Reggae Music

Mingling with the pungent wafts of ganja smoke and the bobbing pulse of Jamaica's surrogate national anthem, "One Love," a jarring note of discord is messing with the mellow vibe of this remote village. Here in the Dry Harbor Mountains lie the remains of reggae legend Bob Marley, and those who come to honor his memory insist it is here he must stay.

"When I was young," says Jamaican deejay and recording star U-Roy, "I didn't think I would ever live in the United States." When asked just how he came from the Kingston ghetto of his youth to an apartment complex in Santa Ana, he is a little hazy on details. He has music business friends in Los Angeles and, well, he just kind of settled in about five years ago. He does his best to simulate some comforts of home. Every morning, for instance, he drives to Newport Beach to shop for fresh fish.

Bob Marley fans and Rastafarians gathered in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa on Tuesday for the start of festivities to mark the 60th anniversary of the reggae legend's birthday. Organizers say up to 300,000 people are expected to converge on the city's Meskal square Sunday for a tribute. The musical extravaganza will feature such artists as reggae rapper Shaggy, Benin's Angelique Kidjo and soul singer India.Arie.

Two people were wounded in a shooting that sent several thousand people rushing from a reggae festival at Woodley Park, Los Angeles police said Tuesday. The incident, which occurred Sunday about 7:30 p.m., was the second shooting at a large public event at the Van Nuys park in the past two months, police said. Todd English, 18, of Los Angeles was in critical condition at Northridge Hospital Medical Center with two wounds to his upper body, police said.

It was like trying to catch a Rastaman version of a will-o'-the-wisp, with a bit of the Keystone Cops thrown in. Junior Marvin, leader and manager of what's left of reggae's legendary Wailers, couldn't be found anywhere. Representing a group with no press liaison or stateside record label, Marvin was always five minutes ahead or behind of the phone calls placed to various motel rooms throughout the country in an attempt to determine just what the Wailers are in 1995.

Big Mountain, the San Diego-based reggae band, should be excited about performing at the "Reggae Sunsplash" concert Saturday at the Pacific Amphitheatre. After all, it has one of the hottest Southern California hits of the year in the single "Touch My Light," and this is a chance for the up-and-coming outfit to showcase its talents in a major venue. But Quino, the group's single-named lead singer, sounds anxious as he prepares to share the bill with some top Jamaican reggae groups.

Lucky Dube's first venture into reggae eight years ago was such a commercial disaster he had to resort to trickery to get a second chance. The South African singer, who appears with his 13-piece band on the "Reggae Sunsplash" bill at the Greek Theatre tonight and Sunday, was a performer in the mbqanga or "Zulu soul" vein before releasing "Rastas Never Die," the first reggae album by a South African artist.

It's just another day on the road, another rehearsal, this one on the near-empty set of "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno" in Burbank. The disinterested keyboardist is staring at the ceiling and the backup singers halfheartedly sway to the beat. The image would be that of complete show-biz drudgery, except for the man in the middle of it all. Ziggy Marley's head is back, his eyes are shut serenely and his face is seemingly lit from within.

Among the most eye- and ear-opening, glorious surprises I experienced on the job last year was catching the Wailers at the Coach House. Going into the show, I had a bad attitude about the whole thing--surely, this would be a reggae version of one of those ersatz Coasters or Ink Spots that tours the country with anonymous nobodies in the lineup, dragging the group's name through the mud to make a few quick bucks off people's nostalgia.