Dubwise: Reasoning from the reggae underground

Reggae's influence can be heard in the popular music of nations in a variety of continents. In Dubwise, Klive Walker takes a fresh look at Bob Marley's global impact, specifically his legacy in the Caribbean diaspora. While considering Marley's status as an international reggae icon, Walker also discusses the vital contributions to reggae culture authored by other important Jamaican innovators such as poet Louise Bennett, hand drummer Oswald "Count Ossie" Williams, jazz saxophonist Joe Harriott, ska trombonist Don Drummond and singer Dennis Brown. The history of women in reggae, ignored for far too long, is addressed in a groundbreaking essay. Walker describes how the work of artists such as producer Sonia Pottinger and singer-songwriters Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt is crucial to reggae culture. Walker treats the reggae crafted by American, British and Canadian artists of Caribbean heritage with the importance it deserves. One Dubwise essay considers the innovative reggae of U.K. roots bands such as Aswad and Steel Pulse and Jamaican-American deejay / rappers Shinehead and Sister Carol. Another discusses, for the first time, the history of reggae in Canada, featuring the work of dub poet Lillian Allen and the band Truths and Rights. An essay addressing reggae's relationship to hip-hop weaves together histories of dancehall deejays and hip-hop MCs as it features the rise of raggamuffin rap, a Caribbean diasporic phenomenon.