One Love Festival Toronto and Rickey D. Events will be hosting Sizzla Kalonji at the L’Olympia (1004 St-Catherine Est) in Montréal, Quebec, on Monday, September 2nd. This is a live band show that’s scheduled to begin at 6:30 PM.
The Canadian National Exhibition will be hosting reggae great, Ken Boothe, on Wednesday, August 21st. This show will begin at 7:30 PM on the grounds of the EX (210 Princes’ Blvd) in Toronto, Ontario, and will run until 10 PM.
Ken Boothe is fresh off a successful run in Europe, where he was busy promoting his recently released album as well as the new reggae documentary Inna De Yard.
On Saturday, August 17th, Wall Street Plaza will be hosting Margarita Fest on their grounds, 25 Wall Street, in Orlando, Florida. This event will have hours of approximately 20 margarita samplings. Additionally, there will be tequila drinks plus live reggae and rock bands on hand to entertain patrons. The bad boys of reggae, Inner Circle, will be representing the genre.
Margarita Fest is a 21 and older event and admission starts at $20 USD. Get additional information here: www.wallstplaza.net.
Celebrated Reggae Queen Marcia Griffiths and legendary reggae/gospel singer Judy Mowatt, two thirds of the world famous I-Threes, reggae’s most influential female singing group that provided backing vocals for the honorable Robert Nesta Marley (Bob Marley) in the 70’s, will reunite for one performance only at the inaugural Westchester Reggae Festival, slated to take place on Labour Day Saturday, August 31 at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.
The Reggae Queen, who continues to break new ground with her new smash single ‘What Kind of World’ from her album Timeless, garnered international notoriety with ‘Electric Boogie,’ which was originally released by Bunny Wailer in 1976. Mowatt has also secured her own place in history as the first female singer nominated for a Grammy Award in the reggae category for her ‘Working Wonders’ album in 1985.
On Wednesday, July 31st, Jamaican reggae artist Kabaka Pyramid will be returning to Moe’s Alley (1535 Commercial Way) in Santa Cruz, California. With support from his own Bebble Rockers, Kabaka is expected to deliver a full set. Pacific Roots & DJ Spleece are also confirmed for the show.
For those not familiar with him, Kabaka Pyramid is a conscious revolutionary lyricist with a unique musical style; blending the power, energy and melody of Reggae with the lyricism of Hip-hop.
It’s been 40 years since Vincent and Patricia Chin set up VP Records in Jamaica, Queens; the success of that shop would prompt them to found VP Records, now one of the most important sources of reggae and dancehall music in the world.
To celebrate, VP hosts a showcase with some of its illustrious alumni: Elephant Man, whose 2003 hit “Pon di River, Pon di Bank” and collaborations with Wyclef Jean and Busta Rhymes helped further blur the lines between dancehall and hip hop; Junior Reid, the former Black Uhuru vocalist whose 1989 classic “One Blood” has spawned countless remakes and interpolations; Estelle, the genre-bending, Grammy-winning English singer best known for her Kanye West collaboration “American Boy” and now has her own album, Lover’s Rock, with VP; and Grammy-nominated Raging Fyah, a five-piece band from Kingston, Jamaica that makes music bound to the roots rock reggae tradition.
The event will take place at Summerstage Performance Venue (Central Park) in New York on Saturday, August 10th from 5 to 10 PM.
Composer, songwriter, singer and performer, Clinton Fearon, will be live at the Flamingo Cantina (515 East 6th Street) in Austin, Texas on Friday, September 13th. He will be supported by Cas Haley.
This event begins at 9 PM and tickets, which are going for $15 USD, can be purchased via eventbrite.com.
