Potvrdjeni nastupi na Rototom Sunsplashu 2012

Prefestival August 15th: Mighty Diamonds | Linval Thompson | Pablo Moses

Evo nekih od najvaznijih nastupa koji se očekuju na Rototomu 2012*::::

za detalje posetiti rototomsunsplash.com

*(verzija na engleskom bice uskoro zamenjena srpskom)

Zion Train feat. Jazzmin Tutum, Sis Bethsabee & Fyah Brass

Zion Train osnovan je 1990, kada su na velikim rejvovima tog vremena počeli da miksaju svoju strast za ortodoksnim dub reggae trakama Jah Shake ili Aba Shanti-ja sa masivnim techno i trance ritmovima.
Osim muzičkog delovanja ovaj bend je uvek bio veoma angažovan na društvenom i duhovnom nivou kroz inteligentne i osetljive poruke koje prenose muzikom. Od minimal zvukova prvih traka do najsloženijih klasika poput ‘Homegrown fantasy’ and ‘Love revolutionaries’, Zion Train je stekao veliku zrelost u svojim nedavnim radovima kao što su ’Love as one’ ili poslednjeg odličnog albuma ‘State of mind’. Zion train će nastupiti s predivnim glasovima Jazzmin Tutum SiS i Bethsabee, pojačani duvačkom sekcijom Fyah Brass.

Giuliano Palma & The Bluebeaters

Za sebe kažu da su  “najbolji plesni orkestar u Italiji”.

Njihova strast za ska, rocksteady, rani reggae i uticaj soula na ritmove koji potiču sa Jamajke zaista nagoni hiljade ljudi na ples. U zlatna vremena rearanžiranje i objavljivanje pesama najrazličitijeg porekla kako bi zvučali jamajkanski bilo je uobičajeno na ostrvu. Uspeh ovih verzija je pomogao Bluebeaters-ima da krenu napred u svojoj karijeri, nakon što su uvežbali do savršenstva desetine klasika Skatalitesa, Ken Boothe-a, John Holta i još mnogo toga. Ono što je na početku bio samo projekat članova italijanskih reggae bendova kao što su Africa Unite, Fratelli di Soledad i Casino Royale uz pratnju melodičnog glasa Giuliana Palme, doživelo je veliki uspeh tokom godina zahvaljujući ovoj veličanstvenoj italijanskoj italijanskoj grupi.

Tanya Stephens

Uprkos manjoj vidljivosti od svojih muških kolega, žene jamajkanskog reggaea su  dovoljno talentovane, kreativne i hrabre da se suoče sa kontroverznim temama s potrebnom osetljivošću. U tom smislu, Tanjina karijera je nesumnjivi primer. Počela je kao dancehall izvođač sredinom devedesetih s “modernim” hitovima poput “Yu nu ready fi this yet” ili “Handle the ride”. Kasnije je nastavila s moćnim reggae pesmama kao što je ‘It’s a pitty’, koja je već klasik. Nakon što je osvojila međunarodnu reggae publiku, postala je sofisticiranija, ali i strastveni tekstopisac. Na dva briljantna albuma “Gangsta blues” I “Rebelution” ona razotkriva važne teme poput diskriminacije klase, rase i pola, osporavani položaj žena na Jamajci i svetu koje su podrvgnute nasilju i nepravdi. Njen posljednji CD “Infalliable” je objavljen u 2010.

Max Romeo

Max Romeo je jedan od junaka iz vremena rodjenja i razvoja reggaea. Njegov prvi uspeh “Wet dreams” iz 1969, koji je producirao Bunny Lee, popeo ga je na pop top liste u Engleskoj a to je dovelo do objavljivanja prvog albuma nazvanog “A dream”. Zahvaljujući saradnji s velikim producentima kao što su Niney The Observer i Lee Perry, ubrzo se našao u sred vrtloga kreativnosti: u tom razdoblju je osvojio publiku rastafarijanizmom nadahnutim stihovima i muzičkom podrškom svom obožavaocu u predizbornoj kampanji – lideru PNP Michael Manley-ju. Njegovi najdragocjeniji radovi potiču iz saradnje s Lee Perry-jem: “One step forward”, “Chase The Devil” i “Rat inna Babilon”. Zbog svoje duge karijere sa brojnim pesmama u sopstvenoj produkciji, zahvaljujući bliskom prijateljstvu s Keith Richardsom iz Rolling Stonesa i drugima, Max je još uvijek u vrlo dobroj formi. Max Romeo će doći u Benicassim po drugi put nakon njegove premijere na Sunsplashu 2010.

Sly & Robbie, Ernest Ranglin & Monty Alexander ft. Bitty McLean

Vraćamo reggae svojim jazz korenima i najavljujemo Monty Alexandera. Jazz pijanista, rođen i odrastao na Jamajci, osim važnih solističkih iskustava a uz slavne muzičare kao što su Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie i Oscar Peterson, on nikada nije zaboravio svoju ljubav prema karipskom ostrvu i njegovu muzičku kulturu. Uz njega nastupiće gitarista Ernest Ranglin koji je dobro poznat na kingstonskoj klupskoj sceni po tome što je spojio jazz sa jamajkanskim ritmom i bluzom i ranim ska zvukom. Način na koji on svira polu-akustičnu gitaru je doslovno čaroban: njegove pesme snimljene u Studio One su fantastične i vrlo dobro poznate među kolekcionarima. Ujedinjenju ova dva velikana pridružiće se “blizanci ritma” Sly & Robbie, najpoznatija ritam sekcija u istoriji reggaea. Oni su oduvek bili otvoreni ka eksperimentima crne muzike i upravo iz toga je formiran izvanredan show, baziran na temelju osetljivosti jazza i velikim saradnjama, a prezentovan kroz najznačajnije reggae pesame koje čine koren jamajkanske muzike. Ovaj kvartet pozvao je Bitty Mc Leana, pevača iz Birminghama, koji je postao poznat po svom predivnom glasu i stavu koji podseća na velike pevače jamajkanske tradicije.

Alpha Blondy

With his exceptional band, this artist has always had memorable performances at our festival in which the essential sound of roots reggae joins African sounds in a magnificent way. The Ivorian Alpha Blondy is in deed the artist who has most contributed to bring the Jamaican music to its African roots.

After a childhood marked by the love for rock and jazz, he discovered the reggae through Bob Marley and Burning Spear in the seventies when he was in New York for a while.

When he came back to Ivory Coast, he started an exceptional artistic adventure which led to brilliant works like ‘Cocody rock’, ‘Apartheid is nazism’, ‘Jerusalem’ and ‘Yitzak Rabin’. The latter one was recorded in Jamaica in collaboration with the Wailers.

After a four-year discography pause, he released his latest album ‘Vision’ in 2011.

Calle 13

They became famous in 2005 with ‘Se Vale To-To’ and ‘Querido FBI’, two songs that succeeded in all undergorund broadcasting stations of their origin Puerto Rico. In a short time, they recorded four albums and became popular all over Latin America. Nowadays they are expanding their fame on a worldly level.

The performance at the Sunsplash will be the last of their European Tour, thus, there will be a crazy party at the Main Stage.

They have won 19 Latin Grammys and two Grammys, being the biggest winners of this award in international urban music. They have collaborated with artists like Rubén Blades, Dante Spinetta, Café Tacuba, Orishas, Nelly Furtado, Outernational, Shakira…

With their special heterogeneous style, their music mixes rhythms which cover all from hiphop to reggae over jazz, bossa nova, cumbia, tango, electronic music and salsa. Their lyric addresses a wide and eclectic variety of subjects. And their lyrics, besides treating controversial and critical topics, contain a lot of irony, satire, sarcasm and parody.

Beenie Man

Thanks to his incredible mix of technical and inventive capacity, Beenie Man is one of the biggest dancehall artists of the entire reggae history. He has always created brilliant tracks with all kinds of rhythms.

He was born in 1973 and he already started to frequent the dancehalls and recording studios in the late seventies when he was very young: He was so small that he needed a beer crate to stand on in order to reach the microphone.

When he became an adult, having already gained a lot of experience, he had a real explosion of creativity after 1995: His series of number one hits which whole Jamaica sings and dances to is impressive; he was nominated ‘the DJ of the year’ four years in a row; in 1997 he participated in the movie ‘Dancehall Queen’ and helped to set up the soundtrack; and he was rewarded with the Grammy in 2001 for his album ‘Art & Life’.

His historic rivlary with Bounty Killer has nourished the experience of a creative atmosphere for years in a competitive way, like it is common in the Jamaican dancehalls. He did also several collaborations with great artists of the black music like Janet Jackson and Wyclef Jean.

Tarrus Riley

Born in 1979, Tarrus Riley has established himself in the last five years as the best among the new singers who address the sorrowful everyday life of the Jamaican people. For them, music is an important source of support and cultural pride.

As son of the singer Jimmy Riley, Tarrus joins the saxophonist, producer and talent finder Dean Fraser when he is young. In 2004, he publishes his first album ‘Challenges’. But he doesn’t succeed internationally until 2006 with his album ‘Parables’ which contains great songs like the number one hits in Jamaica ‘She’s royal’, ‘Micro chip’ and ‘One two order’.

With the next album ‘Contagious’ he holds the quality level up, also due to his dancehall single ‘Good girl gone bad’ in collaboration with Konshens.

Recently, he has been singing about the magnificence of the African kings in ‘Shaka zulu pickney’ and he is about to publish his new album ‘Mecoustic’ which will also contain versions of his best songs.

Michael Rose

Here comes another big artist, who has crossed various periods of the reggae music with his powerful voice and his huge expressive power. After his first singles for producers like Niney The Observer and Lee Perry, he joined the Black Uhuru in 1977. With this band he realised sensational albums such as “Black sounds of freedom”, “Sensimilla” and “Anthem”. For the latter he won a Grammy in 1986.

After leaving the Black Uhuru, Michael Rose took a break for a couple of years before he started a succesful solo career. His vocal style matched perfectly with the new digital sounds, resulting in a large number of albums and singles.

After his short cooperation with the Black Uhuru the fabulous vocalist also succeeded in the dancehall with his single “Shoot out” from 2008 in which collaborated Damian Marley.

Steel Pulse

The English band Steel Pulse is still one of the most prestigious roots reggae bands with perfomances throughout the whole world. They started in the sixties witnessing the frustration and hopes of the population of Handsworth, the densely populated Carribean neighbourhood of Birmingham.

In their beginnings in the first years of the sixties, their sound was blunt and characterized by Rasta and anti-racism in albums like ‘Handsworth revolution’ and ‘Tribute to the martyrs’. In the eighties, step-by-step Steel Pulse was becoming an internationally successful band with a sound approaching that of pop music, but maintaining a certain quality and militance in their appearance.

Albums like ‘True democracy’ and ‘Earth crisis’ are classical examples of their sound and they surely belong to the most important roots works of that time.

Spike Lee wanted them for the soundtrack of ‘Do the right thing’ in 1898. They attracted attention in 2008 by supporting Barack Obama with the homonymous song which was embedded in a special compilation of support for the first African American president in the history of the United States.

Morgan Heritage

Lately, they have released less and dedicated themselves more to solo projects. That means, this concert is a must if you like particularly Morgan Heritage, the royal family of reggae.

We are talking about a band of five brothers of Jamaican origin who grew up in New York before they returned to the island of reggae and became one of the best roots reggae bands of the planet. The mix of reggae with a refined dose of soul and with the pure roots of their origin makes their sound unique and inimitable.

Conerning their albums, they have created classics like ‘Protect us Jah’, ‘Don’t haffi dread’, ‘More teachings’ and ‘Full circle’. The songs on these albums have nourished their magnificent concerts over the years.

Peter, Mojo, Gramps, Una and Luke will join once again for another great show at the Sunsplash 2012.

Etana

With her two first albums ‘The strong one’ and ‘Free expressions’, Etana became one of the biggest hopes of the Jamaican music. Her strong points are her wonderful voice full of gospel passion, her talent as composer with lyrics that confront the contradictory Jamaican reality and her ability to link reggae with other genres like soul or pop.

She made us dream in her combination with Alborosie, ‘Blessings’, the sweet love song which reached number 1 in Jamaica in 2009. However, in ‘August Town’ she sings about the crude reality of the ghetto.

Her first works were marked by eclecticism, whereas she concentrates on her love for reggae in ‘Free Expressions’ and her latest concerts are revealing a recent passion for original ska sounds. They should be clarified in her new work that she is finishing by now.

Beres Hammond

His unique voice, his extraordinary style and his intensive way of singing universal songs which are fascinating people with entirely different experiences make Beres Hammond one of the most popular singers of Jamaica. And the reggae fans all over the world acclaim him.

He started singing soul at a very early age before, in 1975, he became the vocalist of the band Zap Pow. Passing through hard times and a stay in New York, Beres perservered until he had a series of magnificent hits in the nineties and the first decade of this century: ‘Putting up resistance’, ‘Tempted to touch’, ‘Fire’, ‘Rock away’ and ‘They gonna talk, just to mention a few.

Under the label Penthouse, his duets with artists like Marcia Griffiths or Tony Rebel have been going down in history. But also as producer he has released great songs with his Harmony House, helping an artist like Jah Cure to become successful.

You should definitely not miss his concert at the Sunsplash!

Jah Shaka

We have the first name for the Dub Station of the Sunslash 2012. With this, we can confirm once again the presence of this space, dedicated to dub and heavy roots. We have the honor to announce the attendance of Jah Shaka, the ‘senior’ of the dub selectors, who is coming to Benicàssim for the second time, after his memorable performance in 2010.

Jah Shaka’s contribution to the preservation of the spirit of roots & culture is incalculable. The sound of the Dub Station is expecting the best basses, potent in music, recreating perfectly the magic of his sessions from London.

On this occasion, we will be able to follow the journey proposed by Jah Shaka because he will play solo during a whole night, from the beginning until the Dub Station closes.

Jah Mason

A modern roots legend will return: Jah Mason. Formerly a deejay in the 1990s known as Perry Mason, he added Jah to his name, embraced righteous lyrics and created his characteristic sing-jay style. A member of the Bobo Ashanti order of Rastafari, his style has been compared with stars such as Sizzla, Capleton and Anthony B.

His ‘conscious’ rebirth was linked to Tony Rebel’s Flames camp, who he then left to record a steady stream of hits for various producers including Europeans Hi Score, One Love and Pow Pow.

After his performance with the French band Dub Akom in 2010, the roar of Jah Mason will again resound from our Main Stage.

Alborosie 

is an artist who does not need to be introduced. Albums like ‘Soul Pirate’ and ‘Escape from Babylon’ are among the absolutely best works recently published in the reggae scene. After the release of his last LP ‘2 times revolution ‘ he won the Mobo Award for ‘Best Reggae Artist’ in October in Glasgow.

Albo is strongly connected to the Rototom Sunsplash and has performed several times in the festival. But this year we are organising something special with him: a live-event solely planned for the Sunsplash, called ‘Alborosie & Friends’. The Italian artist who now lives in Jamaica will share the stage with several guests: great artists not only from Jamaica who Albo has worked with or who he shares a special stylistic affinity with.

We do not anticipate any names for now. But if you know his discography well you may be able to find a hint before we will announce the participants of this magnificent night!

Derrick Morgan

Another living legend is added to the list of main artists in the history of the Jamaican music who have performed in our festival. Derrick Morgan was already a star by the time the first movements of the Jamaican music industry started to imitate the US-American rythm and blues which would give birth to ska music. By then he was already being successful in the dancehalls with songs like ‘Fat man’ and ‘Leave earth’.

After the union with Leslie Kong, a producer of Chinese origin, the verbal battles between Derrick and Prince Buster in tracks like ‘Blackhead Chiney man’ and ‘Blazing fire’ were fascinating the whole island. With them the large tradition of verbal battles in dancehall started.

Derrick continued his glorious career in the era of rocksteady and reggae with his music for producers like Duke Reid and Bunny Lee. Nowadays he is the only artist with authentical roots of the Jamaican sound who does regular live performances. He will be accompanied by the English band Ruff Cutt.