One Love | One Passion – Reggae Reflection features top quality Reggae Photos & Reggae News Items relevant to the current music scene. Reggae Reflection highlights key artists and notable events of interest from around the Globe.
Ska’s king and queen reign in Rototom by Noah Schaffer for Reggae Reflection. For it’s 25th anniversary, the Rototom Sunsplash Festival has put together several special collaborative sets. Last night meant an exclusive pairing of ska royalty.
The night began with the current Skatalites. While all of the originating musicians in the first ska band have left us, the band still includes such key veteran Jamaican musicians as bassist Val Douglas, drummer Sparrow Martin and longtime keyboardist Ken Stewart, and they were joined by trombone master Vin Gordon. The crack outfit kept the upbeat going on “Two for One,” “James Bond” and the “Guns of Navarrone.”
Original Skatalites singer Doreen Shaffer sounded beautiful on “Sugar Sugar” and “Welcome You Back Home.” After the queen of ska departed an elderly blind man was carefully led on stage, but he quickly roared that “I am Derrick Morgan, the King of Ska!”
Perhaps the only active artist whose career predates the origins of the modern Jamaican recording industry, Morgan let loose on “Greedy Gal” and “Don’t Call Me Daddy” before bringing back Shaffer for a duet on the early Wailers cut “Simmer Down.” There are very few ska originators left, and seeing two of them together was a special moment, enhanced by how good both still sound. The ska sounds continued late into the night as British selector Gladdy Wax played his Skatalites 45s inside the packed Caribbean Uptempo tent.
When California’s Slightly Stoopid was scratched from the lineup due to an injury, their replacement thrilled the reggae purists at the fest: the golden voice of Jamaica’s Romain Virgo. Along with his outstanding Unit Band Virgo moved through tracks like “Another Day Another Dollar” and added a touch of gospel and a Garnet Silk tribute as well.
American reggae fans may not be too familiar with Tiken Jah Fakoly, who was born in the Ivory Coast and has been based out of Paris for years. But he’s a massive star in Europe and drew one of the largest audiences of the weekend — and with good reason. His stellar band included a full horn section as well as a musician who played what appeared to be a double-necked ngoni. Fakoly, a practicing Muslim, commandeered the stage and sang meaningfully about the future of Africa.
Females ruled on the Lion Stage, with the all-woman Hi Shine Ladies putting on a versatile set. They were followed by the dreamy voice of Hollie Cook, whose only flaw was the occasional and unnecessary use of pre-recorded (not keyboard) horns and backing vocals.
For fans of steppers, there was only one place to be: the Dub Academy, where Jah Shaka kept the bass pounding during a seven hour set. At the African Village, Spanish sound Ashanti deftly mixed dancehall with Afrobeats.
Alpha Boy’s School Panel
The day started with a panel on the Alpha Boys School. Authors Heather Augustyn and Adam Reeves, who have a new book about the influential Kingston school, detailed how it gave birth to many generations of Jamaican musicians. Two alum were also present: Vin Gordon and Johnny Osbourne. Gordon laughed about how the school’s head Sister Ignatius was quick to give a rap to anyone who went out of line. Osbourne revealed that he had started as a trumpeter but after repeated disciplinary episodes he switched to the school’s choir.
