Bob Marley News

A widely held perception among music aficionados is that quality roots reggae passed away with Bob Marley in 1981.

Although no current reggae acts possess Marley's mesmerizing stage presence and his unparalleled appeal across various social, racial and religious divides, several recent releases from contemporary artists are weaving new strands into reggae's drum-and-bass-dominated fabric, collectively galvanizing a roots revival.

Celebrated Jamaican saxophonist Dean Fraser produced several significant CDs in this roots rock renaissance, including Tarrus Riley's "Parables," Duane Stephenson's "From August Town" and Luciano's "Jah Is My Navigator," all VP Records releases. Fraser, who estimates that he has played on more than 1,000 albums, was for 13 years the musical director for Luciano, the honeyed baritone regarded in the '90s as roots reggae's strongest contender for post-Marley-era glory.

But sales of Luciano's CDs were modest, and the anticipated crossover success never materialized.

As the increasing dominance of computerized dancehall beats nearly relegated authentic reggae rhythms into obscurity in Jamaica, Fraser says, roots music "lost it somewhere." Yet he is confident that a new generation of artists -- including Riley, Stephenson, Richie Spice, Etana and Queen Ifrika, each delivering lyrics that excoriate social ills and extol Rastafarian principles -- is capable of restoring roots reggae to international prominence.

"We want roots reggae to regain the Marley-period level of appreciation," Fraser says. "Marley was very much about his musical development, and artists like Tarrus are trying to emulate what happened during that time."

'A CUT ABOVE'

Any arguments suggesting that roots reggae's richly textured instrumentation and lyrical sincerity exclusively belong to a previous generation are quelled after watching Riley perform with his 10- to 15-member band, hand-picked by Fraser to "play our music a cut above how it sounds on the record."

Riley, whose regal female tribute "She's Royal" was the biggest reggae song of 2007, is in great demand at reggae festivals throughout the United States and Europe, but most promoters are reluctant to pay for his large entourage.

"I like Tarrus to be backed by a full ensemble, horn section, percussionists, harmonies," Fraser says, "but economics plays a great part in our music not being properly heard. A lot of artists are scared to say, 'I am not going to perform without my musicians,' because they don't want to risk not working. But it is a necessary sacrifice for the development of the music."

The scant commercial radio airplay roots music receives presents further challenges in taking it beyond its core audience. One Jamaican act that's using other methods of getting its music heard is six-member outfit Rootz Underground, which recently released its debut, "Movement" (Riverstone/Mystic Urchin Records). The band has concocted several cyber strategies in its pursuit of a global audience, including online distribution of the "Movement Mixtape," the band's collaboration with Philadelphia's Solomonic Sound System.

"Basically we revoiced tracks from 'Movement' on popular riddims in dub-plate style and then built them into a mix with other dubs from popular artists," Rootz Underground guitarist Charles Lazarus says. "We created a download link, blasted it on our Facebook, MySpace, imeem, Hi5 sites and recruited friends who run similar sites or blogs to push the download. In three days we had over 1,000 downloads, and it grows every day."

While the band's marketing methods are progressive, Rootz Underground's authentic one-drop beats anchored in rumbling basslines and layered with crunching guitar riffs evoke the synergistic efforts of iconic roots bands like Inner Circle, Third World and Bob Marley & the Wailers. That collective approach to music-making is so far removed from the dominant practice in Jamaican studios, where singers and DJs record over premade rhythm tracks, that at home Rootz Underground has been branded an alternative band.

Despite that label, Lazarus says that "we feel blessed to be at the forefront of a movement of people who are playing instruments and bringing an organic sound back again."

Reuters/Billboard