Available since March, the box set "Before Reggae" plunges us into the decade that preceded the advent of ska in Jamaica.
Between the opening of the first recording studio in Kingston in 1951 and the creation of this authentically Jamaican new rhythm, the artists and producers of the day experimented widely, fusing Caribbean and American rhythms.
Across four CDs and 92 tracks (and a remarkably detailed booklet), the "Before Reggae" box set retraces these eleven years: mento, calypso, boogie, rhythm & blues, doo wop, twist, rock & roll, as the sleeve (which doesn't lie) lists, right up to ska, which would become the soundtrack of independence in 1962.
Singers or producers, some of the future greatest names of Jamaican music are already here: Bob Marley, Alton Ellis, Jimmy Cliff, Derrick Morgan, Desmond Dekker, Prince Buster, Louise Bennett, Don Drummond, Clement "Coxsone" Dodd (Studio One), Duke Reid (Treasure Isle), Chris Blackwell... and even Edward Seaga, at the helm of his label WIRL founded in 1958 (which he later sold to Byron Lee), and not yet the politician we know.
A launch night for the box set is organised by the network Sortir du Colonialisme, No Direction Home and the magazine Chéribibi on Thursday 18 April at the Maison de l'Afrique in Paris, in the presence of Dominique Misslin (producer of the box set), Daniel Paris-Clavel (Chéribibi), Patrick Farbiaz and David Gakunzi.
More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/506053862784938