Can you believe there was once a time where Reggae wasn’t a word everyone recognized? In the musical world you have to really be in awe of how a sound from a tiny island in the Caribbean has propelled itself into the Global Consciousness. The legendary Reggae singer Winston Jarrett can clearly remember when the music started becoming something bigger, something that lit a fire in him and that keeps burning today.
Born in 1940 and growing up in the Jones Town area of Kingston, Jamaica, Winston took his love of music from his mother’s church into signing on to Rock Steady superstar’s Alton Ellis backing band, The Flames, in the early 1960’s. You can hear him on such classic hits as "Dancecrasher", "Cry Tough", "Rocksteady" and "Girl I've Got a Date".After Alton emigrated to the UK, Winston formed The Righteous Flames and recorded with many of the Reggae producers who helped the genre become the cultural force it is today. Lee Scratch Perry, Clement “Coxsone” Dodd, and Arthur “Duke” Reid have put his melodic voice on mono and FM pressings for both Commercial and Soundsystems throughout Jamaica.
In 2001, he left Kingston to move to Seattle where he has become one of the Reggae mainstays in the Emerald City. In this edition of Immigrant Songs, we cover his roots, what keeps him going at 76! - his inspirations and how Jamaica is still driving him to create, no matter where he calls home.
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This October was my first visit to the WOMEX Conference, the annual World Music Expo that happens in different European Cities with a focus on International music. Yes, I’ve been involved in the World Music scene for years and it’s a bit odd that I’ve not been before, but I always found the timing …
As Cheryl Waters jokes, it's taken over ten years to get Trevor Powers' band Youth Lagoon in the KEXP studio. Really, the band has only been around since 2010 - it just feels like we've all been waiting that long. We were all happy finally to have wrangled Youth Lagoon come grace us, and the timing…
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJ’s think you should hear. Today’s song, featured on the Aft…
Dan Boeckner is far from new to Iceland Airwaves, having played in 2006 as Wolf Parade and in 2008 as Handsome Furs. With his most recent project Operators, Boeckner brought in a packed crowd to KEXP's stage at KEX hostel and an energy that made the normally reserved Airwaves crowd dance so hard it…
The station "where the music matters" is paying tribute to the "the only band that matters" this Friday on the air, but the party doesn't stop there: on Saturday, February 6th, The Skylark in West Seattle hosts an International Clash Day Concert to benefit KEXP's New Home! Seattle favorites Polyrhy…
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For the rest of the year, we'll be spotlighting our KEXP DJs Top Albums of 2015, leading up to our 2015 90.3 Top Album Countdown on Friday, December 18! Tune in to make sure your favorites made the list!
