, Capleton, as a nickname by his relatives and friends. As a teenager, he would often sneak out of his home to catch local dancehall acts, eventually leaving St. Mary for Kingston at the age of 18 to work on his career as a dancehall deejay.

When Capleton first arrived on the scene in the late 1980s, slackness and gun talk were the dominant lyrics in the dancehalls. The pre-Rasta Capleton had a string of hit songs from “Bumbo Red” to “Number One on the Look Good Chart” and “No Lotion Man.” In 1989, he got his first big international exposure. Stewart Brown, owner of a Toronto-based sound called African Star, gave the untested artist his first break, flying him to Canada for a stage show alongside Ninjaman and Flourgan.

Do the Ska – Coast to Coast!

May 31, 2011
By Jimmy Berg

Ska music a blend of Caribbean mento and calypso with the American r&b and jazz that Jamaicans were hearing from New Orleans radio stations, emerged in the late 50s and is considered to be the grandfather of reggae music. It established the walking bass line and accented upbeat that would become the foundation of the reggae beat but unlike the laid-back vibe of reggae, ska was high energy dance music. This was indicative of the celebratory feeling pulsing through the Jamaican populous. Jamaica received its independence from the UK in 1962 and the upbeat ska sound became the soundtrack for independent Jamaica.

Many of reggae’s stars got their start in ska. Bob Marley & the Wailers started out as a ska group. Jimmy Cliff, one of the first Jamaican singers to reach an international audience was a popular ska singer, even showcasing the music at the 1964 Worlds Fair in New York City. But, there’s one group that provided the music to many of the best known ska hits: The Skatalites. The original lineup of the band broke up in 1965 but they reformed in 1983 due to renewed interest in ska music and have been touring ever since. Only two of the original Skatalites are still playing with the band, vocalist Doreen Shaffer and saxophonist Lester Sterling. Sadly, original drummer Lloyd Knibb just passed away on May 12, 2011 but the new band keeps the spirit of the original ska sound alive.
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The Upsetter Hits the Big Screen!

May 10, 2011
By Jimmy Berg

What do The Clash, Paul McCartney, Andrew W.K., Beastie Boys and Bob Marley have in common? They have all worked with legendary Jamaican producer Lee “Scratch” Perry, whose influence on music and audio engineering can not be over-stated. An infamous eccentric behind the mixing board, “The Upsetter” not only revolutionized reggae music in his native Jamaica; his influence can be heard in everything from electronica to indie rock to hip-hop.

Perry began his career in music in the late 50’s as a record seller for Clement “Coxone” Dodd’s Kingston sound system and quickly began recording tracks for Dodd’s Studio One record label, eventually recording nearly thirty ska and rocksteady tunes. Eventually he and Dodd had a falling out and he began working with Joe Gibbs. He shortly fell out with Gibbs as well and founded his own Upsetter record label in 1968. His first single “People Funny Boy” was one of the first records to contain a “sample” (of a baby crying) and it also featured the chugging, syncopated beat that would eventually become known as the “reggae” rhythm.
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The Mid Week Beat: Dancehall, Mod Soul and a Hip Hop Brass Band!

Do the Ska – Coast to Coast!

The Upsetter Hits the Big Screen!

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