News & Updates — Sly & Robbie

Happy born day to one of my favorite reggae singers, the rootical Junior Delgado. Born Oscar Hibbert in Kingston, he was nephew to musician Lenny Hibbert. As a teenager in the early '70s he was a member of the vocal group Time Unlimited, which recorded for Lee "Scratch" Perry, Duke Reid, Tommy Cowan and Bunny Lee. The group scored a hit with "Reaction" (reissued on Pressure Sounds!). He recorded as Junior Hibbert in the mid '70s with Rupie Edwards and after changing his name to his longtime nickname Delgado he got cracking on even more material: "Everyday Natty" with Niney...

Classically-trained keyboardist Bernie Worrell has his place established as a major innovator in the Funk with Parliament-Funkadelic, with whom he played from about 1970 into the early '80s, and contributing to projects of other members of the mob. He brought the Bach to the Funk. He spent the '80s as a member of the Talking Heads and beyond that found an incredible amount of creative work with superproducer Bill Laswell. In his later years he was a staple on the jamband scene with Les Claypool, Govt Mule and others. A musical prodigy from New Jersey, he was playing piano by...

One of my favorite voices in reggae, Dennis Emmanuel Brown was hugely popular on the island of Jamaica and beyond. Starting as a "Boy Wonder", he was nationally known by the time he was 12. "Money In My Pocket" and "Westbound Train" were big hits in '72 and '73, before Brown finished college. In '75 he started his DEB label and in '76 recorded "Wolf & Leopard" with Lee Perry at the Black Ark. By the late '70s Brown was a big name in the UK. He sang lovers rock in his later years. One of my favorites, with Sly...