BENAIAH Delivers Roots Rock Reggae

Inside the Grace Jamaican Jerk Festival
Words and photos by M. Peggy Quattro

The 8th annual Jerk Fest was a major success, rammed with more than 15,000 South Florida fans and 60 food, art and crafts, and corporate booths. The weather was perfect and Markham Park, a beautiful spacious park in west Broward County, was overflowing with family fun, food, and live music.

The fest began at 10 a.m. and the music kicked off around 5PM. The Benaiah Band backed the opening acts, which included LG and Ambilique, before veteran musician, performer and producer Dean Fraser thrilled the crowd with his stellar tenor and soprano sax talents on such standards as “I Believe in You and Me” and “Dance with My Father Again.” Continue reading Benaiah @ Ft. Lauderdale Jerk Fest →

THE HARDER THEY COME – OPENING NIGHT BENEFITS THE JAMAICAN CHILDREN’S HEART FUND

 By M. Peggy Quattro
Photos by Lynn Dearing

The Jamaican Children’s Heart Fund (JCHF) successfully benefited from the opening night performance of the smash hit musical, The Harder They Come, based on Perry Henzell’s legendary 1972 movie starring Jimmy Cliff. The South Florida-based JCHF sold hundreds of tickets for the Sat., August 29, 2009, performance at the beautiful Ziff Ballet Opera House, inside Arsht Performing Arts Centre, Miami, FL, and a portion of the ticket price went to this worthy cause.

For the hundreds of Jamaicans, Americans, and international patrons in attendance, the cast of The Harder They Come sang and danced their way into the hearts of the cheerful crowd. Live music was provided by an outstanding band of live musicians cleverly positioned as part of the stage set. Together with the entire cast, they performed popular songs from the original movie that have become world-famous anthems include “Many Rivers To Cross,” “You Can Get It If You Really Want,” “Pressure Drop,” “Sweet and Dandy,” and “Sitting in Limbo.” The audience was brought to their feet to sing along when the cast came on stage to end the show with a rousing version of “The Harder They Come.”
Continue reading The Harder They Come Musical in Miami →

DubFest 2009 Highlights!  Lee “Scratch” Perry

Set to Deliver Spiritual Healing
By Tina Pace
Ranked in the top 100 of Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, Lee “Scratch” Perry considers himself a new being, anxious to spread the healing, spiritual energy of his music at DubFest, Sept. 5, in Hollywood, Florida.

At the ripe age of 73 years young, Scratch Perry’s outlook is fresher than ever. When asked how the youth will respond to his show, he replied, “people seek redemption through the show. They want spiritual healing, spiritual music.” Perry will be returning to his home country of Jamaica to “refresh and restart” himself. Perry’s passion for life and nature is evident in his songs and through his words. He warns not to curse from where you came or burn any bridges because, in the end, everything comes back full-circle.

Once a self-proclaimed cannibal, Scratch says, “I changed my being and returned to myself and from the animal race.” He accepts the spiritual blessings in his life and rejects the unnecessary material existence in his world, “Rock stone is my chair,” he claims, “silver and gold is nothing. God is nature and God punishes them that are filled with greed.” Continue reading DubFest Brings Old & New Together – Lee “Scratch” Perry →

THE HARDER THEY COME

PREMIERE IN THE UNITED STATES AT THE ADRIENNE ARSHT CENTER OF MIAMI-DADE COUNTY
DIRECT FROM LONDON’S WEST END, THE MUSICAL BASED ON THE 1970’S CULT FILM THAT TRANSFORMED REGGAE MUSIC AND SINGER JIMMY CLIFF INTO INTERNATIONAL SENSATIONS
August 29 – September 13 – Sanford and Dolores Ziff Ballet Opera House
Continue reading The Harder They Come Musical →

Stephen Marley, Slightly Stoopid & Snoop Dog

Blazed and Confused at the Santa Barbara County Bowl
Words and photos by Jan Salzman

July 12 was a very hot, triple digit day in the San Fernando Valley and a trip up the coast to The Santa Barbara Bowl was a promising adventure The day’s show included MickeyAvalon, a white rapper with very explicit lyrics, the very conscious Stephen Marley, famed rapper Snoop Dog, and Southern California’s own Slightly Stoopid. This was the “Blazed and Confused Tour” and whether they were “blazed” or not, there was some fabulous music being played.

Stephen Marley bounded onstage, with his young son as the flag bearer flashing the colors of Rastafari, to his father’s song “Punky Reggae Party.” His next two songs from his Grammy-winning album were “Chase Dem” and the title track “Mind Control.” His high pitched, rough voice thrilled the crowd with every note. Steve often pointed the microphone to the packed audience to let them fill in the lyrics to his songs. Sometimes he played guitar, sometimes he took it off to grab the mic and reach closer to his audience. He was joined onstage by Spragga Benz for the chat in “Iron Bars” and Julian Marley also passed through for several songs, including the closing, with the Bob Marley classic, “Could You Be Loved.” Continue reading Stephen Marley in Santa Barbara →