Black Music (Black Music & Jazz Review from April 1978) was a pioneering British music magazine, published monthly. The first issue, edited by Alan Lewis, came out in December 1973 and the last in April 1984. [1] It was the first publication in the United Kingdom to write about reggae as a serious cultural phenomenon and also the first to cover African music. [2]
Under the 1978–1984 editorship of Chris May, who succeeded, in chronological order, Alan Lewis, Tony Cummings and Geoff Brown, the magazine championed hip hop, rap, Two Tone, avant-garde jazz and electro music in the face of hostility from British black music's, at the time, socially reactionary and still mostly white-controlled power structure, and published writing by black creatives whose work had an explicitly political dimension (notably including Linton Kwesi Johnson, Archie Shepp, Fela Kuti, Miriam Makeba, Michael Thelwell, Gil Scott Heron, Thomas Mapfumo and Hugh Masekela). Under May's editorship, the magazine also maintained extensive coverage of African music, which May had introduced as a freelance contributor in the mid 1970s with his Afroheat column.[ citation needed ]
In April 1984, Chris May left the magazine to head up the UK office of Celluloid Records. Following his departure, the title Black Music & Jazz Review (though not the editorial perspective) was absorbed by sister magazine Blues & Soul and ceased to exist other than as a small-print add-on to the BS masthead. [3] [4]
Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica during the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, "Do the Reggay", was the first popular song to use the word reggae, effectively naming the genre and introducing it to a global audience. Reggae is rooted out from traditional Jamaican Kumina, Pukkumina, Revival Zion, Nyabinghi, and burru drumming. Jamaican reggae music evolved out of the earlier genres mento, ska and rocksteady. Reggae usually relates news, social gossip, and political commentary. It is instantly recognizable from the counterpoint between the bass and drum downbeat and the offbeat rhythm section. The immediate origins of reggae were in ska and rocksteady; from the latter, reggae took over the use of the bass as a percussion instrument.
Barrington Ainsworth Levy is a Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist.
"Punky Reggae Party" is a song by Bob Marley, recorded and released in 1977. Not appearing on any studio album, it was released in 1977 as a 12-inch single in Jamaica only on the Tuff Gong and Lee Perry's Black Art labels, as a B-side to the "Jamming" single on Chris Blackwell's Island Records label in some countries and was later released as a live single on Babylon by Bus. Subsequently, it appeared on a number of compilations and "Best of" albums as well as the Deluxe Edition of Exodus and the 2002 CD reissue of Legend.
Melody Maker was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.
Steel Pulse are a roots reggae band from the Handsworth area of Birmingham, England. They originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, and were composed of David Hinds, Basil Gabbidon, and Ronald McQueen (bass); along with Basil's brother Colin briefly on drums and Mykaell Riley. Steel Pulse were the first non-Jamaican act to win the Grammy Award for Best Reggae Album. Collectively the band has won one Grammy award with nine nominations.
Ernest Ranglin is a Jamaican guitarist and composer who established his career while working as a session guitarist and music director for various Jamaican record labels, including Studio One and Island Records. Ranglin played guitar on many early ska recordings and helped create the rhythmic guitar style that defined the form. He has worked with Theophilus Beckford, Jimmy Cliff, Monty Alexander, Prince Buster, the Skatalites, Bob Marley and the Eric Deans Orchestra. Ranglin is noted for a chordal and rhythmic approach that blends jazz, mento and reggae with percussive guitar solos incorporating rhythm 'n' blues and jazz inflections.
Bob Marley and the Wailers were a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae band. The founding members, in 1963, were Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, and Bunny Wailer.
The MOBO Awards are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in "music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and African music.
Jacob Miller was a Jamaican reggae artist and Rastafari from Mandeville, Jamaica. His first recording session was with the producer Clement "Sir Coxsone" Dodd in the late 1960s. While pursuing a solo career, he became the lead singer for Inner Circle, a Jamaican roots reggae band. Miller recorded and toured with Inner Circle before he died in a car crash in early 1980 at age 27.
Mthutuzeli Dudu Pukwana was a South African saxophonist and composer.
Louis Tebogo Moholo, is a South African jazz drummer. He has been a member of several notable bands, including The Blue Notes, the Brotherhood of Breath and Assagai.
Midnite was a roots reggae band from St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands, which started playing in 1989.
Inner Circle, also known as The Inner Circle Band or The Bad Boys of Reggae, are a Jamaican reggae band formed in Kingston in 1968. The band first backed The Chosen Few in the early 1970s before joining with successful solo artist Jacob Miller and releasing a string of records. This era of the band ended with Miller's death in a car crash in 1980.
Vivian Neville Jackson, better known as Yabby You, was a reggae vocalist and producer, who came to prominence in the early 1970s through his uncompromising self-produced work.
The Ramong Sound was a British R&B, soul and ska band, active from 1965 to 1966.
Cecil Thomas, known as Nicky Thomas, was a Jamaican-born reggae singer who enjoyed considerable chart success in Jamaica and in the United Kingdom at the start of the 1970s.
Blues & Soul is a British music magazine, established in 1967 by John Abbey. The Independent has noted Blues & Soul as being the equal of magazines such as NME and Q. Billboard magazine has called Blues & Soul "a respected publication."
Helen Rogers is a British singer/songwriter who has been active since 1978. She has been featured vocalist with Brit funk bands Direct Drive and 7th Heaven. She has also been a session singer for Paul Hardcastle.
Echoes is a monthly magazine of soul, jazz, R&B, hip hop and reggae. It was founded as a weekly newspaper, Black Echoes, in 1976 and later changed its name to just Echoes. It became a monthly magazine in 2000.
Midnight Raver was a website dedicated solely to the promotion and preservation of roots reggae, culture and dub. Contributors include authors and journalists, historians, record producers, broadcasters, lecturers, archivists, collectors and publishers.