Exploring Mento, the Jamaican Folk Music That Helped Give Birth to Reggae
Nearly everyone who travels to Jamaica has heard of Bob Marley and reggae music, but far fewer know about mento, the traditional folk music of rural Jamaica which has lyrics focused on everyday country life (not unlike traditional American country […]
Chris Blackwell on Bob Marley, James Bond and Jamaica
If a fortune teller had stirred her tea leaves left instead of right one day in 1962, the world outside of Jamaica might never have heard of ska, reggae, or Bob Marley. That’s how close legendary record producer and Island […]
From The Bahamas to Jamaica, The Talking Heads’ Caribbean Love Story
Talking Heads drummer Chris Frantz’s new book, Remain in Love, is a billet-doux to his bandmate and wife of more than 40 years, bassist Tina Weymouth, as well as documenting the couple’s musical journey together — first, as part of […]
For Anguilla's Bankie Banx, Nothing Stops the Music
Beach bars come and go like the tides in the Caribbean, sometimes washed out by hurricanes, sometimes falling victim to hard times, sometimes simply because their time has passed. So it’s perhaps ironic that Bankie Banx’s Dune Preserve on Anguilla, […]