The 2023 staging of the annual Reggae Love Fest goes down on Friday, June 16th at the Barclay Center – 620 Atlantic Avenue – in Brooklyn, New York. This year’s impressive lineup includes some of the most sought after names in reggae-dancehall.
Confirmed performers are: Barrington Levy, Elephant Man, Capleton, Shabba Ranks, Yellowman, Mad Cobra, Patra, Mad Lion, and Little Vicious. That said, attendees should know that the lineup is subject to change. Tickets are available on ticketmaster.
Jamaican-Canadian rapper UZMAN has produced and released a track centered around the current Zodiac sign: Gemini.
From an early age, the veteran MC – who has done collaborations with the likes of Junior Reid, Jah Mason and others – has had an affinity to astrology, constellation star and zodiac signs. He has always read his horoscope and paid careful attention to his “Twin” Gemini mark. Furthermore, he is aware that there is a general belief that persons born between May 21st and June 21st have had somewhat of a stigma against them. On this new record – which is aptly titled Gemini – UZMAN attempts to address this unfortunate stain by pointing out some of their better qualities.
In spite of the fact that the tune’s main objective is to inspire Geminis, and possibly educate persons ruling under other signs about them, he is still hopeful that it will also be played at birthday celebrations annually. Hence, while creating the track he deliberately added trumpet and piano chords, which according to him, “set the feel good vibes.”
While Jah Shaka was still alive Macka B had began working on a project with beat-maker Jazzwad. Among the songs they were creating was a track honoring Shaka and his tremendous contribution to reggae music and dub culture- sort of like a living tribute.
Alas, Jah Shaka died before the song was completed, putting the men in a challenging position. Eventually, they decided to complete and publish the record; hence the newly released single, Jah Shaka Trod On. Click here to stream and/or download it from your preferred music platform.
The team at Pandemic Records, headed by CEO Sheldon Edwards, has been in a celebratory mood of late. This is after learning that two of their recently released songs are sitting in the #1 position on a couple of significant charts in Jamaica. Things Inside, performed by Chronic Law is #1 on the Preedis Chart. And Little Hero‘s Badman Round Here has the top spot on The Jamaica Music Countdown Reggae Singles Chart.
Chronic Law‘s tune is featured on the Things & Time Riddim, an eight-track compilation shared in late January by Pandemic Records. Accompanied by a lyric video that was published on Law‘s YouTube channel, the song became an instant favorite among his attentive fanbase, guaranteeing it steady, ongoing rotation to date.
As for Hero‘s track, Badman Round Here; it was first released in the 4th quarter of 2022, and was, from the very beginning, touted as a follow up to his other #1 song: World Right Now. Based on the massive success of World Right Now (which was also produced by Pandemic) the expectation has always been that Badman Round Here would take the same path. Fortunately, it has, and now the hope is that its listenership will surpass that of World Right Now.
Both Little Hero‘s Badman Round Here and Chronic Law‘s Things Inside are available on iTunes, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal and all other streaming platforms.
Erykah Badu‘s Unfollow Me Tour, which features hip-hop giant Yasiin Bey, will be at the Oakland Arena in California, on Wednesday, June 21st. Despite the fact that only Badu and Bey are advertised, they will have some extraordinary opening acts. Tickets are available via ticketmaster.
Recording artist Sanchez, who is celebrated for both his lovers-rock and reggae-gospel tunes, will be performing in Ontario, Canada on Sunday, June 11th. He will be at the live music venue Rebel, which is located at 11 Polson Street in Toronto.
The concert is being presented by Musical Niceness Entertainment, and it’s scheduled to run from 5pm to 10pm (local time). Sanchez will be supported by his personal band.
2022 NEA Jazz Master Big Chief Donald Harrison Jr. is a musician/composer dedicated to mastering every era of jazz, soul, and funk and composing orchestral classical music. He has been called a “One man music festival” because his performances cover the history of American music and show that is the basis for his innovations. According to geniuses Eddie Palmieri, Nicholas Payton, Carl Allen, and Mike Clark, he is a genius.
In 2021 Harrison received an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College. He appeared as an actor in nine episodes of “Treme,” where director David Simon created two characters to portray how Harrison innovated music. He was an actor and musician in director Johnathon Demme’s film “Rachel Getting Married and Marvel’s “Luke Cage.”He played himself in Spike Lee’s historic HBO documentary “When The Levees Broke,” and Netflix’s documentary “I Got A Story To Tell,” about The Notorious BIG.
Harrison is the recognized Big Chief of Congo Square in Afro-New Orleans culture, where he keeps alive one of the root contributors cultures to Traditional jazz. Harrison was made a Chief in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Africa, and is the only major jazz artist who is Chief on two continents.
Harrison honed his craft by playing with Roy Haynes, Art Blakey, Eddie Palmieri, Dr. John, Lena Horne, Dr. Eddie Henderson, Miles Davis, McCoy Tyner, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Ron Carter, Billy Cobham, Chuck Loeb, The Headhunters, hip-hop greats Digable Planets, Guru’s Jazzmatazz, The Notorious BIG, The Chicago Symphony Orchestra, and over 200 jazz master innovators of every era and style.
He has also played with the master innovators of blues, funk, soul, hip-hop, classical, and New Orleans music. He has innovated three influential jazz styles. In 1979, at nineteen, Harrison brought a modern jazz twist to New Orlean’s second-line music. By the mid-80s, he created “Nouveau Swing,” a concept that blends classic jazz with hip-hop, funk, and soul music. In the ’90s, Harrison made smooth jazz hits and began exploring quantum music in 2000. He began composing and orchestrating classical music for symphonic orchestras in 2013. Harrison also mentored diverse artists Christian Scott, Johnathon Batiste, Esperanza Spaulding, Trombone Shorty, multiple Grammy-winning platinum hip-hop producer Deezle, and The Notorious Big. Jonathon Batiste say’s, “I consider Donald Harrison one of the greatest teachers of the last fifty years because he teaches all the music.”
MARIA JACKSON 27 MAGAZINE 