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Arawak Jah is a Cuban-American reggae group based in Orlando, Florida. The group was founded in 1994 by Cuban expatriate Ras Juan Perez (born 8 February 1960 in La Habana), who left Havana in 1980 during the Mariel boatlift, living first in Wisconsin, then moving to Orlando in 2000.
In 1995, while being based in Madison, Wisconsin, the band released its self-titled debut. [1] The band was the last reggae band to play the music venue Club de Wash before it was destroyed in a 1996 fire. [2]
Members of the band, in addition to the singer-songwriter and keyboardist Ras Juan Perez, have included drummer Pete Johnson & Vincent Davis; bassist Phil Meier & Demetrius Wainright; guitarist Mark Xavier & Steve Caddle to mention some of over a dozen of hired musician and guests through the 14 years of the band life. [3]
Further membership changes resulted in a 1997 lineup of Perez, singer-guitarist Bobby Aleman, drummer Willie Wilson and dance hall specialist Super Irie. They were one of the headlining acts of the 1997 Bob Marley Festival Tour. [4] [5]
On the 1996 release King of Salem, the band recorded six songs twice, with each song having one Cuban reggae interpretation and one Jamaican reggae interpretation. [6]
Arawak Jah self-released ten CDs under the Rasta Rumba Record, releasing their most recent album Rasta King in 2008.
The band has its own recording studio (ARAWAK NGANGA STUDIO) in Kissimmee, FL and its helping local talents to record and guide their music endeavors.
The band has performed along well-known reggae acts like Burning Spear, Shaggy, Culture, Ipso Facto, and Tony Rebel.
Today, the band travels between Cuba and the USA.
Rastafari, sometimes called Rastafarianism, is an Abrahamic religion that developed in Jamaica during the 1930s. It is classified as both a new religious movement and a social movement by scholars of religion. There is no central authority in control of the movement and much diversity exists among practitioners, who are known as Rastafari, Rastafarians, or Rastas.
Winston Rodney OD, better known by the stage name Burning Spear, is a Jamaican roots reggae singer-songwriter, vocalist, and musician. Burning Spear is a Rastafarian and one of the most influential and long-standing roots artists to emerge from the 1970s.
Dread Zeppelin is an American reggae rock band. Formed in 1989 in Sierra Madre, California, the band combines hard rock and reggae styles with humor. They are best known for performing the songs of Led Zeppelin in a reggae style as sung by a Las Vegas Elvis impersonator. Over the years they have also performed songs originally by Elvis Presley, Bob Marley and The Yardbirds. The group toured extensively around the world during their tenure with I.R.S. Records.
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Culture Press is an independent record label from UK specialized in Jamaican music.
The Rastafari movement in the United States echoes the Rastafari religious movement, which began in Jamaica and Ethiopia during the 1930s. Marcus Garvey, born in Jamaica, was influenced by the Ethiopian king Haile Selassie. Jamaican Rastafaris began emigrating to the United States in the 1960s and 1970s, and established communities throughout the country.
The Twinkle Brothers are a Jamaican reggae band formed in 1962, and still active in the 21st century under Norman Grant's lead.
Carlton "Santa" Davis is a musician from Jamaica, primarily known for his drumming with bands such as Bob Marley & The Wailers, The Aggrovators, Soul Syndicate and Roots Radics. He has worked with reggae artists such as Jimmy Cliff, Black Uhuru, Burning Spear, Big Youth, The Wailers, Peter Tosh, Andrew Tosh, Wailing Souls, Ini Kamoze, Big Mountain, Michael Rose, and Ziggy Marley.
Reggae is one of the most popular music genres in Poland. The rastafari philosophy is considered to constitute the main influence on Polish reggae. The majority of songs are sung in Polish, yet a Silesian group R.A.P. provides an important exception to both of the above, since its members clearly stated to have nothing to do with the rasta movement and sung almost exclusively in English.
Jah Roots were a reggae band from Springfield, Missouri. The band was active from 2001 to 2009. They released several albums under the independent label GanJah Records, with a local and international following. Jah Roots broke up in 2009. Since then, lead singer Josh Heinrichs has established a successful solo career.
Hall of Fame: A Tribute to Bob Marley's 50th Anniversary is an album by Bunny Wailer, released through RAS Records in November 1995. In 1997, the album won Wailer the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album.
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Delroy Washington was a Jamaican-British reggae singer best known for his releases for Virgin Records in the late 1970s.
Richard Yende Abongy Balengola, best known as Richacha "Chacha" Balengola, is a reggae, Hip Hop, RnB, soukous and world music drummer from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, based in Reims, [[Fr
Aba Shanti-I is a sound system operator and dub producer from the UK. Aba and his sound system have been playing through UK and Europe for over 30 years. He has been a resident sound system at Notting Hill Carnival since 1993 and was voted the No. 1 DJ in the World by DJ Magazine in the same year.
The Mystic Revealers are a reggae band formed in the late 1970s in the seaside town of Bull Bay east of Kingston, Jamaica. Originally, the band was known as just the Revealers, but when another group with that name popped up, it was decided the word "Mystic" would help convey their Rastafari-inspired message of truth, justice, honor and unity. The band's four founding members form the heart of the group and include Kingston-born vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Billy "Mystic" Wilmot; former Jalan and Earth Disciples drummer and record producer Nicholas "Drummie" Henry, bass guitarist Leroy "Lion" Edwards and guitarist and vocalist Steve Davis. They draw upon Jamaica's rich, established reggae tradition of outspoken political awareness when writing and performing their original material.
Natty Nation is an American rock and reggae band from Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1995, as of April 20, 2017, the lineup included Demetrius "Jah Boogie" Wainwright, Aaron Konkol AKA Eyes of Moses, Anthony Paul Willis (drums), & Nick Czarnecki (guitar). The group has released several studio albums since their 1996 debut The Journey Has Just Begun..., in 2010 Isthmus (newspaper) named their 1998 release Earth Citizen one of the "top 25 Madison pop albums of all time," writing that "Natty Nation's mix of roots reggae and hard rock proved unique and gained a following that remains today," and their 2016 release, Divine Spark debuted at #3 on the Billboard (magazine) Reggae Chart.
Neville O'Riley Livingston, known professionally as Bunny Wailer, was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and percussionist. He was an original member of reggae group The Wailers along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh. A three-time Grammy Award winner, he is considered one of the longtime standard-bearers of reggae music. He was also known as Jah B, Bunny O'Riley, and Bunny Livingston.