Brooklyn rocksteady supergroup the Reggay Lords have been making a splash in the NY scene over the past year. The band features members of The Forthrights, The Hard Times, Facts, and The Slackers and have a tendency to put on quite the live show, sporting powdered wigs at their high-powered gigs. Here is the first release from the group called “Come Back Strong.” The bands lineup includes: Jah Point – vocals/percussion, Jack Wright – piano/organ/backing vocals, Phil Wartell – drums/backing vocals, Juan Cardenas – bass, Sean Donnelly – guitar, and Agent Jay – guitar/percussion.
Boston’s own traditional ska group The Void Union has released their brand new album Higher Ground today! The album features a TON of guests, including King Django, Obi Fernandez (Westbound Train), Angelo Moore (Fishbone), Craig Akira Fujita (Pressure Cooker), Steve Borth (Link 80, Rx Bandits, Satori), Josh Cohen (Westbound Train), Johnny DeCarlo (Westbound Train), and Dave Hillyard (The Slackers). Along with an assortment of other engineering credits, its evident that this album was a collaborative effort amongst some of the most notable names in the modern American ska scene!
The Void Union are a group formed of several members of Westbound Train that play an assortment of Jamaican music styles. This album is a follow-up to their 2008 self-titled album.
The album is available digitally for only $5 via their Bandcamp site HERE
Fresh from New Orleans comes Honeyboy Carencro; an artist that is stirring together blues and soul while sprinkling in a bit of ska for his debut release The Widowmaker via Rolling Fork Records. The album will be released on March 29th through most digital retailers and CD’s will be available on tour and at select retailers. The album includes a few musical guests, including an appearance by Dave Hillyard of The Slackers on the track “Row Yo! Motor.” You can listen to a couple tracks from The WidowmakerHERE.
Honeyboy Carencro will on the upcoming Slightly Stoopid Spring Tour along with The Meat Puppets, which makes a stop at the First Avenue Mainroom on May 6th. Tickets for that show are available HERE
A documentary called Brooklyn Rocksteady: The Roots, The Scene & The Culture is being made by Samuel Gursky that is an exploration of NYC Ska and Rocksteady music since 1981 up until 2011, including interviews from members of The Toasters, The Slackers, The Pietasters, Westbound Train, Victor Rice, The Forthrights, Royal City Riot, The Hard Times, The Frighteners and more!
There is a Kickstarter project set up to fund the rental of equipment and help to cover travel expenses to document big events this year involving these bands outside of the NY area. You can support by donating as well as view a trailer for the documentary HERE
The documentary is set to be released in Fall 2011
As part of Project 30 in 30, Director Stephen Ching made a music video for The Slackers‘ song “Mr. Tragedy” from their latest album The Great Rocksteady Swindle.
You can never sing out of tune if you don’t have a singer! Which brings me to our guests this week Bob Timm and Jacob WakeUp! from instrumental NYC reggae/roots/soul band The Hard Times. They tell Courtney the story about how the band was formed out of ska and reggae musicians from New York, Connecticut, and Florida. Living up to their name, a down economy has prevented the group from touring outside the five boroughs but thanks to veteran bands like The Slackers and The Toasters, the band is able to take advantage of playing in a rich musical community. Make sure to check out their hot new EP Two Bucks For Bob(which is oddly available for 3 bucks).
If you’re in the Minneapolis area, be sure to check out our first live event at The Red Sea, featuring performances by Green Room Rockers, The Pinstripes, The Dropsteppers and Secondhand Ska Kings. Head to mnska.com for more information.
The fine folks at Copycats Media have a deal for you, the loyal listener. Mention the Flyover Ska Show and they’ll add 100 FREE 11X17 full color posters to your order.
The Flyover Ska Show is now available on Stitcher, the free podcast radio app for all your better smartphones. It even has shows with no talking.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
You can download this episode HERE or subscribe to the show on iTunes.
Jamaican music lost yet another prolific pioneer. Glen Adams, a legendary reggae keyboardist, died at the age of 65. Adams was a member of the Hippy Boys and the Upsetters and created the “organ shuffle” sound to early reggae. Most recently, Adams had moved to New York and did some work with modern hip-hop artists, as well as recording with American bands like The Slackers. His legacy on the music is profound and he will be missed.
You can read more about Glen Adams’ death in Jamaica’s The GleanerHERE
A couple months ago, I received a pack of CD’s in the mail from the famed Jump-Up Records “CD of the Month” series. One of the great albums was this instrumental compilation put together by Mr. T-Bone from Italy called Instrumental Sessions – Vol. 1. The concept behind the album was taking some great reggae, rocksteady, and ska tunes, changing up the melodies, and having numerous guest instrumentalists on each track. As you can tell by the video, the album is phenomenal from stem to stern. The music comes from bands like The Slackers (NYC, USA), The Bullets (Los Angeles, USA), The Caroloregians (Charleroi, BE), The Moon Invaders (Charleroi, BE), The Ratazanas (Oeiras, P), The Soul Captive (San Francisco, USA), The Forthrights (NYC, USA) and The Heatmakers ( Marseille, FR).
Guest musicians include Larry McDonald from the Rocksteady 7 & Dub Is A Weapon on percussions, David Hillyard from The Slackers & the Rocksteady 7 on tenor and baritone sax, Kincaid Smith from Hepcat on trumpet, King Django, Roger Rivas from the Aggrolites and the Bullets on organ, Buford O’Sullivan from the Easy Star Allstars on trombone, Tommy Tornado from Rude Rich on tenor sax, Rich Graiko from Westbound Train & Void Union on trumpet, Paolo Parpaglione from Mr.T-bone Allstars & Bluebeaters on alto and tenor sax, and Cecio Grano from the Young Lions on tenor sax and flute.
If that wasn’t enough, the whole album was mixed by the legendary Victor Rice! It is a fantastic instrumental album and I hope there are more follow-up volumes to come.
NYC ska legends The Slackers are touring across the country right now to support their latest full-length album The Great Rocksteady Swindle. The tour stopped at the Bottom Lounge in Chicago last Saturday and this is video of them playing “How It Feels” from the new record. Joining them on this leg of the tour are friends of MNSKA the Green Room Rockers.
Our reggae-soul brethren from Indiana, Green Room Rockers, have posted a couple of brand new tunes on their MYSPACEpage. The songs will be on their upcoming full-length release via Jump Up Records. The new album is their second full-length and was produced by Dave Hillyard of The Slackers. The album drops on October 1st!
You can stream the songs “You and I” and “Conqueror” HERE
