Elan - The Young Lion

I'm giving Elan a bigup and massive shoutout, and not only because I went to summer camp (Chetz va Keshet) with him in Israel in 1991 (to-do: find some pics from that!).

It's because he also has skillz. It turns out this kid I used to go to the Soweto Reggae Club with in Tel Aviv eventually made it to become the lead singer for 3 years with the legendary Wailers band. Apparently he was discovered by mistake by one of their musicians who lives down the street from Elan. He then decided to go solo, and had the privilege of his first album being produced by No Doubt’s Tony Kanal. It also features some solid musicians and producers in currentJamaican reggae culture: Sly & Robbie, Fatis, Steve “Lenky” Marsden, Tony Kelly and DJ legend Cutty Ranks among them, as well as guest appearances by Gwen Stefani and Assasin. Check it.

The Origins of Reggae

I looked up the word "Reggae" on Wikipedia and there is a section which talks about the origins, or roots, of reggae. I wanted to share these bits and pieces with my brethren:

1) Reggae is founded upon a rhythm style characterized by regular chops on the back beat, known as the skank. This rhythmic style is played by a rhythm guitar and a bass drum hitting on the third beat of each measure, known as the one drop.

2) In 1963, Jackie Mittoo, pianist with the ska band The Skatalites was asked to run sessions and compose original music by record producer Coxsone Dodd at his Studio One recording studio. Mittoo, with the help of drummer Lloyd Knibbs, turned the traditional ska beat into reggae, by slowing down the rhythm.

3) It is thought that the word reggae was first used by Toots and the Maytals, in the title of their 1968 hit Do the Reggay. Other theories say the term came from the word streggae, a Jamaican slang term for prostitute, or that it originated from the term Regga, which was a Bantu-speaking tribe from Lake Tanganyika.

The Gladiators - Coming to Zion

Albert Griffiths is passing the torch to his sons on this tour. The founder of the legendary Gladiators original roots reggae band is retiring. Big up. Check it - November 14 and 15 at Tel Aviv's Zappa Club.

Joseph "Culture" Hill - Nuff Respect (2006)

Joseph 'Culture' Hill died on August 19, 2006 after a show in Berlin, Germany. He was 57 years old. These photos and videos are a tribute to him... The first picture is a photo of when Culture visited and played at a peace concert in Israel in 1987. This was taken with some Israeli soldiers on the outskirts of Jerusalem's walls. The second picture is of Hill and the one and only Master of Reggae himself, the lion Bob Marley.



Two Videos - Culture Live in Africa - Too Long in Slavery and International Herb