A talented group of Reggae producers has been spreading the culture worldwide without necessarily getting their due fanfare. Many listeners may not know who is responsible for the songs and riddims they enjoy listening to.
Some Jamaican hitmakers are even infiltrating other genres and collaborating with the biggest names in music. We highlighted some producers who have shined with successful records but have remained behind the scenes.
Buzzworthy:
Kool Herc appears at the Jamaica Music Conference.Plans to open a museum in Kingston.
Pharell Williams of the Neptunes in the studio working on music with Buju Banton.
2017 has seen terrific progress for the sound of roots reggae music with the release of some powerful albums.
Click Image to Play: Reggae Lover by Highlanda Sound
Traditional roots music which is beloved by many and hailed as the sweetest vibe is refreshed and on display in the works of today’s artists featured here. This is message music of the positive variety.
Chronixx, Jah9, Samory I, Kristine Alicia, Iba Mar, Spiritual, Queen Ifrica, and Protoje, along with veterans Anthony Malvo, Nadine Sutherland, Sizzla, Capleton and more paint pictures that speak loudly with powerful songs.
It brings me great pleasure to present Reggae Lover Podcast Episode 71 – dedicated to you, the #REGGAELOVER.
SOUNDCLOUD: CLICK TO DOWNLOAD, OR PRESS PLAY BELOW TO LISTEN NOW.
Welcome to episode number 70 of the Reggae Lover podcast by Highlanda Sound. Capleton is one of the favorite artists of most reggae fans.
Look out for Labor Day Sunday, September 3rd inside Bliss Lounge (5471 Memorial Drive) in Stone Mountain Georgia – Capleton will be live in concert for Labor Day weekend in the ATL. Atlanta dancehall that’s all about you.
This podcast is a dedication to every reggae lover in the whole entire universe. I hope you’re listening to the mixes and enjoying. I just want to say thank you and send my gratitude and appreciation to everybody who’s checked this out at least one time. Big up to anyone who’s listened to even a part of the show, who’s shared or told somebody about the podcast. Let’s keep the reggae music thing spreading around the world.
Thank you so much once again from Kahlil and the whole crew here and let’s keep reggae music spreading globally throughout the world.
SOUNDCLOUD: CLICK TO DOWNLOAD, OR PRESS PLAY BELOW TO LISTEN NOW.
The full audio from Rocksteady May 3rd 2015 featuring Jah Prince is available for download via my soundcloud page.
Anthony Malvo, Kahlil Wonda, and Little Twitch
On Sunday May 3rd at the Sound Table, I had the great pleasure of hosting another installment of Rocksteady, Atlanta’s only thriving roots reggae monthly event. Internationally renowned hit-making reggae singer Anthony Malvo and his lyrical dancehall deejay compadre Little Twitch of King Jammys Super Power Hi Fi and King Sturgrav Sound System fame made a live appearance, performing together for the first time in years! This was also the very first feature for Little Twitch in the ATL.
The energetic audience was transported back in time by nostalgic selections drawn from resident DJ Passport and special guest DJ Jah Prince of the Sunsplash radio mix-show and Smokin’ Needles Records. The stage and tone was set for me to play a few more songs and then call in the artists who escalated things from there like the true veterans they are.
This audio portion features Malvo and Twitch in combination as I spin the riddim tracks. It was a joyous occassion in which new listeners were given an authentic taste of what dancehall reggae has to offer since the 1980s, while veteran skankers were provided with a mouth-watering feast of vibes for their own consumption.
In this episode we feature the multi-talented singer and producer of many hits, Anthony Malvo, along with pioneering dancehall icon Little Twitch.
Little Twitch
Anthony Malvo began his singing career in the early 1980’s in Kingston Jamaica on the Legendary Black Star Sound System. Malvo later moved on to perform, and record with the Reggae Producer and label King Jammys during their prime.
Anthony Malvo
It was on King Jammys Sound System that Anthony Malvo often teamed up with Little Twitch among others as they dominated the Jamaican dancehall scene for most of the 1980s with many jam packed sessions and sound clash victories.
Here is a sampling of the many hits performed by both artists. Anthony Malvo’s latest single “I’m Not the Only One” which was produced by Ed Robinson is also featured in the mix.
Please enjoy this episode and look out for Little Twitch and Anthony Malvo to appear in Atlanta for ROCKSTEADY at the Sound Table on Sunday May 3, 2015.
Playlist:
1 Anthony Malvo and Sizzla – Cyaan Draw Wi Out
2 Anthony Malvo and Capleton – One Day Rude Boy
3 Little Twitch – Spanish Fly
4 Little Twitch – Devil Send You Come
5 Sluggy Ranks and Little Twitch – Jah Is Guiding I
6 Little Twitch – Respect Due
7 Anthony Malvo – Bad Minded People
8 Anthony Malvo – All of Me
9 Anthony Malvo – Is It Love
10 Anthony Malvo – I’m Not The Only One
11 Anthony Malvo and Daddy Lizard – Greatest Gal Lover
12 Little Twitch – Py Py Love
13 Anthony Malvo and Tiger – Come Back To Me (Summer Love)
14 Little Twitch -Watch Your Friends
15 Anthony Malvo and Daddy Lizard – Take You To The Dance
On Sunday May 3rd Highlanda.net and The Honorary Citizen in association with Hilawe Entertainment and The Sound Table present a special “ROCKSTEADY 1980s Reggae Dancehall Tribute” featuring a couple of iconic figures from the 1980’s and 90’s dancehall era live from Jamaica, Anthony Malvo and Little Twitch. Veteran DJ/selector Jah Prince will also make a guest appearance for this special occasion. Doors open at 7pm, music turns up at 8pm, and admission is complimentary all night. Early arrival as always is strongly suggested for Rocksteady.
Every 1st Sunday the Sound Table, located at 483 Edgewood Avenue, hosts #RocksteadyATL with musical selections ranging from Ska, Rocksteady, early Reggae, Classic Dancehall, and Dub to contemporary Roots Reggae and Lovers Rock. Resident selectors DJ Passport and Highlanda Sound System provide the soundtrack monthly. For more information email vaultclassics@gmail.com.
The Godfather of dancehall, the late Sugar Minott is joined by singers Al Campbell, Leroy Smart, Half Pint, Cocoa Tea, Anthony Malvo, Chuck Turner, and Trevor Sparks from the 1980s in this mix of crucial selections which also features the toasting of DJs like Charlie Chaplin, Josey Wales, Shabba Ranks, Admiral Bailey, Lieutenant Stitchie, and Daddy Lizard in addition to giants from the 1990s dancehall reggae era such as Sanchez, Garnett Silk, Luciano, and Bounty Killer.
Tracklist:
1 Sugar Minott – Dancehall Stylee
2 Charlie Chaplin and Sugar Minott – 4 Wheel Wheelie
3 Sugar Minott – Frontline
4 Luciano, Josey Wales and Charlie Chaplin – Rebel With A Cause
5 Sugar Minott – Jah Is On My Side
6 Al Campbell – They Talk About Love
7 Charlie Chaplin – Diet Rock
8 Josey Wales – Undercover Lover
9 Josey Wales – You Nuh Wrong Fe Send Come Call Me
10 Beres Hammond – Full Attention
11 Sugar Minott – Run Things
12 Sugar Minott – Good Thing Going
13 Sugar Minott – Bubbling
14 Sanchez – Don’t Worry
15 Garnett Silk – Its Growing
16 Leroy Smart – Some A Talk Friend
17 Half Pint – Substitute Lover
18 Santana (Dub) – Dead Tonight
19 Sugar Minott – Buy Off The Bar
20 Josey Wales – Leggo Me Hand
21 Cocoa Tea – I’ve Lost My Sonia
22 Anthony Malvo and Daddy Lizard – Greatest Gal Lover
23 Trevor Sparks – Bye Bye Love
24 Josey Wales – Grooving
25 Admiral Bailey – Old Time Something
26 Shabba Ranks – Get Up Stand Up And Rock
27 Bounty Killer – Inspired By God
28 Anhtony Malvo – Bad Minded People
29 Cornell Campbell – Mix Up Family
30 Super Black – Got To Be Careful
31 Johnny Osborne – On The Right Track
32 Al Campbell – Easy Loving
33 Chuck Turner – I Need You
34 Cocoa Tea – Come Again
35 Pinchers – Champion Bubbler
36 Little John – Block Traffic
37 Lt. Stitchie – Wear Yuh Size
38 Josey Wales – Whole Heap Of Corn
English: Sugar Minott performing at the 2008 Winnipeg Ska and Reggae Festival. (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Released on iTunes in June by Reggae Pond Radio Promotions, Anthony Malvo‘s new album entitled “Stronger” is now available in stores.
Boasting 17 new tracks by the veteran singer and featuring Sizzla, Capleton, and Delly Ranks the album will make your reggae collection Stronger.
Malvo has voiced many hits for a number of Jamaica’s top producers in the style of a dancehall singer. His initial hits include ‘Come Back To Me’ and ‘Rain From The Skies’, both with Tiger, and ‘Take You To The Dance’ with Lizard.
FRIDAY, JULY 5, 2013 Mikey Sparkle presents ANTHONY MALVO ALBUM RELEASE PARTY featuring special guest artists PERFORMING LIVE: UU MADDO and LITTLE PINCHERS
SUNSET LOUNGE is located at 4975 Stone Mountain Hwy., Lilburn, GA. Admission is ONLY $5 ALL NIGHT! For more information call 770-895-8549.
First off let me say for the record that since the mid 1990’s, when asked which artist puts on the best live stage show performance, my answer was and is Luciano. I found out that he was going to be performing in Atlanta through word of mouth the day before the concert and decided to go since it had been a while since I attended a stage show. Knowing that Caribbean events in Stone Mountain typically start late, I was in no rush to arrive. I got inside Club Intrigue at around 2am after paying $30. I had no problem forking up the money, because after all, it was for Luciano – my favorite live performer. At that time there was a short line outside and the venue, which can hold approximately 1000 people was about half full. More people continued to arrive over the next couple hours but the club wasn’t packed at all.
English: Photo of Tony Rebel, Jamaican reggae legend (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
The Early Warm (part 1)
Local sound man, Danger Marcus finished up his set on the turntables and turned the controls over to Adonai Sound from Jamaica. Dred from Adonai selected and mixed, while Atlanta’s Mix Master David acted as MC. Adonai’s Dred started out with some foundation music, but then brought it to more recent conscious and lover’s rock reggae before starting to juggle with songs like ‘Living Dangerously‘ by Bounty Killer featuring Barrington Levy. The music was decent though I would have liked to hear more culture played since it was a culture show. Also, Mix Master David’s specialty is mixing, hence his name, and he struggled to connect with the audience while talking over music being played by the Adonai. I don’t recall any forwards (big crowd responses) being achieved.
The Early Warm (part 2)
At around 3am, the stage show began with opening acts performing dirty south style hip-hop. The first 4 acts took the stage rapping about various subject matter unrelated to the theme of the night (Spiritual Fyah), performing at least 2-3 songs each which made me think to myself, among other questions, “are the promoters familiar with the music of Luciano at all?” After that the MC introduced Fire Harp, the first reggae artist, followed by Ras Idon, Ishmael Turner, and a female duet that reminded me of the group Floetry called Last Lyricists. These performances were good and much more appropriate, but I think this whole portion of the show was too long. Standing up and watching 8 artists you have never heard of sing songs you never heard before for over an hour doesn’t exactly energize a crowd, especially at that time of morning.
More Earlies
The MC then announced that the DJ would take over for a while until the remaining artists were ready to take the stage so Nolan from King Eternity began to select and was joined by Danger Marcus as MC. I think Danger Marcus was better than Mix Master David as he ventured away from the DJ booth in the corner of the stage out to front stage a few times to interact with the crowd. He had more energy, but It didn’t transfer over to the audience. This whole time, the majority of the people were at the back of the club, near the bar or in the far corners so it was pretty empty in front of the stage and on the main dance-floor. During his set, Nolan selected 2002 – 2003 tunes and juggled on riddims like Diwali, Buyout and the Buzz at 4 o’clock in the morning. The selection was not fitting with the theme of the night in general and this prevented the vibes from reaching anywhere. I still can’t believe that I heard no Beres Hammond, Garnett Silk, Capleton, conscious Sizzla… No Anthony B, Everton Blender, Chuck Fender, Bob Marley or any other Marley… You get my drift.
Showtime
It is at this point that the event started suffering from attrition and people began to trickle out one by one. I am sure patrons wondered if the artists they had paid to see were even in Atlanta at all, I know I did. Eventually the MC came back on stage to resume the stage show after the long break and brought out Anthony Malvo. There was still no band in sight, but at least there was a known reggae artist. Anthony Malvo was able to entertain the crowd singing covers of different reggae hits mostly, and his biggest response was in tribute to the late great Alton Ellis.
It was great to see band members emerge and take there place along with Delly who travelled from Jamaica to be the official MC/host. It was around 5am now, and whoever had stuck around that long had to be glad to know that Luciano would be coming out soon. Delly then introduced Papa Michi, Michigan from the foundation DJ duo Michigan and Smiley. I was shocked just to see this artist still performing at his age, but he went through some covers, another Alton Ellis tribute with the same songs Anthony Malvo sang, and also performed the 1980 hit, Diseases. Not bad at all, I just wished it was at least 3 hours earlier.
Star time
Queen Ifrica touched the stage and pulled stragglers in from the far corners of Club Intrigue to the front of the stage. She was well received and sang all her hits from the past 2 years, stopping only to give relevant speeches and introduce her songs like a pro. She worked well with the band and stayed on stage for approximately 30 minutes, ending off with her current hit tune, ‘Keep it to Yourself.’ Her performance was short and sweet.
Tony Rebel was up next. Rebel Tony showed poise and veteranship while on stage. He immediatley commanced attention from the crowd and went through the hits that he is know for globally, including Fresh Vegetable, Chatty Chatty, and If Jah. He also gave some lyrics about the rise of President Barack Obama to bring it current. Tony Rebel’s segment was longer than Queen Ifrica’s – I’d say about 45 minutes, which meant that now it was 6:30am.
Luciano took the stage to close the show and was well worth the wait. I will continue to support this artist because of the vibes and energy he puts into his shows. He skanked, jumped, and tumbled across the stage. He prayed for Barack Obama and gave good reports from his trip to Kenya, which was during the time of the recent Presidential election in the US. Luci did hits from different albums, but while singing Glory Be, given the signal that he had to leave to catch his plane. His performance ended up being not much longer than some of the opening acts which is sad, however in the short time he was on stage (at almost 7am) he was still able to completely energize the audience and get everyone back onto their feet and in a vibes. Then he stopped the last song and had the band start over, playing low so he could at least finish properly, kneeling down to say a prayer in the process. The Messenger Luciano shook the hands of all who were near enough to the stage and posed for pictures as if truly grateful for the opportunity to carry out his life mission – to spread Jah love and a conscious message through singing.
Please share your comments on these artists, concerts or events you have been to, etc. I will be breaking down the Atlanta dancehall scene in depth in future posts so you will want to stay tuned, trust me. That’s all for now.
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