King Banana

Last updated

King Banana (since the middle of 2009 U-cee & The Royal Family), [1] is a Bavarian reggae Band. The band was founded in June 1995, later other and other musicians joined. The repertoire encloses besides reggae predominantly own compositions of the genres ska, rocksteady, calypso and dancehall.

Contents

King Banana was the warmup group of several notable bands, worked together with Stranger Cole in 2002/2003 as well as together with Ken Bob (lead singer of The Eternals. [2] The band played on more than 350 concerts in six countries., [3] for example at the biggest European ska festival in the Lindenpark in Potsdam-Babelsberg and at the Chiemsee Reggae Summer in Übersee. [2] Singer was Robert Zierhofer (Big Belly Productions). [4] Altogether 46 musicians played in the band until its new formation. King Banana published two single records and five albums.

Band members of U-cee & The Royal Family

Current members of the new formation U-cee & The Royal Family are:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Reggae</span> Music genre

Reggae is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in 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. While sometimes used in a broad sense to refer to most types of popular Jamaican dance music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that was strongly influenced by traditional mento as well as American jazz and rhythm and blues, and evolved out of the earlier genres 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.

The music of Jamaica includes Jamaican folk music and many popular genres, such as mento, ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub music, dancehall, reggae fusion and related styles.

Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style. Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, emphasis of the rhythm section, and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.

Rocksteady is a music genre that originated in Jamaica around 1966. A successor of ska and a precursor to reggae, rocksteady was the dominant style of music in Jamaica for nearly two years, performed by many of the artists who helped establish reggae, including harmony groups such as the Techniques, the Paragons, the Heptones and the Gaylads; soulful singers such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, Bob Andy, Ken Boothe and Phyllis Dillon; musicians such as Jackie Mittoo, Lynn Taitt and Tommy McCook. The term rocksteady comes from a popular (slower) dance style mentioned in the Alton Ellis song "Rocksteady", that matched the new sound. Some rocksteady songs became hits outside Jamaica, as with ska, helping to secure the international base reggae music has today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerry Dammers</span> Musical artist

Jeremy David Hounsell Dammers GCOT is a British musician who was a founder, keyboard player and primary songwriter of the Coventry-based ska band The Specials and later The Spatial AKA Orchestra. Through his foundation of the record label Two Tone, his work blending political lyrics and punk with Jamaican music, and his incorporation of 60's retro clothing, Dammers is a pivotal figure of the ska revival. He has also been acknowledged in his work for racial unity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Selecter</span> British new wave band

The Selecter is an English 2 tone ska revival band, formed in Coventry, England, in 1979.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Go Jimmy Go</span>

Go Jimmy Go was an American ska, rocksteady, reggae and soul influenced band from Honolulu, Hawaii. Although chronologically, the band belongs to the third-wave, their mellow, slower tempo sound is reminiscent of the classic style of the original 1960s Jamaican first wave of ska.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica</span> Parish of Jamaica

Saint Mary is a parish located in the northeast section of Jamaica. With a population of 114,227 it is one of Jamaica's smallest parishes, located in the county of Middlesex. Its chief town and capital is Port Maria, located on the coast. It is also the birthplace of established dancehall reggae artists, such as Capleton, Lady Saw, Ninjaman, Sizzla, and Tanya Stephens. Other notable residents of St. Mary parish include bestselling author Colin Simpson, who is the great-great grandson of noted slavery abolitionist James Phillippo, famed Jamaican writer and community activist Erna Brodber, and acclaimed music producer Chris Blackwell who is credited with "discovering" Bob Marley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tryo</span>

Tryo is a French-language 'unplugged' ska acoustic band, popular in Europe and Quebec, with three French guitarists, a percussionist, and a producer: Guizmo, Christophe Mali, Manu Eveno, Daniel "Danielito" Bravo and Bibou.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Big D and the Kids Table</span> American ska punk band

Big D and the Kids Table is a ska punk band formed in October 1995 in Boston, Massachusetts when its members converged in college. Their first release was on their own Fork in Hand Records label, but have since teamed with Springman Records and SideOneDummy. The band has been noted for its strict DIY work ethic, such as engineering, producing, and releasing their own albums and videos and self-promotion of their own shows.

The Skatalites are a ska band from Jamaica. They played initially between 1963 and 1965, and recorded many of their best known songs in the period, including "Guns of Navarone." They also played on records by Prince Buster and backed many other Jamaican artists who recorded during that period, including Bob Marley & The Wailers, on their first single "Simmer Down." They reformed in 1983 and have played together ever since.

Messenjah is a Canadian-based reggae group that flourished to become one of the most successful and popular reggae groups in the history of Canadian music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sublime (band)</span> American ska punk band

Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, consistent throughout its duration, consisted of Bradley Nowell, Eric Wilson (bass), and Bud Gaugh (drums). Lou Dog, Nowell's dalmatian, was the mascot of the band. Nowell died of a heroin overdose in 1996, resulting in the band's breakup. In 1997, songs such as "What I Got", "Santeria", "Wrong Way", "Doin' Time", and "April 29, 1992 (Miami)" were released to U.S. radio.

<i>Skaboy JFK</i> 2009 compilation album by Cherry Poppin Daddies

Skaboy JFK: The Skankin' Hits of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies is the second compilation album by the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. The album was released in September 2009 by Rock Ridge Music. Like Zoot Suit Riot (1997), Skaboy JFK is a collection of the band's ska material, compiling tracks from their first five studio albums with four new bonus tracks.

The Spatial AKA Orchestra is a music ensemble led by Jerry Dammers of The Specials, an English 2 Tone ska band popular in the late 1970s. Dammers formed the orchestra in 2006 as a tribute to American jazz musician Sun Ra, though it grew to include other genres such as reggae, funk, and classical music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra</span> Hungarian SKA band

Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra are a Hungarian ska band formed in Budapest, in 2003. The band's musical style has fused Jamaican-style ska and reggae with jazz melodies and elements of traditional Hungarian folk music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Malcolm</span> Musical artist

Carlos Malcolm OD is a world renowned Jamaican trombonist, percussionist and bandleader who helped cultivate the infamous Jamaican genres of music known as Ska and Reggae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zap Pow</span>

Zap Pow is a Jamaican reggae band, founded by singer/bassist Michael Williams aka Mikey Zappow and guitarist Dwight Pinkney. Members also included singer Beres Hammond, trumpeter David Madden, saxman Glen DaCosta, and drummer Cornell Marshall. They originally existed from 1969 to 1979. They re-formed in 2016.

Ussama Soleman, better known as "U-cee", is a German funk-, dancehall, and soul music singer. Since 2009, he has been the lead singer of U-cee & The Royal Family.

The Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra are a British band formed in 2011 by Madness saxophonist Lee Thompson. The band consists of an ever-shifting line-up of ska and reggae-orientated musicians playing classic ska covers. Their debut album was released in 2013.

References