The documentary film Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae is a musical journey to Jamaica's Golden Age of music, Rocksteady. The film features the music and stories of the legendary singers and musicians of the Rocksteady era. They come together after 40 years to record an album of Rocksteady hits, to perform together again at an All-Stars reunion concert in Kingston, Jamaica, and to tell their story.
Starring:
Stranger Cole, The Tamlins, David Madden, Dawn Penn, Deadley 'Deadly' Bennett, Derrick Morgan, Ernest Ranglin, Gladstone 'Gladdy' Anderson, Hopeton Lewis, Hux Brown, Clifton 'Jackie' Jackson, Judy Mowatt, Ken Boothe, Leroy Sibbles, Lloyd Parks, Marcia Griffiths, Noel 'Scully' Simms, Sly Dunbar, Bongo Herman, Rita Marley, Robbie Lyn, Calvin 'Bubbles' Cameron, U-Roy. More Info here
What is Rocksteady?
Rocksteady is the direct predecessor of Jamaican Reggae. Rocksteady has sparse rhythmic accompaniment and a relaxed feel allowing the vocalist more expressive musical phrasing and greater lyrical freedom. All these elements were retained in Reggae... More Info Here
"Heavily bootlegged for years on VHS, Ricky Powell's early 90s Rappin' With The Rickster cable access show gave insight into the world of the foulmouthed, trouble-making New York City scenester. But this ain't your cousin's bootlegs - What you hold in your hand are carefully selected "best of" moments from the series, lifted straight off of Ricky's vintage analog masters and delivered right to your brain stem courtesy of the fine folks at Five Day Weekend. In addition to this incredible slice of vintage NYC street culture, the Rickster wanted to take it a step further with this release. We brought him back in the studio to get his Dean Martin on, hosting commentary over a virtual slideshow of his favorite pics from his ziploc bag full of slides. If that isn't the icing on the cake... we also laced him with a new camera, got him feeling nice, and turned him loose on Greenwich Village on some 2010 Rickster steez. So we got the new... and we got the old. And yeah yeah... it's real cool to be retro these days... but for every thousand emulators there's only one innovator... Ricky Powell is the general... The lazy hustler supreme."
Here's a selection of some bits and pieces that have come through the door this week. Also a few titles to check for pre-order.
Catch ya soon
Best,
Dustin, Cian, Jim, Brent & Bobby
We have been looking forward to this for a while now, check out details below and please let us know via info@conch.co.nz if you are interested in a pre-order.
Timeless because a heart beat is more important than a clock tick.
Timeless: The Composer/Arranger Series is the name of a concert series that was created in homage to the composer/arrangers who have influenced hip-hop in the most literal and profound ways. Timeless was conceived by production house Mochilla in Los Angeles during February and March 2009 and included the performances of over 150 musicians in front of ecstatic sold out crowds. These three historic events were recorded and filmed in exacting detail with Mochilla's unmistakable style.
MULATU ASTATKE
On February 1st, Ethiopian musician and inventor of Ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke, a giant in African music blessed the sold-out Luckman Fine Arts Complex with an amazing show. He shared the stage with veterans of the Los Angeles jazz scene Bennie Maupin, Azar Lawrence and Phil Ranelin. The performance is beautiful - showcasing many classics as well as some new material too. He's currently touring Europe with the Heliocentrics and is still talking about the Timeless concert in Los Angeles.
Timeless 2 celebrated the music of J.Dilla. Composed and arranged for a 60 piece Orchestra by Miguel Atwood-Ferguson feat. special guests Bilal, Dwele, Posdnuos, Talib Kweli and more. This premiere performance is still on the minds of many. Mixed and mastered by legendary Grammy award winning producer/mixer, Bob Power. The man behind hundreds of pop and jazz recordings for such artists as Erykah Badu, D'Angelo, De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest and more, he had also worked with Dilla while he was alive. Hiphop has never sounded or looked like this, welcome to a new era, a new scale and a new sound. Part of the proceeds of all Suite for Ma Dukes performances and recordings will go towards Maureen "Ma Dukes" Yancey and the heirs to the Dilla Estate.
Arthur Verocai has composed and arranged for such giants as Jorge Ben, Gal Costa and Leny Andrade. But hiphop heads know him for his often sampled (see Ludacriss, MF Doom and Lil Brother) self titled solo album. The album came out at the height of the Brasilian dictatorship and was a commercial failure. His performance of this seminal 1972 record brought the capacity Luckman crowd to a stand still. According to Verocai, "he had never played the record, alive or dead!" His delight at the opportunity to play this music in its complete form can be seen in the DVD. He has subsequently been offered an opportunity to do the concert again in London. Stay tuned. The music for the DVD has been mixed by Verocai himself in Rio de Janeiro. History turned on its head and musical justice served.
“Real N’ Raw†DVD/CD double disk set features the Documentary film and bonus features on DVD and on CD the full 17 tune soundtrack. “Real N’ Raw†is a fun look into the simple steps towards a healthy, vibrant life – Disease is NOT a mystery! Do you want to live with abundant energy, more than enough to get through the day with ease? You know the age old saying “You Are What You Eat� Well, it is real and it works. The thread of this documentary film is the story of how Matthew Wilson ( An ex-base Fm selector from “The Rewind Show†) found true health and well-being after suffering from degenerative disease for 30 years. He and producer Dana Louise Stewart went on a journey to the USA to film and bring to you the testimonies and insight from celebrities, doctors, leading nutritionists, chefs and common folk who have healed all manner of disease through simple methods without medical intervention. Share in the delight of fresh whole raw living foods and how something we all do three times a day can transform all aspects of our life. Its not a miracle, it is not a magic pill, it doesn’t cost the earth, it’s simple, it’s easy and it’s fun.
A great selection of reggae and Dub artists from Aotearoa, Jamaica and USA drive the film forward. Artists such as Cornerstone Roots, Three Houses Down and Earthtone Hi Fi which is a collaboration of Base Fm’s very own DeeJays Selecto and Truent. Also featuring the talents of Heather Bolton whom some may know from “The Managersâ€.  The up and coming Solomonix have two tunes on the album, House of Shem feature with their classic song “What about the children†and the previously unreleased dub version “What about the Dubâ€. Northlands 1814 with their unique tune “Whakahonohono Mai†. A beautiful vocal in Te Reo Maori. So the local scene is well represented while Jamaica’s King Ali Baba and Kris Kelli both appear. The likes of Luton Fyah who features on the Ital tune from Humboldt county, USA reggae star Jah Sun with “No Bonez No Bloodâ€. Gracing our ears explaining why he chooses to eat the way he does. Also appearing on the “Real N’ Raw†soundtrack is the award winning reggae group from the USA called International Farmers with their tunes “Only Questions†and “Slow Downâ€. Matthew saw these guys live while in the USA filming for the documentary and they had an amazing stage presence and live sound . This inspired Matthew to approach them regarding the soundtrack and they were right into the project especially since Kiwi reggae plays a huge influence on their music according to the vocalist Daniel Primavera. Also from the USA the track “Free Me†from the group Cipes and the People appears. Lead by Greg Cipes who is an inspiration to so many youth. Some may know Cipes from his acting and voice work on such films and cartoons as “Fast and Furious 4â€, as Beast Boy on Teen Titans, Kevin 11 on the show Ben 10 and the little lion cub Ryan in Disney's “The Wildâ€.
All in all its a fine selection of tunes for your listening pleasure. Important to mention is the fact that all the artists featuring on the album donated all profits to the local charity “Fruit For Our Children†which is dedicated to planting 17 million not for profit fruit trees throughout New Zealand. Check it out here at www.fruitforourchildren.com “Real N’ Raw†the Double disk set is available to purchase for only $20 excl. P&P online at www.realnraw.co.nz or at Conch, 115a Ponsonby Rd...
You can also purchase the soundtrack or singles from the soundtrack on I-Tunes.
Comments
0 Comments