Queen Ifrica: Stepping ut
The News Review:
- Queen Ifrica: Stepping ut
- DVD Watch – The Harder They Come …Still relevant after three decades
- The Return of the Jumping Fleas! r how we learned to stop worrying…
- Sweet with a kick
- A new hot spot is born
- Man n A Mission: Ziggy Marley – Realizing His Father’s Dream
Queen Ifrica: Stepping ut
Jamaica bserver – Nov 25, 2007
(Photo: Joseph Wellington) As soon as she kicks the first verse of her 2007 runaway chart-topper Below The Waist you immediately recognise an artiste in great lyrical form. But hearing her deliver her thought-provoking messages on tracks like Daddy and Rasta Nuh Chat Rasta it becomes clear that the Kingston native now 32 is certainly not the same artiste she was five years ago. Was she holding out on us all along? At its core Queen’s music is still reggae with a ‘toops’ of dancehall yet it gives a taste of her singing talent which contrary to her I’m-not-a-girly-girl persona is surprisingly sweet. She recently sat down with the Sunday bserver to talk about spreading messages through her music handling harsh criticism her Rastafarian faith and her hopes for Jamaica and the future of her career. Sunday bserver: With all the love you’ve been getting from fans and music lovers in recent times how are you handling all the attention?Queen: It’s all good. When you work hard at something you feel good when you get the reward. I guess people are just rewarding me for the good music I have been putting out… They listen to everything their fathers say and they are quietly being molested by their fathers. Many of them are now wishing their fathers would die. Sunday bserver: Do you have knowledge of any actual cases here in Jamaica?Queen: I know of too many who have been experiencing it. Many have come forward and are willing to talk about it since the song came out. You have 12-year-olds in institutions who are pregnant by their fathers and that is very very sad. We need to start fighting issues like these to protect our children. Sunday bserver: Did I hear some harsh criticism and controversial talk that the song should be banned?Queen: There was a little banning argument going on.
DVD Watch – The Harder They Come …Still relevant after three decades
Jamaica Gleaner – Nov 25, 2007
It makes no difference: more than any movie I’ve seen (including The Harder They Come which Bruce favours) Rockers captures the joy of the Jamaican experience without ignoring the obvious problems of our society. The real star of the movie is Reggae music and there’s plenty of it. The cast reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of 1970s’ reggae music including such luminaries as Burning Spear Jacob Miller Big Youth and Gregory Isaacs to name only a few. Not much to itGreat performances and musical moments abound often with little or no provocation – and it works. So what happens is that our protagonist Horsemouth buys a bike. It gets stolen by gangsters.
The Return of the Jumping Fleas! r how we learned to stop worrying…
San Francisco Chronicle – Nov 25, 2007
16 they joined the city’s elite in the court of the Palace Hotel packing in as tightly as decorum would allow to witness what no one in America had ever heard before – Hawaiian music. “Thunders of applause” greeted the performers wrote The San Francisco Chronicle declaring them “prime favorites with the populace. ” The music the Royal Hawaiian Band introduced to the mainland that night proved as infectious as the band members. Mike DaSilva learned that when he started the Berkeley club. “I expected 20 people because I personally knew 20 people but then 50 people showed up. ” Fortunately he has plenty of space to accommodate them. In 2004 as a hobby DaSilva made his first ukulele in his garage… “Where I grew up” says Bell “a ukulele was sitting in the corner of everyone’s house and everyone would be strumming it. ” Bell’s hometown ahu’s Palolo Valley is to the ukulele what the Dominican Republic is to baseball. He grew up alongside musicians who were pushing the instrument in new directions like jazz reggae and rock. ne of those musicians was Israel Kamakawiwo’ole the zaftig Bob Marley of Hawaii better known as Iz. As much as anything it was Iz’s haunting 1993 version of “Somewhere ver the Rainbow” that sparked the current revival. Disseminated by movies commercials and wedding DJs the song’s memorable arrangement – just voice and ukulele – entered popular consciousness in the late 1990s. “That song did a lot to help the ukulele world” acknowledges Bell.
Sweet with a kick
Columbia Daily Tribune – Nov 25, 2007
Thursday saw the West End opening of a stage musical based on the spiky-but-sweet 1985 movie that brought Madonna’s bangles bows and bad-girl attitude to a huge audience. The story of a bored New Jersey housewife played by Rosanna Arquette and a downtown hipster – Madonna’s breakout role – whose lives intersect through a series of wacky coincidences it has become a cult classic with a lively rock rap and soul soundtrack that includes Madonna’s "Into the Groove. "In the stage version Susan is more punk than Material Girl and the songs are supplied by new wave icons Blondie whose distinctive blend of punk pop reggae and rap was one of the most distinctive sounds of the late 1970s. The show features Blondie songs including "Heart of Glass" "Atomic" "ne Way or Another" "Dreaming" and "The Tide Is High" as well as a new composition by frontwoman Debbie Harry. "It’s surprising the number of people who have said ‘f course it was Blondie music in the film wasn’t it? They were the soundtrack’ " said Emma Williams the 24-year-old British performer who plays the title role. "It just fits so well. ""Susan" is the latest addition to a slew of "jukebox musicals" that mine the hits of an enduring musical act… Because of a number of quirky twists of fate she ends up with this life she has been fantasizing about" Gallin said. "What Peter brought was a way of making it into a musical that made perfect sense. It just seemed as though the spirit and the edge of the Blondie music worked with the emotion of the movie. "The show has had a bumpy ride to its West End premiere. It has been substantially reworked during a month of previews after a lackluster response from early audiences. Marino conceded the process has been "terrifying" but said it has resulted in a show that is bigger bolder and grittier than its cinematic inspiration. "I always say the film is sort of like a Sunday afternoon film: very soothing very enjoyable it sort of makes you smirk and gives you a little tickle in your heart" Marino said a few days before the show’s opening night at London’s Novello Theatre.
A new hot spot is born
Jamaica Gleaner – Nov 25, 2007
Good reputationIn so doing Carl MaxBrown set the early stage for events-driven nightlife as not only did his Carlos’ Caf?merge as the leading Latin- flavoured hot spot this side of the English-speaking Caribbean it gained a regional and international reputation as one of Kingston’s leading nightclubs in the process. While Carlos’ Caf?oasted the hottest Latin-inspired entertainment in the city it also took on the mantle of showcasing live reggae and up-and-coming new-world music karaoke and stand-up comics on a weekly or monthly basis and thus cementing its leading role as the city’s premier night spot when it came to events-driven entertainment. Gala celebrations!Well all of that did take some doing and it has been all of 17 years since it first opened and for customers it has been first-class entertainment and fine dining. So little wonder that there was nary a place to stand last Saturday night for the anniversary gala celebrations!And what a celebration it was! The night clearly belonged to the beautiful people!We are talking an outing for the young and restless the chic and the hip and of course the sensationally fab. They were all out and in resplendent garb as they joined the host and his family in marking the anniversary. Mi lovelies suffice it to say it was a night filled with many a roving Kodak moments; champagne toasts; and fashionable ensembles and it sizzled like 10 coal-stoves at a summer cook-out!It was also the last night of The Gleaner-sponsored Kingston Restaurant Week and not only was the place bubbling with diners the place was overflowing with the party-hearty and not to mention the fashionistas.
Man n A Mission: Ziggy Marley – Realizing His Father’s Dream
Jazz-Quad – Nov 25, 2007
He has remained true to the independent nature instilled in him by his legendary father establishing himself in recent years as a solo artist and producing his first independently-released projects on the Tuff Gong Worldwide label. Firmly instituted as a solo artist he has now set his sights on yet another quest. Tuff Gong was first founded in 1965 by Bob Marley with the vision of producing distributing and promoting his music free from the constraints of corporate label politics. In a time decades before artist-owned record labels were commonplace Marley’s vision was characteristically well ahead of it’s time. Now nearly half a century later his dream is being realized. Ziggy released his first solo effort Dragonfly in 2003. The album included guest artists from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Incubus… The album included guest artists from the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Incubus. His second solo album Love is My Religion was released in July of 2006 and garnered Marley his first solo Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album giving him a total of four Grammys. Love soared to No 6 on the Billboard Reggae charts. Love showcases Ziggy’s keenly honed talents as a composer producer and musician with all tracks written and produced by Ziggy and shared production on three tracks with Grammy-winning producer Ross Hogarth. Marley also played a majority of the instruments on the album. About Ziggy Marley Born in Trench Town Jamaica Ziggy Marley was surrounded by the sights and sounds of the Jamaican recording industry. First accompanying his father in the studio at a tender age he soon joined with his siblings to form The Melody Makers.
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