As any business person will tell you, the way to success is through the discovery of a niche or a previously unexploited market. Still, few business people, and even fewer musicians, would have believed that there was a market for the sound of the melodica. What next, they would have sniggered, a yazoo? Yet Augustus Pablo would take this child's... [+] Read More

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Vocal trio Culture helped define the sound and style of Rastafarian roots reggae, thanks largely to charismatic singer, songwriter, and leader Joseph Hill. True to their name, Culture's material was devoted almost exclusively to spiritual, social, and political messages, and Hill delivered them with a fervent intensity that grouped him with... [+] Read More

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Since 1985 the Mystic Jammers have been touring as the premier U.S. reggae band in the northeast. If you like the idea of Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix playing together then this is for you. Inspirational lyrics, tight vocals, monsterous bass and stellar lead guitar, this is true reggae and rock combined. Pehaps you have seen the live show, John... [+] Read More

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Negus is a title of Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie, the Almighty God of the Rastafarian movement, and none pays him more eloquent homage than Ras Michael and his group, the Sons of Negus. This is the beat of the heart, based on the original "instrument of ten strings," the hand-beaten drum. On Dadawah in 1975, Michael took a religious... [+] Read More

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Doctor Dread, head of DC's RAS Records, brought a touring group of Rastafarian men and women into the studio in 1990 (people with names like Ras Headful and Bongo Shep) and came out with one of the only recordings ever of a legitimate "grounation." This Rastafarian religious gathering is replete with preaching, testimony, and timeless music, the... [+] Read More

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Few groups better captured the heart and soul of roots reggae than the Abyssinians; the vocal trio's heavenly close harmonies, dark melodies, and Rastafarian themes, all delivered with a deep spiritual feeling, were instrumental in defining and refining the genre. Bernard Collins and Donald Manning were longtime friends, and neither initially... [+] Read More

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A duo comprised of Cedric Myton and Roydel "Ashanti" Johnson, the Congos are known primarily known for one record, Heart of the Congos, released in 1977. Reggae historian Steve Barrow, one of the people behind the exquisite reissue of this long-thought-lost record, considers it as good as seminal reggae recordings such as Bob Marley and the... [+] Read More

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Essentially a mouthpiece for singer and songwriter Leonard Dillon, the Ethiopians were one of Jamaica's most influential vocal groups during their heyday. Not only did the duo (completed by Stephen Taylor) spearhead the transition between ska and rocksteady, Dillon's heavily Rastafarian lyrics also paved the way for the socially conscious roots... [+] Read More

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One of Jamaica's signature harmony groups, the Itals were chiefly responsible for keeping the sound and spirit of roots reggae alive well into the dancehall era. They didn't get as much attention as other great vocal trios from the roots era (Culture, the Mighty Diamonds, the Wailing Souls, etc.), partly because their '70s releases were confined... [+] Read More

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The consummate roots band, the Wailing Souls may never have gained the international reputation of their compatriots, at least not at the height of the genre's popularity, but they did outlive most of them. Their very survival has been their greatest strength, that and their ability to diversify over time. Today they are one of the most popular... [+] Read More

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He came to Kingston to sing with his idol, Alton Ellis, whose voice is very similar to Jarrett's. Joining the Flames in the mid-'60s to back Ellis, he soon branched out on his own to record a series of albums which often feature Marley and Ellis covers, and self-penned ghetto plaints as evocative as Bosch paintings. ~ Roger Steffens, All Music... [+] Read More

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