You're in for a pre-Thanksgiving treat. Yesterday, I posted on a 1964 Jamaican mini documentary on ska, the island's dominant dance music of the early 1960s. Today. I found a high-resolution print of Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae Music (2009). It followed ska by slowing ska down and adding a soulful groove in the mid-1960s, setting the stage for reggae's political-themed emergence in the early 1970s. I love rocksteady. It's soft, gentle and hypnotic. And I love rocksteady covers of American hits. Here's a sample example of rocksteady, with Alton Ellis singing You've Made Me So Very Happy...
See what I mean? Such a great groove. Now that you're hip and up to date, here's Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae Music, directed by Stascha Bader. I can't embed it into this post, but you can watch it in glorious wide-screen quality by clicking here.
See what I mean? Such a great groove. Now that you're hip and up to date, here's Rocksteady: The Roots of Reggae Music, directed by Stascha Bader. I can't embed it into this post, but you can watch it in glorious wide-screen quality by clicking here.
This story appears courtesy of JazzWax by Marc Myers.
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