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<span style="font-size: 14pt">Sibbles sees rocksteady revival</span>
Leroy Sibbles (holding guitar) is performing with the original members of his Toronto band at Harbourfront Centre’s Island Soul Festival.
GREG QUILL
ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST
Leroy Sibbles is no stranger to Toronto reggae fans. He spent more than a decade among us in the 1970s and '80s trying to establish a beachhead for a career liftoff in North America and Europe, and managed, along with the likes of Stranger Cole and other expats living and working out of the Jamaican enclave here, to extend reggae's appeal in new and interesting ways.
Long since repatriated in Kingston, the Jamaican music legend and 1987 Juno Award winner is hoping the new Swiss-Canadian music documentary, Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae, will work the same magic for him and the other surviving stars of the short-lived rocksteady movement that Wim Wenders' film, The Buena Vista Social Club, did for Cuba's all-but-forgotten champions of traditional, pre-revolution Afro-Cuban music.
"That's the whole idea: to boost interest in the music that bridged ska and reggae in the mid-1960s, and maybe to prolong our careers, in the same way as similar movies have for other musicians," Sibbles said earlier this week over the phone from London, where he has been recording interviews and live music performances for the BBC.
"I loved doing the movie so much, and the (climactic) reunion concert was such a great thing, one of the best things in my life. I hadn't seen many of these musicians in a very long time. They live all over the world now. When we came back together for the film and the recording, time went backwards for me.
"I respect the past. The past moulds the present."
Rocksteady examines the short and phenomenal rise of the genre that slowed down ska's frenetic rhythms and punchy, staccato syncopation with more assured, soulful grooves and Motown-influenced melodies and harmonies, and laid the groundwork for the rich and empowering folk tunes, spiritual lyrics and dance feels that would become reggae. With its release here this week, it makes sense that Sibbles would return to his old stomping grounds in Toronto. He's performing at 9:30 next Saturday night – with the original members of his local band – at Harbourfront's Sirius Stage as part of the three-day Island Soul Festival.
The leader of rocksteady pioneers The Heptones in the '60s, Sibbles, now 60, was at the very centre of the burgeoning movement that evolved in the dance halls and open-air theatres of Trenchtown in Kingston in the early 1960s, working as a session bassist and arranger at Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's prolific Jamaica Recording and Publishing Studio and the Studio One label.
The Heptones, The Pioneers, The Gaylads, The Paragons, The Uniques, The Techniques, and even the fledgling Wailers, with emerging reggae superstar Bob Marley in the lead, fuelled rocksteady's forward momentum during its brief days of glory in Jamaica's post-independence years, from 1965 through 1968. The effects of Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie's 1966 visit became manifest in growing Africentric social and political aspirations among Jamaicans and in the rise of Rastafarian spirituality, the foundations of the reggae revolution.
"But rocksteady never really went away," Sibbles said. "It became part of reggae, and you can still hear its influence."
Not so ska, which has all but disappeared, except for a novelty revival in Britain in the 1980s. And that's fine by Sibbles.
"I never wrote a ska song," he said. "It might have had a great effect on the rise of reggae, but it was never my favourite kind of music. My big influences were (rocksteady innovator) Delroy Wilson, Toots (ska cult survivor turned reggae gospel star Freddie Hibbert), the early Wailers, and Motown."
In the movie, directed by Swiss documentary maker and former rocksteady fiend Stascha Bader Lewis, Sibbles takes part in an all-star recording session and concert featuring Judy Mowatt, Stranger Cole, Marcia Griffiths, Dawn Penn, Lynn Taitt, Ken Boothe, Derrick Morgan, U-Roy and the Tamlins, performing rocksteady classics "People Rocksteady," "Silent River Runs Deep," "Stop That Train," "Rivers of Babylon," "Shanty Town," "Equal Rights" and "The Tide Is High" among others.
Many of those artists were brought together earlier this month for a special concert at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, where the movie premiered. The soundtrack recording, produced in Kingston by Montreal's Mos "Mossman" Raxlen, is available on the German Moll Selekta label.
"The Montreal concert was one of the most beautiful times I ever had," said Sibbles, who has just finished a tour that took in Slovenia, Britain, Spain and Italy. He visits Toronto regularly to see his kids, only one of whom has taken a musical career path.
"The production was so rich, such high quality and so well prepared. And we got to play for 100,000 people. It was a dream come to life in one show."
Having once declared that his move to Toronto was one of the worst decisions he ever made, Sibbles has mellowed somewhat in the intervening years.
"I lost connection with what was happening in Jamaica, with my musical roots, and that was not a good thing," he said. "On the other hand, living in Canada allowed me to open doors and to pioneer my music abroad. I developed a name outside Jamaica and I made lots of friends in Toronto.
"I'm looking forward to seeing them again."
Source - the Star
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REGGAE RISING
Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae hits theatres at a time when reggae music seems to be the sound du jour in Toronto. Here are a half-dozen coming shows and events:
Caribana: The massive annual Carnival blowout continues until Aug. 3, and always includes its fair share of reggae, along with calypso, soca, hip-hop, chutney and steel pan. Info: caribanafestival.com.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Island Soul Festival: Harbourfront Centre's three-day showcase of Caribbean culture runs July 31 to Aug. 3 and features live reggae from Leroy Sibbles (see story above), Toronto's SuperheavyReggae and nightly DJs. Info: harbourfrontcentre.com </span>
The Harder They Come: Perry Henzell's musical based on his 1972 film tells the story of a country boy who makes his way to Kingston, Jamaica, with dreams of becoming a reggae star. At the Canon Theatre to Aug. 23. Info: mirvish.com
Irie Music Festival: The 8th annual reggae and global music event hits Nathan Phillips Square and Queen's Park North July 30 to Aug. 3. Performers include Byron Lee's Dragonaires and Gramps Morgan of Morgan Heritage, making his debut as a solo artist. Info: www.iriemusic festival.com
Reggae giants: The Sound Academy hosts the official wrap party for The Harder They Come (the musical) on Aug. 23. John Holt, Ken Booth and Marcia Griffiths (above) fill the triple bill. Info: reggaegiants.com
Jamaica to Toronto: On July 31, Yonge-Dundas Square's free "Stimulus Package" concert series features the nostalgic reggae sounds of Jay Douglas and Everton "Pablo" Paul. Info: ydsquare.ca.
Staff
Hopes new documentary will follow trail blazed by the Buena Vista Social Club
Leroy Sibbles (holding guitar) is performing with the original members of his Toronto band at Harbourfront Centre’s Island Soul Festival.
GREG QUILL
ENTERTAINMENT COLUMNIST
Leroy Sibbles is no stranger to Toronto reggae fans. He spent more than a decade among us in the 1970s and '80s trying to establish a beachhead for a career liftoff in North America and Europe, and managed, along with the likes of Stranger Cole and other expats living and working out of the Jamaican enclave here, to extend reggae's appeal in new and interesting ways.
Long since repatriated in Kingston, the Jamaican music legend and 1987 Juno Award winner is hoping the new Swiss-Canadian music documentary, Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae, will work the same magic for him and the other surviving stars of the short-lived rocksteady movement that Wim Wenders' film, The Buena Vista Social Club, did for Cuba's all-but-forgotten champions of traditional, pre-revolution Afro-Cuban music.
"That's the whole idea: to boost interest in the music that bridged ska and reggae in the mid-1960s, and maybe to prolong our careers, in the same way as similar movies have for other musicians," Sibbles said earlier this week over the phone from London, where he has been recording interviews and live music performances for the BBC.
"I loved doing the movie so much, and the (climactic) reunion concert was such a great thing, one of the best things in my life. I hadn't seen many of these musicians in a very long time. They live all over the world now. When we came back together for the film and the recording, time went backwards for me.
"I respect the past. The past moulds the present."
Rocksteady examines the short and phenomenal rise of the genre that slowed down ska's frenetic rhythms and punchy, staccato syncopation with more assured, soulful grooves and Motown-influenced melodies and harmonies, and laid the groundwork for the rich and empowering folk tunes, spiritual lyrics and dance feels that would become reggae. With its release here this week, it makes sense that Sibbles would return to his old stomping grounds in Toronto. He's performing at 9:30 next Saturday night – with the original members of his local band – at Harbourfront's Sirius Stage as part of the three-day Island Soul Festival.
The leader of rocksteady pioneers The Heptones in the '60s, Sibbles, now 60, was at the very centre of the burgeoning movement that evolved in the dance halls and open-air theatres of Trenchtown in Kingston in the early 1960s, working as a session bassist and arranger at Clement "Coxsone" Dodd's prolific Jamaica Recording and Publishing Studio and the Studio One label.
The Heptones, The Pioneers, The Gaylads, The Paragons, The Uniques, The Techniques, and even the fledgling Wailers, with emerging reggae superstar Bob Marley in the lead, fuelled rocksteady's forward momentum during its brief days of glory in Jamaica's post-independence years, from 1965 through 1968. The effects of Ethiopia's Emperor Haile Selassie's 1966 visit became manifest in growing Africentric social and political aspirations among Jamaicans and in the rise of Rastafarian spirituality, the foundations of the reggae revolution.
"But rocksteady never really went away," Sibbles said. "It became part of reggae, and you can still hear its influence."
Not so ska, which has all but disappeared, except for a novelty revival in Britain in the 1980s. And that's fine by Sibbles.
"I never wrote a ska song," he said. "It might have had a great effect on the rise of reggae, but it was never my favourite kind of music. My big influences were (rocksteady innovator) Delroy Wilson, Toots (ska cult survivor turned reggae gospel star Freddie Hibbert), the early Wailers, and Motown."
In the movie, directed by Swiss documentary maker and former rocksteady fiend Stascha Bader Lewis, Sibbles takes part in an all-star recording session and concert featuring Judy Mowatt, Stranger Cole, Marcia Griffiths, Dawn Penn, Lynn Taitt, Ken Boothe, Derrick Morgan, U-Roy and the Tamlins, performing rocksteady classics "People Rocksteady," "Silent River Runs Deep," "Stop That Train," "Rivers of Babylon," "Shanty Town," "Equal Rights" and "The Tide Is High" among others.
Many of those artists were brought together earlier this month for a special concert at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, where the movie premiered. The soundtrack recording, produced in Kingston by Montreal's Mos "Mossman" Raxlen, is available on the German Moll Selekta label.
"The Montreal concert was one of the most beautiful times I ever had," said Sibbles, who has just finished a tour that took in Slovenia, Britain, Spain and Italy. He visits Toronto regularly to see his kids, only one of whom has taken a musical career path.
"The production was so rich, such high quality and so well prepared. And we got to play for 100,000 people. It was a dream come to life in one show."
Having once declared that his move to Toronto was one of the worst decisions he ever made, Sibbles has mellowed somewhat in the intervening years.
"I lost connection with what was happening in Jamaica, with my musical roots, and that was not a good thing," he said. "On the other hand, living in Canada allowed me to open doors and to pioneer my music abroad. I developed a name outside Jamaica and I made lots of friends in Toronto.
"I'm looking forward to seeing them again."
Source - the Star
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REGGAE RISING
Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae hits theatres at a time when reggae music seems to be the sound du jour in Toronto. Here are a half-dozen coming shows and events:
Caribana: The massive annual Carnival blowout continues until Aug. 3, and always includes its fair share of reggae, along with calypso, soca, hip-hop, chutney and steel pan. Info: caribanafestival.com.
<span style="font-weight: bold">Island Soul Festival: Harbourfront Centre's three-day showcase of Caribbean culture runs July 31 to Aug. 3 and features live reggae from Leroy Sibbles (see story above), Toronto's SuperheavyReggae and nightly DJs. Info: harbourfrontcentre.com </span>
The Harder They Come: Perry Henzell's musical based on his 1972 film tells the story of a country boy who makes his way to Kingston, Jamaica, with dreams of becoming a reggae star. At the Canon Theatre to Aug. 23. Info: mirvish.com
Irie Music Festival: The 8th annual reggae and global music event hits Nathan Phillips Square and Queen's Park North July 30 to Aug. 3. Performers include Byron Lee's Dragonaires and Gramps Morgan of Morgan Heritage, making his debut as a solo artist. Info: www.iriemusic festival.com
Reggae giants: The Sound Academy hosts the official wrap party for The Harder They Come (the musical) on Aug. 23. John Holt, Ken Booth and Marcia Griffiths (above) fill the triple bill. Info: reggaegiants.com
Jamaica to Toronto: On July 31, Yonge-Dundas Square's free "Stimulus Package" concert series features the nostalgic reggae sounds of Jay Douglas and Everton "Pablo" Paul. Info: ydsquare.ca.
Staff
Hopes new documentary will follow trail blazed by the Buena Vista Social Club
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