OCTOBER 2022 ISSUE
A sneaky peek of just some of what is in the October 2022 issue – OUT NOW!
TANYA STEPHENS
There are certain artists so articulate and who possess such integrity, they strengthen your belief in whatever genre they represent. Tanya Stephens, who’s widely respected in her Jamaican homeland, is one of them. She’s not only earned accolades for being outspoken, but also for her songwriting, and her latest album Some Kinda Madness is a masterclass in how to stay relevant whilst ruthlessly – and also humorously in places – laying bare personal neurosis, social attitudes and much more besides, with a special emphasis on issues affecting women.
It’s been more than 20 years since she rode into the dancehall arena on her Big Ninja Bike and declared that Yuh Nuh Ready Fi Dis Yet…
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CANDID RECORDS
If a record label is more likely to secure its place in the hall of fame the longer it lasts, then one that achieves a lot in a short space of time also deserves induction. Candid may not have purveyed the finest in jazz since 1939, but it did release some of the best albums in black music between 1960 and 1964. In that brief window it built a catalogue of classic long players that includes Abbey Lincoln’s Straight Ahead, Booker Little’s Out Front, Booker Ervin’s That’s It and Charles Mingus’ Presents Charles Mingus. The jewel in the crown was Max Roach’s We Insist! Freedom Now Suite. Thankfully, all the above are part of recent and extensive reissue programme…
JAMISON ROSS
Jamison Ross was mainly a jazz drummer. Then he became a singer. And a songwriter, a producer, an A&R guy and, more recently, a record label boss.
You’ll soon get a chance to see him live – in his drummer role – when he tours Europe with his friends in Snarky Puppy. But that isn’t what’s currently most occupying his time. No, right now that would be the release of his superb third solo album, Jamo – it’s what his mates call him – which was recently made available as a download and on the usual streams [as yet, there is no physical alternative] by Affective Music, the indie label he co-runs with long-time friend/manager David Hargrett. And Affective Music has one very specific task: to take up the torch for soul music in these modern times.
KABAKA PYRAMID
We’re living in serious times and yet in the world of popular music, just like elsewhere, truth-tellers have been hard to find. Jamaica was once renowned for revolutionary singers who stood up for truth and rights, and told us what we needed to hear, rather than distract us in the name of entertainment. We’ve seen fewer characters like that emerge in recent years, but Kabaka Pyramid is an exception and I doubt there’s another reggae artist with “so much things to say,” to quote Bob Marley, or who’s capable of expressing them with such style and versatility…
