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Rocking Steady with Phyliss Dillon

Jamaica’s Phyliss Dillon is as steady as rocksteady gets.

Rocksteady is a form of ska that arose in the rough urban neighborhoods of Kingston in the mid-’60s. Slower in tempo than ska, running contrary to the optimism that gripped must of the rest of post-independence Jamaica, rocksteady formed a bridge between boisterous dancehall ska and the more rootsy, political grooves of reggae.  In this video we meet Phyliss Dillon, the groovin’ “Queen of Rocksteady.” We let the Queen sing us out on the last post of our Jamaica week. Onward!

 

Jammin’ in Jamaica

All Around This World -- The Caribbean featuring Jamaica

This week in our online class we’re fortunate enough to travel to Jamaica, a small island nation that has had a disproportionate influence on global music and culture.  Jamaican musicians have either originated or advanced so very many musical styles such as, in roughly chronological order, Kumina, Nyabinghi, Mento, Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae, Dub and Dancehall/Ragga. Though we’re going to meet a few of these genres over the course of the week, there won’t be enough time. We’ll leave wanting more, and more, and more….

And Then Scratch Perry Met Bob

Lee “Scratch” Perry was a visionary musician and producer who many music historians credit with morphing ska into the reggae we know today. The most influential and best-known of all Jamaican styles of music, reggae fused the grooves of rocksteady, the spiritual drive of Nyabinghi music and the global political imperative of the late ’60s. “Scratch” Perry worked with (or against) almost every popular Jamaican musician during the 1960s, including a young, talented Marley named Bob. Meet Perry in this video. Reggae icon Bob Marley continues to inspire generations with his message of unity through shared struggle and personal and popular revelation as a means of achieving peace.