Art of Jamaica

Next up in our Unsung series is Gregory Isaacs. Gregory was born on July 15, 1951, in the Fletcher's Land area of Kingston, Jamaica. He entered several talent shows and was first noticed by Bryon Lee. Bryon brought him and Winston Sinclair to record a duet titled "Another Heartbreak" (click on the video below to hear this track). It has no success. Gregory then joined a trio called The Concords. They spent the next couple years recording and releasing singles but did not gain the interest of the Jamaican audience.  The Concords ended in 1970 and Isaacs went at it alone for the next couple years. Isaacs persisted despite his failures and set up his own record store and label, African Museum, in partnership with Errol Dunkley in 1973. Under this label, Isaacs released his first hit "My Only Lover." This is credited as the first lover's rock record ever made. To finance more recordings made by African Museum's label and shop, Gregory recorded...

Garnet Damion Silk was born on April 2, 1966 in Hatfield,   Manchester, Jamaica. He was the 6 th of his mother’s 9 children. Garnett knew what he wanted to be as a child and started his musical career early. At the age of 12 years old, he had his first stage appearance at the Soul Remembrance sound system where he used the stage name “Bimbo”.   There he started his journey as a DJ. During the 1980s, in addition to working on Soul Remembrance, Garnett also on sound systems such as Pepper’s Disco, Conquering Lion, Destiny Outernational and Stereophonic.   In 1985, at the age of 19 years old, Garnett took his musical journey a step further and recorded his first track. It took him two years though to release his first single called “Problem Everywhere”, in which Garnet deejayed his lyrics. (See video below)   This single did not perform well so Garnett began focusing more on singing after veteran Derrick Morgan suggested this. He moved from Manchester to...

Artwork by KavionArt - www.kavionart.com Peter Tosh was born Winston McIntosh Oct. 19, 1944, in Westmoreland Jamaica. Tosh had a rough childhood. Abandoned by his parents, he moved around from relative to relative. He fell in love with music early &  taught himself to play the guitar by watching others play. He moved to Trench town as a teen where he met two other aspiring musicians Bob Marley & Bunny Wailer in the early 1960s. The trio would form a group called the Wailing Wailers. Tosh was the key member in the group's early stages simply because he was the only one that knew how to play any instruments. Under the tutelage of Joe Higgs, the three developed their love for music. In 1964,  the Wailers had their first success as a group with the ska song  "Simmer Down". They would go on to record some of the first know Reggae songs.  The 1970s brought the Wailers a major record contract with Chris Blackwell & Island records releasing their...

Painting By KavionArt In 1920s,  Marcus Garvey said "Look to   Africa , when a black king shall be crowned, for the day of deliverance is at hand" .  It is this ideology that eventually led to the growth of Rastafarian. Though Marcus Garvey was not directly involved in Rastafarianism , he is considered to be one of the religion's prophet. Marcus Garvey teachings on black empowerment, black unity and Africa being black people's rightful home served as the foundation for the Rastafarian  movement. By the 1920s, he had almost had a million  followers and one could say Rastarianism developed as an outcome of overall black empowerment. However, the official comme ncem ent of Rastafarianism as we know it became came after Ras Tafari Makonnem was crowned the emperor of Ethiopia & became known as Haile Selassie in 1930. Many took that crowning as a materialization of Marcus Garvey's words in 1920 hence the "prophet".  This connection was made by...

Reggae music originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. It has since become so popular that it is loved by people from all over the world. Bob Marley is probably the most known artist as it relates to this musical genre. However, there are many Reggae artists who contributed to this genre and in this article, we'd like to tell you about 5 we rate.  Painting of Peter Tosh done by KavionArt 1.  Peter tosh born Winston McIntosh Oct. 19 1944 . Tosh taught himself to play the guitar as a teen by watching others play. Tosh would meet 2 other aspiring musicians Bob Marley, & Bunny Wailer in the  early 1960s in Trench Town & Under the tutelage of Joe Higgs the 3 developed their love for music & formed a band call the wailing wailers. In 1964 the wailers had their 1st success as group with the ska song called Simmer Down. The wailers would go on to record some of the 1st know reggae songs. The wailers signed a record contract with Chris Blackwell & Isla...