Bye Bye Beat

Roger Steffens' World of Reggae exhibit at the Queen Mary, Long Beach CA 2001

2011-12-20T15:01:00.000-08:00

I just came across these photos from Roger's triumphant exhibition of his Reggae Archives. He may still have the gorgeous catalog available: it was selling for $25 a few years ago, but may be a collectors' item by now. Contact Ras Rojah at rasrojah@aol.com.

This display shows many of The Beat's Marley issue covers along with other magazines featuring Bob collected by Roger over the years.

28 years of music

2011-10-17T16:32:00.000-07:00

It's been over a year now, but I just saw this report on the donation of my music collection to UCLA's Ethnomusicology Archives:

http://www.ethnomusic.ucla.edu/archive/ear/20110201-cc-smith/#comments

NEW ACQUISITION:Collection from Former Radio Host and Publisher of ‘The Beat’Magazine

The Ethnomusicology Archive has recently acquired a collection of nearly 10,000 commercial recordings featuring music from Africa and the worldwide African diaspora. The collection comes from CC Smith,a well-known radio host of world music shows on local stations KCRW,KPFK,KCSN and KXLU since the early 1980s. She was also publisher of “The Beat,”a world music magazine that grew out of the early radio shows to become a major international publication. After “The Beat”ceased publication in 2009,Smith contact prof. Jackie DjeDje and arranged the donation of her collection of CDs,LPs,cassettes,artist promotional materials,and other materials relating to her long-running radio shows. The collection includes nearly 5,000 recordings of reggae,ska,dub,and related Jamaican and Caribbean musics.

Peace. Love. Music. Tacos: Review of 2011 Sierra Nevada World Music Festival

2011-06-28T14:19:00.000-07:00

Beat contributor and columnist Steve Heilig covered Boonville, CA's SNWMF for many, many years, always infusing his account with his own unique backstage perspective as a volunteer at the annual festival. This year his report was published by the Anderson Valley Advertiser, the local newspaper, which hopefully paid him more for this article than The Beat ever did (i.e., zilch!). Thank you Steve, keep those tacos flying!

Sierra Nevada World Music Festival 2011

Late on Friday afternoon, winding carefully towards Boonville through the lovely hills on Highway 128 near metropolitan Yorkville, we saw a car upside down next to the road. There were plenty of people standing around and they looked strangely calm, so we did not stop, figuring nobody was hurt too bad — unlikely though that seemed. But before we pulled into town, multiple ambulances and police had sped by in that direction, lights flashing. We hoped for the best.

Good thing I don’t believe in omens, as this one would have been wrong — the rest of the weekend, at the Sierra Nevada World Music Festival, went off without a single negative deed nor word witnessed by anybody I talked with. Even the climate was ideal — just beating this week’s heat wave.

The music is the main draw, of course, and one can’t catch it all between the two stages and dance hall barn and lawn, so herewith are a few highlights seen and heard.

South African singer Vusi Mahlasela, aka “the voice,” spellbinding a too-small crowd on the smaller stage Saturday evening with just his singing and guitar — so beautiful that a rough and tough Texan I was listening with was moved to tears. Zimbabwean Thomas Mapfumo, exiled former ally of the despotic Mugabe, looking rather frail but chanting hypnotically over a spellbinding band.

Toots Hibbert channeling Otis Redding, 45 years after he coined a term with a song titled “Do the Reggay.” But The Cables, four singers reunited onstage here for the first time ever, predated even Toots and sang sweet ‘rock-steady’ — a brief but sweet form of 1960s Jamaican song that bridged the 1950s jazz-based ska and reggae itself — backed by the very fine Expanders, a Los-Angeles-based retro band of reggae faithful. But a yet even older group, The Jolly Boys, played mento, a musical form that predated even ska and features a banjo, likely a first at SNWMF. “These guys have been together since 1956 and they are not tired yet!” said the MC, but they updated their signature sound with cover versions of Steely Dan, Sade, even the talented train wreck that is Amy Winehouse (“Rehab”!). Even the guys from The Cables were dancing and singing along out front.

There was more fine roots reggae from 1970s stars Horace Andy, Brigadier Jerry, and Pablo Moses, a hypnotic set from relative newcomer Taj Weekes, a tough roots offering from and a superb show by pioneering chanting star Dennis Alcapone, accompanied by the sweet singing of British star Winston Reedy and a very fine band. As festival founder and honcho Warren Smith noted in these pages a couple weeks back, it gets tougher to find and bring the old guys back, and beyond that worthy effort he strove to bring in some acts that appeal to a younger demographic, which seemed to work. They did sell more tickets than ever, and the crowd seemed even more youthful overall — although it certainly is an all-ages event, and the perspective could just be through my aging eyes.

There was stirring African drumming and dancing, and the annual parade of Brazilian percussionists and dancers on stilts. And much more, including lots of Latin-flavored music on Sunday afternoon but by then I was toast and had to go back to the swimming holes at Hendy Woods, even though the river and banks were overcrowded with families and noisy partiers — the water still felt very fine and even the non-swimming dog dipped.

If there is any fault to find with the people who come to SNWMF, it might be that some of them still leave litter. But early Sunday morning, there was Gretchen Smith again, be-gloved and picking up trash along 128 in town. This seems akin to a CEO doing the company composting. I heard of only a few altercations and arrests — in fact, maybe fewer than on a usual non-festival summer weekend — it would be ironic if bringing a few thousand music lovers into town cut the crime rate? In any event, a couple of uniformed law enforcement authorities sat sipping coffee outside the Mosswood where we started each day, drinking fine coffee, reading the news of the melting-down world that seemed so far away, and watching the groggy human parade. And it can be a fetching one — one attendee was heard to remark that somebody could make money selling a “Girls of SNWMF” calendar. We searched out the fine food at Mis Potrancos for a third time, eating in the next-door saloon with the local brew on tap — a sweet arrangement that even the dog appreciated on a hot early evening. And late one night, even though not really hungry, we had to seek out the fresh and tasty tacos outside the Redwood Drive-In — at $2/per, a superbly sabroso deal.

A more smiling and polite gathering you will not find, anywhere. A posting on the SNWMF.com open ‘phorum,’ commenting on my AVA interview with Warren Smith re-posted there, said the festival “brings out the best in humanity.” Another, a first-timer, said, “It really goes a long way towards restoring my faith in humanity.” Is this asking a lot from a music festival? Maybe. Anyway, the wristband they gave me to allow access to the show read simply “Peace. Love. Music.”

Can’t argue with that.

Word from an old friend & Beat columnist

2011-05-01T07:07:00.000-07:00

I was delighted to discover our former African Beat columnist Robert Ambrose has begun a music blog to share his magnificent collection of African albums with us:
Rhythm Connection

Thank you Robert!

The First Rasta: French documentary about Leonard Howell

2011-04-26T08:44:00.000-07:00

See trailer for the film here

This documentary was produced by Helen Lee, a well-respected long-time French music journalist who published an excellent book, The First Rasta: Leonard Howell and the Rise of Rastafarianism (Lawrence Hill Books), in 1999, English edition 2003.
If you don't speak French, don't worry. It looks on the trailer like most of it is in English or Jamaican patois, with French subtitles.
More info (French website) here

Bye Bye Buju | Los Angeles Times

2011-02-23T06:08:00.000-08:00

Buju Banton convicted on cocaine charges, faces at least 15 years | Ministry of Gossip | Los Angeles Times

Buju Banton, the Grammy-winning Jamaican reggae singer, was convicted Tuesday in a Florida court on three of four federal drug charges. He faces at least 15 years in prison.
"Obviously, we are all upset and disappointed and emotional," said Banton's attorney, David Markus. "The only person who seems to be OK is Buju. He told us he was happy that he fought, knowing he was innocent."
Banton, whose real name is Mark Myrie, was arrested in a Drug Enforcement Agency sting operation in Miami in December 2009. He attempted to buy cocaine from an undercover officer, police said at the time. A mistrial was declared when the case first went to trial in September.
"Our life and our destiny are sometimes pre-destined and no matter where this journey takes me, remember I fought the good fight," Banton said Tuesday in a statement read by his lawyer, the Jamaica Observer reports. "It was a great man that said my head is bloody but still unbowed I love you all thank you for your support."
In Banton's native Jamaica, radio stations played his songs nonstop Tuesday, especially "Untold Stories" and "Not an Easy Road." Markus, who said Banton will appeal, will try to get his client out on bail in the meantime.
The jury deliberated for 11 hours on the cocaine-related charges, acquitting Banton of attempted possession with the intent to distribute, but finding him guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense and using a telephone to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.

In one videotape made by an informant who was party of the sting, Banton could be seen tasting cocaine in a Sarasota warehouse on Dec. 8, 2009 -- but he was not present during the actual drug deal on Dec. 10 that led two others to be arrested. Those two men later pleaded guilty. Banton testified that the informant badgered him after they met on a trans-Atlantic flight in July 2009 and insisted that they meet to set up a cocaine purchase. He said he was so uninterested in the informant's proposals that after they met twice, Banton didn't return the man's phone calls for months.
Banton won a Grammy on Feb. 13 for "Before the Dawn."

A sentencing date has not been set.

Archeological artifacts

2010-12-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

Here's a bit of Beat history that was unearthed while I was moving. Somewhere around 1984 or 85, the nascent Reggae Beat newsletter decided to hold a benefit concert for itself to raise funds needed to help it grow and expand. I don't remember if we actually made any profit, and it was such a difficult undertaking that we never attempted it again, but I recall we had a good turnout, and nice performances by some of our local reggae outfits and of course the indispensable Ron Miller Hi Fi. This was at the good old Kingston 12 at its original location on Crenshaw Blvd. I wonder what happened to Barry, the club owner? The clubs, the bands, the sound systems and the Reggae Beat radio show all made the synergy and the energy that created the vibrant reggae scene in Los Angeles in the '80s. Ah yes.....
Here is the flyer, handmade like the Reggae Beat was at that time, and the Minister of Information MCing at the microphone stand. Ras Rojah Steffens is just visible behind her on stage, just as he has always been behind her since! (and I do believe that's Jill Taylor in the corner on the left-- another one of the crucial cornerstones of the newsletter at that time.)

Remmy Ongala passes away in Tanzania

2010-12-13T14:38:00.000-08:00

One of my favorites from East Africa. Gary Stewart and I drove all the way to Toronto to interview him and see him perform at WOMAD Harbourfront. He was a real original character, and gave us so much wonderful music. Great songwriter with a voice that came straight from his heart, and played guitar just like Franco. He had been in poor health for some time. Such a pity to lose another cornerstone. Pole sana!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-11984676

Tributes pour in for Gregory Isaacs - JamaicaObserver.com

2010-10-25T16:18:00.000-07:00

Tributes pour in for Gregory Isaacs - Breaking & Current Jamaica News - JamaicaObserver.com

Gregory Isaacs dies

Jamaica Observer

Monday, October 25, 2010

REGGAE singer Gregory Isaacs has died.

The singer, 59, passed this morning after a long illness.

He died in London.

Earlier this year, Gregory Isaacs' road manager Copeland Forbes stated that his charge was, "in the UK doing some medical tests. As you all know, he had some problems with his legs from last year which resulted in cancellation of tours, and in the last 12 months he had a very hectic year travelling all over the globe doing performances".

Isaacs has been a constant presence on the reggae music scene for some time. The singer has released a number of hits including Night Nurse, Tune In, My Number One, Love Overdue, Rumours and The Border.

Soca singer Alphonsus 'Arrow' Cassell dies at 60

2010-09-16T06:31:00.000-07:00

Soca singer Alphonsus 'Arrow' Cassell dies at 60

Alphonsus "Arrow" Cassell, a soca musician who won global fame with his 1982 hit "Hot Hot Hot," died Wednesday. He was 60.
He died of complications from brain cancer at his home on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, said his brother, Justin Cassell, a singer-songwriter who often collaborated with him.
The highlight of his career was "Hot Hot Hot," Justin Cassell said, adding that his brother also gained fame because "he took soca to all corners of the world."
"Arrow" Cassell was among the best-known artists of Caribbean-born soca, a music derived from soul and calypso that emphasizes music over lyrics.
"Calypso is political, tropical, slower," the musician said in a 1996 interview. "Soca is dance. ‘Feeling Hot Hot Hot' ... makes you forget that there's a volcano and (remember) there's fun to be had."
At the time of the interview, Cassell was producing music that aimed to reassure Montserrat residents who had been forced to leave their homes when the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted in 1995.
"Arrow" Cassell was born Nov. 16, 1949, into a family that produced two Calypso Kings at Montserrat's annual Christmas carnival. In the 1970s, he was influenced by the Trinidadian musician the Mighty Sparrow, considered by many the international king of calypso. Cassell was crowned Monterrat's calypso king four times before focusing on his international career.
In the 1980s, he performed on tours throughout Africa, Europe, Japan and the United States.
-- Associated Press
via LA Times.com

A Random Act of Courage: Taking A Stand at Ground Zero, by Ken Braun

2010-09-10T17:06:00.001-07:00

I used to manage a record store on New York City’s Warren Street, right around the corner from the Burlington Coat Factory that is now the proposed site of the Cordoba Center, widely (but inaccurately) called “the Ground Zero mosque.” Four short blocks north of the Twin Towers, my colleagues and I used to jokingly call our store the World Music Trade Center.

On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, as I was on my way to work, pieces of airplane fell on the roof of our building and a tsunami of ash and grit got inside and ruined almost everything. Four customers I knew, and possibly others I had seen in the store or talked to, were killed that day; at least two of them were Muslim.

My staff comprised three Christians, two Jews, one Muslim, one atheist and my agnostic self. When we were able to reopen our store just before Christmas, we set up a display near the entrance, with a sign reading "Islamic Music from Around the World," which was exactly what we offered on that center rack. We also gave a prominent place in the Asian section, along one wall, to secular Afghan music that had been banned by the Taliban, especially a CD by a singer whose death in a car crash his fans believed to have been engineered by Al Qaeda.

Like many of the small businesses in the neighborhood, our store got a lot of people coming in after their pilgrimage to Ground Zero, wanting to spend some money to help repair a small part of what had been wrecked. We were glad to see them, but many of them turned around and walked out as soon as they saw the first word on our sign: Islamic. "O my God, can you believe this?" was the most moderate exclamation we heard. Other visitors looked through the CDs on display and perhaps picked up a few, some headed for more familiar sections, and some approached my colleagues or me to say "I don't know anything about Islamic music. Can you recommend something?" We were glad to; Islam has inspired a lot of fascinating and beautiful music. One gentleman, a delegate to the United Nations, having heard about our display, came to our store just to thank us for it. And then there was the guy who strode in and tried to overturn the center rack. When he couldn't (it was too big and heavy), he scattered some CDs on the floor, stomped on them, and walked out shouting "Burn in hell!"

We had actually been planning to move the Islamic music back to one side next to the Judaica section, but after losing some CDs to a jackboot, we decided that we had to hold our stand against fundamentalism and Islamophobia. We kept the display front and center. In the end, neither terrorists nor reactionaries but music pirates and internet freeloaders closed our store.

It was much smaller and far less significant than the Cordoba Center, but I think of that record store when I hear the calumnies hurled against "the Ground Zero mosque." Like its visionaries and supporters, my colleagues and I were trying to counteract ignorance and bigotry and hatred in whatever way we could. Because it was ignorance and bigotry and hatred that had fallen on us – all of us, everywhere – on 9-11. Remembering the days and weeks that followed, I admit to feelings of pride at having done a little something to defend our American freedoms of religion and expression. But sadness overwhelms the pride. After nine years and hundreds of thousands of violent deaths since 9-11, we still haven’t learned that day’s lessons.

- Ken Braun

Jamaica music lyrics — trigger of violence? - latimes.com

2010-06-14T17:53:00.000-07:00

Jamaica music lyrics — trigger of violence? - latimes.com

The debate has intensified since lethal police raids in a slum that is the home turf of an alleged drugs and arms trafficker whose violent lifestyle is glorified in lyrics of a music called dancehall.

By Chris Kraul, Los Angeles Times

The Beat souvenir T-shirt: Sorry, too late!

2010-06-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

In 1996 The Beat celebrated its 15th anniversary, producing a CD compilation The Sound of The Beat, a special 15th anniversary issue of The Beat, and a spiffy black T-shirt.
These items are no longer available, sorry to say.

Italy kicks out Reggae Festival, Cites Ganja Use : Kilimanjaro Entertainment

2010-05-29T15:57:00.000-07:00

Italy kicks out Reggae Festival, Cites Ganja Use : Kilimanjaro Entertainment

Drug War in Kingston -- JamaicaObserver.com

2010-05-27T08:06:00.000-07:00

A drug kingpin named Coke? is that his real name?

Kingston breathes again - Breaking & Current Jamaica News - JamaicaObserver.com

From Robert Ambrose: Endangered Music | Rhythm Connection

2010-05-26T12:48:00.000-07:00

"African Beat" columnist Robert Ambrose discusses the present digital dilemma facing music lovers.

Endangered Music | Rhythm Connection

Not so long ago I was a columnist for a great magazine devoted to “world music,” called The Beat. I put world music in quotes because it was a marketing phrase coined in the early 1980s to cope with the explosion of music being published from Africa to the Caribbean to Bulgaria. It’s a nearly useless label because it includes such diversity, but it is also a tad xenophobic because it lumps all music not from “America.” Absurd, when you think about it; but I digress.

My Beat column covered music from Africa, an immense source of diverse culture and, for me, the foundation for almost all of the world’s music. I usually wrote about the latest developments in African pop music, often highlighting important innovators who captured global interest and fame. Frequently, though, I would receive traditional or historic field recordings to review, and I would write about how important they were because they preserved music that was extinct or barely surviving the onslaught of globalized commercial culture.

Today I am writing about endangered music at a different scale. I believe ALL MUSIC IS ENDANGERED, at least music as most of us have enjoyed it since before iPods were invented. How can I say that, when today it is easier to acquire music than ever before, with a few clicks on the computer, and when any music talent can create complex recordings at home?

The emerging problem with commercial music is the way it is distributed. Technological change continually revamps how musicians (and their marketers) deliver their music. A century ago strictly live performances were recorded onto records, and music distribution was revolutionized. Everyone who could afford it, could listen to their favorite music in their homes. The vinyl LP record evolved to become the dominant distribution medium, withstanding challenges from reel-to-reel, eight-track, cassette and digital tapes, until compact discs became the world’s favorite musical consumable. Compact discs did not eliminate LPs, however, because many audiophiles and others recognized that despite surface noise, something about the analog music on LPs seemed more real than the same music digitized. Often this rather esoteric debate has centered on musical space, something impossible to describe beyond saying that with headphones on and eyes closed, it is easier to believe you are in the room with the musicians when listening to an LP. Digitizing removes some essence of music.

Yet digitizing of music has improved over time, and the convenience of digital music has outweighed the slight audible compromise for most music enthusiasts. Many have abandoned libraries of LPs, while building collections of CDs. Today many people are ripping their CDs onto their computers to put onto iPods or cellphones, and new music purchases (if there are any) are most likely made through iTunes or Amazon online stores.

The result has been dramatic in two ways. First, as online purchases and especially music piracy have grown ubiquitous, many independent music publishers have closed their doors; huge music corporations are on the ropes. The market for CDs is evaporating, causing profound repercussions for musicians throughout the world.

The second aspect of digital online music is that almost all of it is compressed. You are aware that you are buying an MP3, but did you know you were purchasing only part of the music? This is how compression works. Digitally recorded sound is routinely sampled at around 1400 kilobits/second. CDs conserve all of that data, and when you listen to a CD you hear the complete mixed recording. A full “CD quality” recording uses about 600 megabytes of space on a hard drive, which used to be a considerable percentage of a hard drive’s memory. So when people began ripping CDs onto their computers, their ripping software (iTunes, etc.) would by default compress the music into 128 kbps MP3s (or AAC), in order to fit more music onto the computer (or iPod, or whatever), shrinking an album to 50 megabytes.

Compression of a sound file basically removes part of its data. In the case of 128 kbps MP3s, about 91% of the musical information is discarded. Even those with diminished hearing should be able to hear the difference between a typical MP3 and the CD version of the same song. Listen to cymbals! Lossy MP3s in general sound dead to me, a muted parody of the original music. The slight musical space lost when going from analog to digital recordings becomes a universe of space lost when compressing digital files. Imagine removing 90% of the essence in a glass of wine. How would it taste?

Online music distribution began with rampant piracy enabled through file-sharing software like Napster and LimeWire, and most people who shared their music shared compressed MP3s. When the iTunes store was developed to compete with illegal file sharing of music, it distributed music as compressed MP3s. iPods were marketed by the number of songs that they held. Low quality MP3s became the standard and dominant music product exchanged or sold throughout the world, and it is the only music that most children ever hear.

Unsurprisingly, the marked for CDs has collapsed. As a result, like 8-track and cassette tapes a generation ago, CDs are becoming an endangered species. Now many recordings are available only online. Recently I tried to find the newest release from one of my favorite African musicians, Pierre Akendengue, but I did not find one anywhere in this country. I might have purchased the album through iTunes, but I could not stomach paying for his music, degraded. Eventually I found a CD through Amazon UK, and had the disc shipped from England. That event convinced me to identify holes in my music collection, the handfuls of CDs I’ve lusted for, and collect them before they are gone. The way things are going, they may be the last copies of the rich, full music that musicians create.

From Steve Heilig: MS. BUSHTAFARI

2010-05-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

MS. BUSHTAFARI
(no I did not make this up – Sunday NY Times book section, 5/23/10:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/23/books/review/InsideList-t.html

JAMMIN’: Laura Bush, whose new memoir, “Spoken From the Heart,” enters the hardcover nonfiction list at No. 1, once cited the “Grand Inquisitor” section of “The Brothers Karamazov” as her favorite work of literature. But in a cute mother-daughter moment in an otherwise tightly orchestrated press rollout, Jenna Bush let it slip on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that her mother is also a “secret Rastafarian” who listens to Bob Marley around the house.

Roger Steffens' "Life of Bob Marley" at The GRAMMY Museum in LA, May 11

2010-05-04T16:32:00.000-07:00

Commemorating the 29th anniversary of Bob Marley's passing, The GRAMMY Museum is proud to welcome Roger Steffens' critically acclaimed "Life of Bob Marley" to the GRAMMY Sound Stage. The live multi-media presentation has been hailed as "the definitive history of the reggae king" and "the next best thing to seeing Bob Marley live." Steffens, recently designated by the Jamaica Observer as one of "The Top Ten Most Influential People in Reggae," owns the internationally acclaimed Reggae Archives, containing the world's largest repository of Marley memorabilia. During the evening, Steffens will screen rare and unreleased video footage and photos while recounting Marley's legendary life story.

The GRAMMY Museum :: Programs :: Public Programs

Roger Steffens' "Life of Bob Marley"

Tuesday, May 11, 2010; 7:30pm

Doors open at 7pm. On sale Thursday, April 22, tickets are $10 and can be purchased in-person at the Museum Box Office, online at Ticketmaster.com, or by calling 1.800.745.3000.

Songlines - Music Awards 2010 - recognising outstanding talent in world music

2010-04-29T15:49:00.000-07:00

Songlines - Music Awards - recognising outstanding talent in world music

Songlines Music Awards

Following on from the success of last year's inaugural awards, Songlines magazine is delighted to announce the winners of the Songlines Music Awards 2010. The awards recognise outstanding talent in world music and are voted by Songlines' readers and the general public. There are four categories: Best Artist, Best Group, Cross-Cultural Collaboration and Newcomer - the results from the public vote generate the final nominees, the top four in each category.
After much debate and deliberation, the Songlines editorial team have selected these four winners. They include some of the foremost artists on the world music scene, alongside an up-and-coming name to watch and some invigorating collaborative sounds.
And the winners are…
BEST ARTIST
Goran Bregovic
For the album Alkohol on Wrasse Records
BEST GROUP
Staff Benda Bilili
For the album Très Très Fort on Crammed Discs
CROSS-CULTURAL COLLABORATION
Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara
For the album Tell No Lies on Real World
NEWCOMER
Deolinda
For the album Canção ao Lado on World Connection
A compilation album, featuring all 16 nominated artists, is now on sale as a CD & download.

Shungu - A new documentary film about the struggle for survival in Zimbabwe

2010-04-27T16:28:00.000-07:00

Shungu - The Film

My old friend and comrade Saki gives us a moving--sometimes disturbing, sometimes hopeful--glimpse into recent events and life in his home country. Watch for a screening near you!

Roger Steffens' Reggae Archives on Vimeo, filmed by Babylon Falling

2010-04-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

Roger Steffens' Reggae Archives on Vimeo

This past January Roger Steffens gave us a full guided tour of all six rooms of his Reggae Archives. Comprised of collections within collections the 'Ark-Hives' represents a lifetime dedicated to reggae music. Involved since the earliest days of reggae music's debut on the international scene Roger has not only been a collector but a participant and key player in the development and spread of the music and culture.

Affectionately known as the Reggae Ambassador to some, Steffens has left his mark on the music.....
(photo by Markus Cuff)

From Jah-Pan, Rove Magazine says bye-bye to The Beat

2010-03-28T10:18:00.000-07:00

From the reggae capital of Tokyo, JAHPAN, the ROVE MAGAZINE has contributed an article on the International Reggae News column in Jan-Feb 2010 issue, sending out a great farewell to the BEAT MAGAZINE in the commemoration for its much celebrated twenty-eight years long dedications in the music publication arena, which has been the true enlightenment to many of us.

As for myself, I had been encouraged by the BEAT to follow in a walk of path of music journalism. And therefore, I would like to leave this little note for Ms. CC Smith and Mr. Roger Steffens... Give much thanks for opening the gateways to the heart beat world of Reggae, Afrikan, Caribbean and World Music... Wi cyaan miss yuh nuff', BEAT!

JAH BLESS to all.

Emiko 'JAH Dawta' Noda
ROVE columnist, Tokyo
EMPRESS VOICE contributor, Hiroshima
CARIBPRESS staff photo-journalist, Los Angeles

レゲエ情報 Rove[ラブ] - マガジン | 雑誌最新号のご案内

The Beat Honor Roll 1986

2010-03-22T13:38:00.000-07:00

The following good souls volunteered to join The Beat effort in 1986:

BEAT HONOR ROLL 1986

Barbara Barabino
Bruce Bebb
Bob Berger
Eric Bickford
Adrian Boot
Chris Boyle
Marion Brooks
Patrick Cameron
Jane Christy
John Collins
Cassandra Davis-Cheyney
Larry Dawson
Darcy Diamond
Henry DiRocco
Phil Drange
Sam Epstein
Enid Farber
Al Franklin
Brigitte Gomane
Angela Hajanis
Kevin Henry
Scott Hinkley
Eric Hiss

Hyikhyon Hyawhycuss
Tia Johnson
Emmet Jordan
Miriam King
R. Errol Lam
Conley Major
Anne Mavor
Ron Miller
Michael Milton
Tommy Noonan
A.A. Lumumba Omowale
Steve Radzi
Victor Reid
Gene Scaramuzzo
Ralph Schlesinger
Sikhulu Shange
Ross Smith
Gary Stewart
Ann Summa
Ras Tesfa
Mandy Tomson
Mohammed Waheed
Mike Wells

Adieu to the BBC's Charlie Gillett, one of the original world music DJs, with deep appreciation for all he did for those of us who followed in his tracks

2010-03-17T15:14:00.000-07:00

Charlie Gillett obituary | Television & radio | The Guardian

New York Times obit

Dave Hucker, "Hey Mr. Music" from The Beat vol. 25 #1, 2006, had this to say in praise of Charlie:

Back in 1970 when I was an innocent 18-year-old, Charlie Gillett had published his definitive work on the history of American r&b and soul, The Sound of the City (Sphere). He had starting writing it in 1966 as the subject of a master's degree at Columbia University and he certainly produced a bonafide masterpiece. Sound of the City was the bible, helping us to understand how the history of post-World War II American black music and its industry fitted together. This book laid out the roots and routes like never before.

Back in London, with his enthusiasm, encyclopedic knowledge and record collection, Charlie became a radio dj playing soul, r&b and blues. His shows drew many new listeners and over the years he moved from niche programming to wider popularity, but never enough for a prime-time show! Like many of us during the '70s and '80s Charlie began taking an interest in a wider range of music from all over the globe.

However, Charlie went further than most people. Some of us just took from the parts of the world that interested us but Charlie, the consummate polymath, absorbed and was interested in everything. And through his weekly shows for the BBC World Service he opened things up to a lot of people who might not normally have had access to this variety of music. A listener in Kinshasa, for example, might discover the existence of Argentine star Chango Spasiuk or hear Russian bands. He currently operates from London BBC local radio station GLR-the shows are archived at www.bbc.co.uk/radio .

Six years ago he started doing compilations of the best of the year's music that had come his way. His latest offering, Sound of the World (Wrasse), covers in its two cds the high points of 2005 with 33 artists from 28 countries. It is a well-informed selection of the outstanding music from all around the world that has floated to the top. Represented here are Charlie's eclectic choices--Volga from Russia, a dip into Kenyan rap, a pick from New Zealand. Popular favorites such as Mali's Amadou and Miriam rub shoulders with Croatians Darko Rundek and Brazilian Seu Jorge as Charlie intelligently passes through many countries of the various continents. Sound of the World is an object lesson in exactly how to do a compilation.

From Steve Heilig: Lee "Scratch" Perry, Style an' Fashion

2010-03-14T15:32:00.000-07:00

This Sunday morning, leafing thru the NYTimes, consulting the glossy 'men's fashion' mag for all my sartorial tips, there was none other than Lee Perry inna full page color ad - for what I could not tell, as no ID, nothing but a website for "Supreme New York". Of course I had to check that, and of course it is a clothing company, and of course, there is an essay by Dave Katz. to accompany some new LSP-designed T-shirts: http://www.supremenewyork.com/

style and fashion!
--Steve Heilig (columnist, All Over the Map)

On the company's site, click on "News." Clicking on Scratch's picture opens an unexpected, incomprehensible video featuring Scratch playing with fire, Bob Marley playing with a soccer ball, the Clash playing "Police & Thieves." Click on "Spring/Summer" and then Scratch's picture in the collage to see his T-shirt design.
--The Dreaditor

From Nelson Meirelles of Digital Dub, Cidado Negro, Brazil

2010-03-10T15:34:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's sad.

The magazine, like Dave wrote in his article, played a central role in my musical education too. For a guy living in Brazil in the '80s (a distant, far away place in terms of reggae culture), to have access to it was something special. In those times we didn't have legal means to send the money to pay for a subscription (!!) so we have to be very creative to get an issue (normally bothering friends or relatives abroad). After a while the magazine started being sold in some special places here, but it didn't last much. Later on I finally became a subscriber and that was enough to make me feel like a reggae expert!! :-)

Well, but like George Harrison once said, all things must pass. I think The Beat had its time but didn't have the same power anymore. The reasons? well, you guys could talk much better about it than me, but the single fact that it remained alive for 28 long years is remarkable in itself. A great contribution from a whole generation of reggae lovers (some of them I have the honor to know personally!!) that must be celebrated for ever and ever.

A toast to the great The Beat magazine!

or, better yet, a big spliff for it!! :-))

Respect Due to The Beat Magazine by David Katz, from Riddim Magazine (Germany)

2010-02-26T13:32:00.000-08:00

Respect Due to The Beat Magazine by David Katz

It was with great sadness that I learned of the demise of the Beat magazine, the USA’s longest running and most consistent reggae publication. Since I spent my formative years in California, where the magazine was based, the Beat formed a great part of my musical education from the early 1980s and it was perhaps inevitable that some of my first published works of reggae journalism would feature in its pages. The Beat was something I, and so many others like me, always read avidly from cover to cover, and although the cessation of its print form is not particularly surprising in these times of economic strife, it does not make the absence of the Beat any easier to bear, as the community spirit and devotion to the music that always drove the zine are unlikely to feature in any other printed entity of the near future.

In case you are not already aware, for the last 28 years, the Beat has provided high quality reggae and ‘world music’ reportage that was often authoritatively informative. In a climate where the global music press is increasingly ruled by homogeneous name-brand product, shaped by multinational corporations driven by greed, the Beat was the refreshing antidote to the mindless consumerism and spineless ineptitude that saw other publications regurgitating major-label hype.

The story begins in the early 1980s, when a few pioneering radio jocks were bringing the intense sounds of Jamaican reggae to a whole new audience. In Los Angeles, the "Reggae Beat" was broadcast on KCRW, presented by a select team that included noted Marley aficionado Roger Steffens, his knowledgeable partner, Hank Holmes, and another learned cohort, Chuck Foster (who would later write the excellent book Roots Rock Reggae). The show was eventually syndicated, making a huge difference in the general exposure of reggae in the USA.

In the show’s early days, the broadcasters had their very own ‘Minister of Information,’ the astute and personable CC Smith, who announced upcoming events and fielded phone calls; by 1983, she was presenting the "African Beat" program, the first radio show of its kind in the region.

Legend has it that the Beat magazine was born as a photocopied free-sheet, featuring the playlists of the radio broadcasts and noting upcoming concerts. By 1982, it had become a fully-fledged 30-page magazine, appearing every other month in black and white newsprint, with CC Smith as editor-in-chief and the radio hosts providing much of the content. It soon became the Reggae and African Beat, the first publication to seriously explore what has become known as ‘world’ music. These early issues had incredible content: for instance, there was Doug Wendt’s 1983 interview-based feature on Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, who made the cover nearly 15 years before the Beastie Boys brought him major US fame. There were also extensive features on Marcus Garvey, while the August 1984 issue was devoted to the Rastafari movement, and October 84 looked at the connection between Jamaican reggae and the Hopi nation in Arizona; that December, the magazine launched a campaign to free Fela, Nigeria’s radical Afrobeat pioneer, while April 85 focused on dub poetry.

As the Beat became a 100+ page glossy mag, the standards remained high: each year produced a tribute issue to Bob Marley, Chuck Foster’s "Reggae Update" column remained the most comprehensive guide to the sea of reggae releases that are regularly unleashed; Michael Turner’s "Reggae Obsession" was always informative, as was Dave Hucker’s "Hey Mr Music," Steve Heilig’s "All Over the Map," and the other columns detailing various African, Latin, and Caribbean sounds, including the regular pages devoted to dancehall.

In the early days, for those of us that had not yet traveled to Jamaica, the Beat was part of the process with which we could better understand the culture of the island and the thoughts and beliefs of its most noteworthy performers. And although a few other short-lived magazines tried to emulate the Beat’s success, no publication in America ever came close to it. The Beat remained apart from the rest, with the kind of homemade touches and genuine affection for the music that was covered in its pages, which is so sadly lacking from many of the other print entities of North America and Euorpe. The Beat never worried about trends or hipness or the fads of the marketplace, though securing the necessary advertising to keep the ship afloat was always a problematic process. Editorially, the Beat also kept her pages open to those with a burning desire to put something meaningful in print about the music that moved them.

The ‘good’ news is that back issues are still available by mail order, so get ‘em now while you still can. There is also a tributary blog at: byebyebeat.blogspot.com. What else is there to say other than, The Beat is Dead…Long Live The Beat!

-- David Katz.

BEAT Honor Roll 1985

2010-02-16T13:24:00.000-08:00

These people joined The Beat effort in 1985. The photo of Donna Tarzian, our great art director (at right) and the Minister of Information, shot by Donna Cline, was used in a house ad for subscriptions (one of only two times I allowed my image to appear in the magazine). The reggae poster on the wall behind us at left was designed and produced by Bob Steinhilber, our original art director.

With the June 1985 issue, The Beat reached another milestone with an upgrade to a glossy cover stock, which greatly improved the look of the magazine from the early newsprint covers. The cover image was an original silkscreen poster titled "Buffalo Soldier" designed for us by Michael Hodgson and Richard Duardo.

Ramon Alvarez
Bongo Asher
Farika Birhan
Tom Cheyney
Carol Anne Clark
David Corio
Sister Cypress
Ras David I
Paula Davis
Murray Elias
Stuart Ellis
Joanne Ferguson
Nancy Ferrante
Miller Francis
Tim Gaydos
Heather Hall

Tim Hammond-Williams
Gina Henderson
David Herwaldt
Peter Holden
Beverly Hong
Jim Howard
Sister Ikeda
Sister Ina
John Ingham
Don Kamlager
Jon Kertzer

Jak Kilby
Korami
Andy Lansing
Maya Leon
Diana Leoni Oduloju
Janice Liddell
Lawrence Manning
Leon Morris
Tom Nixon

Elena Oumano

Paul Rogers
M. Sugawara
Tony Thompson
Catherine Tobias
Neal Ullestadt
Amy Wachtel
Norman Weinstein

From Dave Hucker, "Hey Mr. Music" columnist 1989-

2010-02-07T13:00:00.000-08:00

CC Smith first danced into my life when she came to my Sol Y Sombra club in London 's Charlotte St. in the mid-80s. She asked me to start writing a column for The Beat covering the music I was deejaying, which I described as "The music of two continents and a few assorted Islands." I appreciated the freedom she gave me to write what and how I wanted. But she was always there ready to question my hyperbole plus check the facts and spellings. My writing sometimes went over the top--such as in the infamous Bill Holm/The Whale episodes--but it was necessary to stretch the gonzoid-ism a bit, just for me to find my limits and so write more sensibly most of the time.

It was a real honour for me--a mere dj--to be parachuted in among such a seminal group of real, true music experts, people who really knew their stuff and had their ears and feet on the various global musical pulses and hotspots.

The amount of musical information that was contained in each copy of The Beat was quite incredible. Even the adverts! If you wanted to know what was happening anywhere in the world each edition told you--in depth. It was a bimonthly, fine grain, full colour, detailed snapshot of where the musical action was, keeping us abreast with the latest developments and trends. The Beat's year-by-year coverage of carnivals was unsurpassed. Also its features about artists and styles went very deep into the subject, giving a quality and detailed insight, containing much information that was not available anywhere else. I don't think ever again will there be such a bringing together in one place of so many musical experts imparting their considerable knowledge.

Technology changes over time--my first columns were sent by post, then fax. I'm sure we will find different ways of keeping together. I made many good and lasting friends in my fellow Beat contributors and for me it was a great privilege to be involved. Thank you CC.
[Photo above: Dave Hucker visiting CC Smith in LA at her KCRW radio program, late 80s-early 90s. Other images are flyers for Dave's Sol y Sombra dance club in London.]

Jamaica Gleaner News - 'The Beat' stops - Entertainment - Thursday | December 31, 2009

2010-02-02T18:01:00.000-08:00

Jamaica Gleaner News - 'The Beat' stops - Entertainment - Thursday | December 31, 2009

Jamaica Gleaner Online

'The Beat' stops

Published: Thursday | December 31, 2009

Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
Roger Steffens, owner of the largest Bob Marley memorabilia in the world, at the opening of Queen Mary exhibit of his 'World of Reggae' archives in February 2001. - Photo courtesy of Roger Steffens' Reggae Archives

The Beat magazine out of Los Angeles, which showcased the reggae and world beat scene for nearly 30 years, has ceased publication.
In a statement dated December 20, CC Smith, the magazine's minister of information, cited economic challenges and the transformation of the literary landscape as the main reasons for its closure.
"The Beat was unique and it is really a miracle it survived as long as it did. But the precipitous decline in the music business, publishing business and the economy has finally caught up with us," Smith said.
The Beat was founded in 1982 as 'Reggae Beat' by reggae historian Roger Steffens and operated throughout as a bi-monthly with a volunteer staff that included Smith. Its initial name came from the Los Angeles radio programme Steffens hosted.
Steffens and Smith were largely responsible for the first edition of The Beat in May 1982. It covered LA's Bob Marley day activities that month, and for its duration reported extensively on the reggae festival scene in southern California.

World beat performers
The Beat also covered world beat performers including Fela Kuti and King Sunny Ade of Nigeria and Ladysmith Black Mambazo of South Africa. Among its popular annual features was a Bob Marley Collectors Edition.
In an interview with The Gleaner, Steffens commented on The Beat's departure from magazine stands. "To me, seeing The Beat fade away after 28 years is very sad, but I suppose inevitable. We are witnessing the collapse of print media of all kinds today, swept away on the slippery slope of virtuality," Steffens said.
In her statement, Smith said it is unlikely The Beat will follow other publications by launching an Internet edition. "Many people have suggested taking The Beat online to save it, but the advertising support is just not there," she said.
She stated that another factor contributed to the decision not to carry on. "The music, reggae in particular, has changed so much since the early days when it was new, fun and inspiring. There is so much less to say about it now."

From Chuck Foster, "Reggae Update" columnist for 20 years

2010-01-28T17:42:00.000-08:00

The Beat—Gone But Not Forgotten

My earliest contributions to The Beat Magazine—then called The Reggae Beat and later The Reggae and African Beat—were in the form of playlists for sets I played when sitting in on "The Reggae Beat" radio program on KCRW beginning in 1982. I began writing reviews for the magazine in 1987, the year I became co-host of the show alongside my longtime partner Hank Holmes. The Mighty Diamonds and A. Doeman were a couple of the first artists whose albums I reviewed in the back pages of The Beat.
In 1989 I began writing the "Reggae Update" column which ran in every issue from that year for the next two decades. Over the years I also contributed book reviews, features and cover stories, especially from 1989 to 1999. My first book, Roots Rock Reggae: An Oral History of Reggae Music From Ska to Dancehall (Billboard Books) collected many of the interviews I did originally for The Beat as well as ones for the LA View for which I wrote for five years. A few others done later, including one with Bob Andy and Marcia Griffiths and the last interview with blues giant Marvin Pontiac, remain uncollected.
I was not only a writer for but an inveterate reader of The Beat. I still have a complete collection going back to the very first one-page fold-over stacked in no particular order in my garage. I learned so much from The Beat’s other writers over the years—always a music fan (I managed record stores for over a dozen years) The Beat expanded my consciousness of global music and helped to make music a truly international experience for me. I give thanks for all the great reviews, interviews, insights and commentary I encountered over the years and for the many interactions I had with CC Smith and those who shared her vision over time and helped manifest this unique publication.
The original concept for "Reggae Update" was that I would review whatever reggae music was submitted as well as things I gathered on my own, as a collector, fan and dj. The era encompassed a seven-and-a-half year run as co-host of "The Reggae Beat" as well as the first 12 years of my current stint as host of "Reggae Central" on KPFK. On average I estimate I reviewed at least 50 (sometimes 80) releases per column. If you put out a reggae cd between 1989 and 2009 there’s a good chance I reviewed it in "Reggae Update."
I always felt I was uniquely qualified to do this. My first published work—a book review—came out in 1967, the year I first began playing in bands myself. Over the years I put out independent records with various groups I played in, struggled to distribute the music and gain airplay and found some of the reviews we received puzzling. As a Beat writer I found myself criticized at times for being “too soft” on the music I reviewed. I’m sure some who will remain nameless here would disagree with that. But it is true that my harshest reviews were written in the early years and as time went by my love for what reggae had become—a lifestyle as much as a music style—made me see the reggae community at large as my own.
I celebrate the continuation of reggae music in whatever form it survives. Unlike some of the contributors to this site I remain excited about the music today, despite the fact that I love the ska, rock steady, early roots reggae and dub that defined the genre. Today’s young artists continue to make vibrant message-laden reggae music and there is no dearth of new releases—I could as easily fill a column with new releases today as at anytime in the past. A new, post-dancehall era has moved beyond the “computerized” riddims to forge a crisp new sound and dozens of 20-something newcomers have created a body of work that sustains reggae music in this time.
In the meantime classic artists have continued to contribute great new works and a huge amount of music has been archived and reissued—in some cases issued for the first time despite having been recorded three, four or five decades ago. From my point of view this is a great and exciting time for reggae music and I’m sorry The Beat won’t be there to keep up with it. But you, the reader, have the opportunity to keep up with it. Search out new music online. Hunt down those classic tracks you remember from long ago. Support the shows, new releases, publications and sites and support reggae music and it will continue to grow and nurture you in turn.
--Chuck Foster

BEAT Honor Roll 1984

2010-01-28T17:23:00.000-08:00

In 1984, The BEAT started taking the shape in which it was to continue for the next 25 years: informative, well-written articles and beautiful photos and design. Of special note: the groundbreaking Rasta issue, edited by I Timothy (still available if you want to order your copy!), the Fela Kuti issue spotlighting African music and the anti-apartheid movement, and the revelation of the popularity of reggae among the Hopi Native Americans in Arizona.
These contributors and volunteers joined the team in 1984:
Laurien Alexander
Tom Archie
Bongo Asher
Donald Bailey
Istvan Banyai
Larry Barsky
Jonathan Blunk
Adrian Boot
Simon Buckland
Jah Bunny
Charles de Ledesma
Yousef Eglington
John Fitzmaurice
Jeff Gans
Amir Glymph
Renata Golden
Kim Gottlieb-Walker
Chris Haaga
Jared Held
Claire Hershman
Lykke Holmes
Sandra Isidore
Andrzej Jakbowicz
C.J. Juzang
Keidi
David Kennedy
Jack Kolkmeyer
Randy Koppang
Chuck Krall
Marian Lanz
Chaya Litwin
Baba Lola
Mabie
Conley Major
Morri Manning
Jim Marshall
Gordon McGuire
Ron Miller
Andre Moore
Owen Moore
Elizabeth Moore Sobo
Kathleen Morris
Tom Mountain
Peter Murphy
Carrie Namson
Kathy Nelson
David O'Neal
Jamaka Perrier
Myrna Pilot
Treva Ponder
Kisasi Rameses
Itter Randazzo
Connie Robinson
Sharon Smithline
Don Snowden
Ann Stone
Ras-j Tesfa
Jay Tractenberg
Beth Trepper
Uko-Bendi Udo
Tzaddi Wadadah I
Mike Wells
Timothy White
Pam Woods
Jeff Yokoe
Tony Yoshida
Darryl Zengler
George Zowonu

Remembering Andy Palacio

2010-01-25T17:38:00.000-08:00

Jan. 19 was the second anniversary of the untimely passing of the great Garifuna singer and musician Andy Palacio. He was a longtime friend of mine from his time living in L.A. Let us remember him with peace, joy and respect. He was taken away, at the age of 47, at the pinnacle of his career, having just released an internationally acclaimed and much-awarded album, Watina. I had the privilege of visiting him in his Belizean homeland in November 2007, traveling with an international press corps reporting on his music and the Garifuna culture, and his recognition by UNESCO with the Artist for Peace award. Shockingly, he unexpectedly died just two months later. I still can't believe it. I had promised him during that trip, sitting in the bar of the Pelican Hotel in Dangriga, that the story I was writing would be on the cover of The Beat, and I kept my word. Oh, Andy, we really really miss you....

Link to interview with director of classic reggae film Rockers, submitted by Steve Heilig, "All Over the Map" columnist

2010-01-25T16:49:00.000-08:00

Steve notes: In my final column for The Beat, I noted the arrival on DVD of Rockers, the classic 1970s film by Theodoros Bafaloukos. I’ve never seen an interview or anything else by/about him until this new interview in VICE magazine. It’s worth reading, and has great photos from that time in Jamaica as well.

Love and Rockers, interview from Viceland.com by Tassos Brekoulakis

Director Bafaloukos with drummer and star of the film Horsemouth Wallace, in Kingston JA 1977

Lynn Taitt -- the musician's musician --dies in Canada - JamaicaObserver.com

2010-01-22T17:47:00.000-08:00

More sad news. I seem to be out of the loop lately on these breaking developments.

Lynn Taitt -- the musician's musician --dies in Canada - JamaicaObserver.com

Yabby You (Vivian Jackson) dies at 63

2010-01-22T17:20:00.001-08:00

Vivian Jackson dies at 63

Article by Chris Morris from Variety.com

Posted using ShareThis

BEAT Honor Roll 1983

2010-01-16T14:33:00.000-08:00

1983 was the year The Reggae & African Beat started to gain traction, find its direction, and attract luminaries such as Stephen Davis, Randall Grass, Bernard Hoyes and Robert Hill to contribute their expertise. Joining the team this year were:

Susan Andrew

Khris Bailey

Tony Brennan

Harvey Burnett

Kris Burson

Julie Burson

Harold Burson

Robert Cohen

Philip Cramer

Christina Davis

Paula Davis

Stephen Davis

Darcy Diamond

Rene Diedrich
Isaac Ferguson

Edwin Craven Frantz

Randall Grass

Genessee Harris

Judy Harris

Robert Hill

Eric Hiss
Danny Holloway

Jimi Hori

Bernard Hoyes

Irie Irene

Yacine Jallow

Brother Joly

Carol Kaufman

Howard Kutz

Lance Linares

Horace Mansfield Jr.

Terrence Nugent

Laura Orenstein

Susan Rich

Ranking Rob

Gene Scaramuzzo

Micki Seltzer

Enriko Seruma

Peter Simon

Jeff Spurrier

Spit Stix

Jim Subich

John Sutton-Smith
Bruce Talamon

I Timothy

Joan Trafecanty

Thomas Traylor

Jah Trevor

Doug Wendt

A. West

Bigga White
Timothy White

Chas Wiedenmann

Paul Wilkins

Genee Wilner

Nick Wolf

Kishi Yamamoto

Ras Zef

BEAT Honor Roll 1982

2010-01-14T17:46:00.000-08:00

I am going to start posting lists of all the names of the people who contributed to The Beat over the years: our All-Volunteer Jah Army. Their efforts, talents and invaluable contributions made this "little magazine that could" the amazing creation that it was, full of the love we all had for the music. The lists are compiled from the first year a name appears on the masthead.

JAH RASTAFARI
Brock Adler
Maidah Bey
Jah Bizzare
Donna Cline
Annie Evans
Bob Gold
Matt Groening
Michael Hodgson
Hank Holmes
Richard Robinson
CC Smith
Roger Steffens
Robert Steinhilber
Ann Summa
Donna Tarzian
Jill Taylor

From Bob Tarte, "Technobeat" columnist, 1988-

2010-01-11T17:41:00.000-08:00

The End of Beat Days

My final writing assignment for The Beat is the most difficult one that CC Smith has given me. My subject is the magazine I’ve written for since 1988, and because it has affected my life on so many levels, I hardly know what to say in just a few paragraphs.

I actually have mixed feelings about The Beat’s demise. It’s not that I won’t miss the magazine terribly. I feel as if a favorite eccentric relative has died. But much of the pleasure has trickled out of the reviewing process over the last few years due to my waning interest in world music releases these days. It’s primarily a supply problem. I’ve gone from getting far too many good cds to review in my column to scraping to find a handful of titles that I want to write about. The quality just doesn’t seem to be there any longer.

When I started writing for The Beat, the term ‘world music’ had just been coined by record label execs eager to boost the sales of what had formerly been called international music. World music arrived at exactly the right time. Rock had stagnated, reggae still hadn’t recovered from Bob Marley’s loss, and punk rock and its variants had long since sputtered out. Spearheaded by Youssou N’Dour, Salif Keita, Baaba Maal, and other mainly West African artists, world music took off, at least in terms of giving music writers something new to salivate over.

As one label attempted to copy the success of another, waves of unlikely genres would hit the shore, including Bulgarian female choir, pygmy vocals, Tuvan throat singing, Colombian cumbia, Andean panpipe, and qawwali. Amid these obscurities, there were also surges of Brazilian, Cuban, flamenco, calypso, klezmer, East European gypsy, and other better-known styles. Through all of this, the single constant was the flood of incredible music from West Africa and the Congo. But as this flood began drying up over the last 10 years, it was indicative of the decline of the music industry as a whole. Rather than looking to new releases by new artists for my world music fix, I found myself basking in retrospectives of classic African artists instead: Franco, Rochereau, King Sunny Ade, and others who had made their best music three or more decades ago.

I married Linda within a year of starting my world music review column, Technobeat, in 1989, and the lp and cds that I reviewed have formed the soundtrack to our marriage. I associate specific artists with pivotal events in my life. I still can’t hear Habib Koite’s soft voice without thinking of my parrot Stanley Sue, who died five years to the day after I lost my father, and my father’s loss is forever intermingled with Siberian folk music.

If I creeped anyone out here by mentioning my bird ahead of my dad, it’s because world music has been so intimately interwoven with the demands of caring for our 50-some animals, that pets began wriggling into my Technobeat columns in the mid-1990s. I ended up writing two books about our feathered and furred gang (“Enslaved by Ducks” and “Fowl Weather”). Without the experience and discipline of writing for The Beat, I never could have written these books.

My editor CC Smith always welcomed and encouraged my creativity. Well, almost always, excluding the time when my friend Bill Holm, who occasionally appeared in my column in his obnoxious alter ego known as The Whale, guest-edited Dave Hucker’s "Hey Mr Music" column. Bill’s additions to Dave’s columns were so over the top, that even though CC had prevented his worst comments from ever appearing in print, two readers wrote in and threatened to cancel their subscriptions if The Whale ever appeared in The Beat again. (Read about the whole sorry saga at http://www.technobeat.com/NONSENSE/WHALE.html)

Just knowing the long-suffering and endlessly entertaining CC Smith has been one of the benefits of writing for The Beat. I’ve also become close friends with other Beat writers past and present, including Beat columnist and Cuban music authority Dave Hucker, Congolese music expert Gary Stewart (author of “Rumba on the River”), and Worldisc publicist Mark Gorney. Through the magazine I’ve also made the acquaintance of the great Ken Braun from the Stern’s record label, plus ethnomusicologist and founder of the Original Music label John Storm Roberts, who died this past December. (Love ya, John.)

Much thanks to CC Smith for all of this. And while I hope that she enjoys her post-Beat life, part of me can’t help hoping that her retirement is miserable. Although she insists that she doesn’t want to turn The Beat into an online magazine, I’m nurturing a glimmer of a hope that she ends up missing the whole happy mess to such a degree that an online version of The Beat, complete with blogs, podcasts, videos, and lots of advertising from record labels who decided that they, too, still need The Beat, happens anyway.

(For nearly two decades of my "Technobeat" columns and Dave Hucker’s "Hey Mr.Music" columns since 1997, please visit Technobeat.com.)

-Bob Tarte, January 2010

From Chris "Big Red" Johnson, host of "Groove Time" KXLU-FM, Los Angeles; KXLU.com

2010-01-11T17:23:00.000-08:00

According to history, the Muses numbered nine. History, as Henry Ford said, is bunk. We all (at least we all in the know) know there are at least ten. Whether or not her parents are as oddly named as the Greek originals, the tenth is named Smith and known to one and all as CC. I had thought to describe her as a cornerstone, an organizer, the spark plug, things along those lines. But no. On reflection, CC is now and has been nothing less than a modern day Muse and I'll give you just a few good examples.
CC and I met face to face for the first time at the Executive Club, a little dive of a place on Crenshaw Boulevard in South Los Angeles. Of course I had known her as the ringleader of that little gang of mischievous revelers who took to the airwaves of SoCal every Saturday as "The African Beat" radio show. On the night we met that little dive became the Temple of Artemis for a night as Les Quatre Etoiles took to the tiny stage before a packed-to-the-rafters house. There's lots of exaggerated talk about these days , but the word transcendent really and truly applies to this particular occasion. Don't take my word for it. Ask anybody who was there. CC was DJing. In the confines of that little club she occupied the same corner as the stage, the same space as the band. She may never have looked more radiant before or since. It wasn't so significant that she was there. It was so significant that she belonged there - front and center.
It all unfolded so naturally, seemed so properly mise en scene, that the question became, "Who but CC?"
Who but CC could have turned a mimeographed broadsheet into the slick Beat that maintained our collective center, fed our delightful, healthful jones for great tunes for so long?
Who but CC could have wrangled those diverse energies and highly charged enthusiasms Ade James and Solomon Solo brought to the microphones of "The African Beat" for lo, those many years [11].
Who but CC could have steered a motley assemblage of music lovers (distinctly not producers, promoters, agents and the like) into a momentarily cohesive and effective event-producing, promoting and hosting team that became our beloved African Music Society?
Who but CC could have held on so long, keeping The Beat going for so long after the handwriting on the wall became plain for one and all to see?
Yes, we've seen, heard and grooved to that all, right here live or in print, from our seats ringside, right here in our own cultural wasteland, our 'industry' town, Los Angeles, where culture goes to die, chopped up into little bite-sized morsels, bland and easily digestible, if of little nutritional value. A cynic might say that the wonder is not that The Beat stopped publishing, but that it published so much for so long.
Not much of a cynic myself, I'm prompted to ask: So now, my colleagues and co-lamenters, whatever are we to do? One thing's for sure - things won't go on as they have. The changes - wonders and horrors - of the 21st century will make those of the 20th century pale in comparison. So, it simply must be said: In dismissing The Beat, we collectively yield to the creeping meatball of cultural homogeneity, that infernal engine dragging us all inexorably toward a morass of pap, pablum and a sea of musical mediocrity.
Yet, as they say, "You can get fucked, but you can't stay fucked." Further, Robert Nesta Marley said, "Every beat of the drum you hear is an African beat." Therefore, adding the two together and barring the extinction of the species, the beat will inevitably triumph. As one of only a handful of things that qualitatively differentiate us from all other life on this lovely blue orb, the ability to arrange melody and harmony rhythmically - to the beat - will see us through, in the end.
Personally, I liked things just fine as they were going. I really don't see any need for another to suffer the birth pangs of giving life to another version of The Beat. CC did that for us once already and the baby had enough aunties and uncles who cared and nurtured it to maturity to have made it the vital, vibrant resource and community it was.
That was good enough for me for a long, long time. I have no idea what will be good enough for me now. And as the the Minister of Information herself, the Muse of all things groovalicious, thousands and thousands of thanks, one for each tune, each word, each picture that made me happy when I beheld it in The Beat and thousands and thousands of best wishes from us all for whatever it is you choose to do next.
Como CC, no hay dos. Mil gracias y que les vaya bien!

From Urban Tribe, Stockholm reggae band: Another sign of the times

2010-01-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

Hey Carol,
I am (as are the rest of the Tribe) very, very sorry to hear the news. Shocked, actually. Our hearts go out to all of you. And we are very sorry also to lose what we consider to be a true ally for us in the US after the glowing reviews Chuck has given us over the years.
This is all very sad. Feels almost like I've felt at times - you know I've been pouring my heart and soul (not to mention God knows how much money) into Urban Tribe for about 5 years and after 3 albums, fantastic reviews from large parts of the world, tours in Europe, a tour of Jamaica (with TV, radio, live-shows, interviews); seems like a total success story, right? Well I guess it is in some ways. But still no interest at all from record companies, big booking agencies and close to no album sales. If Urban Tribe were a company we'd be closed down long ago. As it is I am trying to get one more release out featuring a CD and DVD with the best of UTS + some new songs + a live-show DVD + the music videos + a documentary of the tour of Jamaica. To at least go out with a bang, you know? Cause I really feel that our last album "Roots" pretty much was as good as I'm going to get it and if that doesn't work, what then?
Once again, Carol - thank you so much for all you support and I would certainly have wished for a much better fate for a publication as fine as The Beat. Give our kindest regards and sympathies to Chuck and all the rest.
Bless,
Adam Atterby

Ken Braun, manager, Sterns-US and African music devotee, rallies the troops!

2010-01-08T16:28:00.000-08:00

A quarter-century: that’s how long The Beat has been in my life. I started reading it in 1984. There was a three-year period in the second half of that decade when I lived in Ntondo, Zaire, where going to the post office was a two-day trip and I had to take a riverboat or a plane to swing by the nearest magazine stand, but on returning to New York in 1989 I rounded up as many back issues as I could find. The Beat was especially crucial to me then, a serial encyclopedia of records released in my absence and my guide to which ones I really needed to hear. I could rely on the intelligence and taste of Beat writers to tell me fascinating things I wouldn’t have otherwise known and lead me to marvelous music I might not have heard on my own.
Appreciating my own tastes and thinking I knew a thing or two too, I submitted a few pieces on African music to the editor. Though I couldn’t hold a candle to her regular contributors, I was honored to be admitted to their company and pleased to imagine that I might turn a reader on the way these writers turned me on.
When I took a job with Sterns Music I went from being a writer for The Beat to being a promo man and advertiser. The 90s were a great time to be in the record business, even for purveyors of African music. They were also a great time to be publishing a unique music magazine. Every year more and more people took new interest in music from outside their regional pop industries and beyond their borders, and these were the people The Beat and record companies like Sterns cultivated and depended on. We sold The Beat at our shops in London and New York and got to know the customers who routinely picked up the latest issue and riffled through the remainders for any they’d missed. There was a complex but very healthy relationship among the magazine’s staff and writers, its readers, those of us in the biz, and the artists we were all interested in. We needed each other, we served each other, we learned from each other, and we scratched each other’s backs. There was nothing crass or unseemly about it. We recognized ourselves as fellow devotees of high culture and good times, and we respected and liked and supported one another. Except for a few deserving musicians, none of us got rich. But though the money was never very plentiful, for a good long while it was sufficient to sustain enthusiasm and good work. In those years labors of love could keep the wolves from the door.
The decline began at the turn of the last decade. We all know the reasons – new technology, shifting demographics, changing notions of intellectual property, clueless and craven entertainment conglomerates – but we haven’t succeeded in pulling out of the descent. And because we’ve been so interconnected for so long, we’ve all ended up in that hand-basket going to hell. When CD piracy and illegal file "sharing" eviscerated record companies’ and artists’ earnings, they had to cut back on promotion and advertising, and that crippled music magazines. But let me tell you something about The Beat: When Sterns had to close the New York shop and could no longer afford to advertise, The Beat, unlike some magazines, continued to feature our artists and review our CDs. There was never any quid pro quo. In fact The Beat gave us lots of good press right up to the last issue this past fall – except, of course, when our work fell short of expectations, in which case the writers frankly said so, as they always had. Their publisher and editor never told them what to write or filtered their critiques. I got to know quite a few Beat writers, was one myself (and an advertiser to boot), and this was always clear. Without waving banners or editorializing, Roger Steffens, CC Smith and Carol Haile-Selassie have been champions of journalistic freedom and integrity.
It’s a crying shame that championing journalistic freedom and integrity is not profitable. So many excellent periodicals have been forced to cease publication in recent years (while gossip and bunkum tabloids still thrive), but The Beat’s fade-out is, to me, the most disheartening. On a personal level, I’ve enjoyed knowing its staff, contributors and readers, have learned much from them, and will always cherish their validation of my work, so I’m anxious about losing contact with them. On a wider plane, I’m worried about what this bodes for the music of Africa and the African Diaspora so far as Americans are concerned. With the demise of The Beat no magazine published in this country covers this vast and diverse field with such knowledge, deep appreciation and timeliness. The back issues to be archived online will be a treasure chest at our fingertips, but how will we keep up with new music and all the old recordings being rediscovered? Where can we read all about it? Whom can we trust? There are no carbon copies of CC Smith.
But we still have the original. CC may be leaving Los Angeles, but she’s not leaving us. Thanks (ironically) to the internet, we can all stay in touch with her and with each other if we all want to. I want to, and if you do too, please join me in imploring CC to keep this going. I don’t mean the magazine, either on paper or online – I understand that the wherewithal isn’t therewithal – but the conversation. Let’s turn the ByeByeBeat blog into TheBeatGoesOn blog (if Sonny & Cher fans haven’t already claimed that domain). I lean Luddite when it comes to computer cybernetics (out of incompetence, not ideology), but some of you know your way around and could show the rest of us. We wouldn’t have to lay all responsibilities on CC’s shoulders; we could carry them cooperatively. Though no one would be paid, I suppose there might be some costs, but they wouldn’t be anything like the costs of publishing a magazine. We could all contribute a little sustenance as well as some content, couldn’t we?
By we I mean everyone who’s had any connection to The Beat as a writer, an editor, a photographer, a reader, a musician, a promoter, a fan, a record-collector or what-have-you. You! You wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t into Caribbean music, African music, Latin music, that kind of thing, so you’re the kind of person I’m trying to rally. What can you tell the rest of us? What have you heard? Who have you seen? What do you know and what do you think? Tell Mama. Tell CC. (Revive her enthusiasm for music – that part’s a cinch). Tell all of us. Keep the beat.
Ken Braun

From our friends at UnitedReggae.com online magazine (France)

2010-01-07T17:18:00.000-08:00

Greetings The Beat contributors,
Here at United Reggae we all give you our support and we published a news to pay tribute to THE BEAT : http://www.unitedreggae.com
Permanent link : http://www.unitedreggae.com/news/n528/010710/the-beat-magazine-closes-down

United Reggae is an online reggae magazine that we created in 2007.
It features :

news about reggae events, releases, ... : http://www.unitedreggae.com/news/
articles (reviews, interviews, art, Jamaican society, history, ...) : http://www.unitedreggae.com/articles/
every months new releases : http://www.unitedreggae.com/discographies/new-releases/
artists biographies : http://www.unitedreggae.com/artists/
full artists albums discographies : http://www.unitedreggae.com/discographies/
reggae movies database : http://www.unitedreggae.com/movies/
reggae books discographies : http://www.unitedreggae.com/books/

Tom Orr is already contributing to United Reggae : http://www.unitedreggae.com/authors/28/tom-orr/
If some of you have any suggestion, want to contribute or anything else, it would be a pleasure.
All the best to the whole team.

Camille MONCHICOURT
United Reggae Head Manager

From John Sutton-Smith, linchpin of LA's early reggae and ska scene, Beat contributor and jack of all trades

2010-01-07T17:10:00.000-08:00

I'm so sorry to read the news of the Reggae Beat, one of my very few must-read magazines. It had truly become an institution for reggae fans around the world, and many of those issues stand up against the best of music magazines over the past three decades. To think that it began as a mimeographed fanzine with a b&w photo of the Skanksters on the cover performing on the steps at UCLA! What a great job you did, CC -- I'm glad they will all be available online, although I still think some specialist publishing house like Genesis or someone should put out a bound collected edition of the complete works of the Reggae Beat!

From Robert Ambrose, long-time subscriber and "African Beat" columnist 1995-

2010-01-07T16:44:00.000-08:00

Ironically, the terribly sad news that The Beat was ceasing publication came just as I was unpacking two boxes of my Beat collection that had languished in storage for nine years. I subscribed in 1984, when I returned from several years living in Central America. During my work there, at a time of intense historical events, I was sustained by cassettes of African music sent to me by a friend in England. As passions often lead to obsessions, I began devouring African music in all its guises (including reggae, cumbia, all things Cuban, the blues. . . the gamut), and The Beat was my guide. When a new issue was due to arrive, I could almost taste it, and I looked for it in my mailbox with daily hope. When it arrived I read it cover to cover, reveling in the writing of so many talented experts. The next day I would go to the record shops, with a new list of essential music to find.

The Beat became even more important to me when I moved to Alaska, leaving behind the rich musical ambiance of San Francisco for a much more austere cultural environment. After 10 years as a subscriber, I sent CC a writing sample and was astounded when she offered me the "African Beat" column. To write alongside Dave Hucker, Bob Tarte, Chuck Foster, Roger Steffens and many others?! It was a great privilege and an exquisite pleasure, for the seven years I was able to contribute. Thank you CC for the opportunity, which provided me with so much, and for the incredible work that you, Roger and Carol did over the many years. The Beat was the physical product of our love for the music; I like to think that The Beat community will endure into the future, continuing to share that love.

From Mick Sleeper, Broadcaster and Podcaster

2010-01-06T18:14:00.000-08:00

You never miss your water until the well runs dry.

I must admit for the past few years I didn't follow The Beat as closely as I did 10-15 years ago when I was first discovering reggae. Now that it's gone, I've been leafing through my collection and definitely feel a sense of loss for this great magazine.

It might sound odd to be nostalgic about the 1990s and definitely weird to look back fondly on the 2000s, but just like the 1970s was the golden age for reggae, the 2000s were the golden age of reissues for those of us who were too young to hear reggae the first time. Obviously the "old guard" like my friends Roger Steffens and Doug Wendt first heard Jah music when it was still new and fresh; but there's a younger generation of fans who "felt no pain" when reggae hit us in the 1990s. Thanks to those three titans of reggae reissues, Blood & Fire, Pressure Sounds and Heartbeat, this amazing music was available all over again, rescued from vinyl oblivion, now with clean sound and historical context for those of us who were eager and curious.

Alongside the music, publications like The Beat steered me deeper into the uncharted waters of Jamaican music. Mike Turner's "Reggae Obsession" column was my favourite, but I always enjoyed Roger Steffens' jovial works and Chuck Foster's all encompassing reviews. Although The Beat was a world class publication, it always felt small and friendly. It came a long way from the initial photocopied pages to the slick and glossy magazine that was read around the world, but the blueprint remained the same, the obvious work of people with passion. I always wanted to write for The Beat, but never got around to submitting an article. Once again, I stand at the well and miss the water.

And now? Like the man Max Romeo says, "it sipple out deh". Worldwide economic meltdown and the persistence of music pirates who think its their right to get anything they want for free have certainly put a severe strain on the industry. And yet, it's still a good time to be a reggae fan. The Internet is mostly Babylon business and yet I and I survive with podcasts and small, savvy labels using the Web to forward their music to a modern audience.

Congratulations to everyone at the Beat for all of their excellent work over the years and for carrying the torch as long as you did. Each one teach one. Who Jah bless, no man curse.

Regards,

Mick Sleeper

From Steve Heilig, 20+ year Beat contributor, columnist, cub reporter and fish taco connoisseur

2010-01-02T13:52:00.001-08:00

All Things Must Pass, sang my favorite Beatle long before he did so himself. That seems true, but it does not make letting go much easier.

The BEAT was very good to me, as it was to many music lovers. First, from the start the magazine taught me much about what to hear and why. Then, when I started writing for the publication, it enabled my music addiction just when it was threatening to become a hazard. I'd become obsessed with reggae while in college, and collected what few Marley, Tosh, Spear, Toots, Bunny, Cliff, Heptones, and the few other LPs one could find in California then. I even wrote a few pieces on these artists and their amazing concerts for school papers. The gold standard for a publication on this music was The BEAT, though, so on a whim I mailed something in. To my surprise and delight, it was accepted. Next I knew I was doing features, festival and recording reviews, interviews, and eventually a column with no borders. Even my often-blurry photos sometimes showed up in the pages. My musical horizons broadened, mostly due to the other writers and editors. CDs poured into my mailbox. Promoters eagerly invited me to concerts, and backstage. I wound up meeting and spending some enlightening and enlivening "quality time" with all the reggae legends named above and many more, plus figures such as Gilberto Gil, Lee Perry (I think), Carlos Santana, Fela and Femi Kuti, Milton Nascimento, Ali Akbar Khan, Zakir Hussain, Mickey Hart, King Sunny Ade, Les Quatre Etoiles, Baaba Maal, Ijahman, Joseph Hill, Bob Andy...and many more from all over the world, sometimes in their home arenas. No borders indeed.

I don't recall any artist, no matter how big, turning down an interview request. They (OK, and/or their publicists) knew the value of The BEAT, even though, or sometimes because, those of us who wrote for it had other "real" day jobs and thus did it for love (OK, and all those musical perks). We were not hired de facto flacks for anyone and thus could call it as we heard it. As reggae seemed to decline from the highest consciousness to some of the lowest, we could lament that in print (and even receive a threat or two in response, confirming our stance). For old-timers, reggae, salsa, funk, and hell, jazz and rock and roll too all might have seemed to have peaked long ago. Thus in more recent times much of what I liked most seemed to be re-releases of great earlier sounds. So be it, even if the overall tenor of the magazine began to be a bit retro, we were able to pick out new gems each year, and I will miss the usefulness of our annual "Best of" lists, which guided my own listening through the years.

I was honored to be part of the BEAT crew for almost two decades. When one's words are published, they so often just go out into the ether, and you never know who, if anyone, read them, and what they might have thought. But so many times, at festivals or even in a local record store, some reader who learned my name would say "I've been reading your stuff for years!" -- and some of those people even went on to say something laudatory. That made it all worthwhile. As did those who rolled their eyes at some goofy thing I'd quoted or written myself --and that especially includes the Dreaditor herself, CC Smith, without whom we would all be musically poorer indeed. So, my sincere gratitude to her and to Roger Steffens, and to everyone else who wrote, read, and especially played through all those years. It was a pleasure and a privilege to be included, appreciated, indulged and even attacked. Like everything else, music is ephemeral, but in some form or another, The BEAT goes on.

Steve Heilig
All Over the Map, now Off The Map

From Nyahjoe, reggae radio DJ, Guam

2009-12-28T08:58:00.000-08:00

Greetings from Guam;

When I lived out in Cali I always sought out the Beat Magazine wherever I went throughout the state. When I moved back to my home here in Guam, a few family members and I had a likkle Reggae Shop called Cultural Trenz and we distributed the magazine to the masses. Jah's Reggae Shop here on Guam recently was offering the Beat Magazine to all the Reggae lovers here in Guam. I had the pleasure of meeting Carol many years ago in Las Vegas during the R.A.W. event that was taking place. We became friends and I hand carried some items for a bredren of mine here in Guam Jah Son, from Carol and from the late Papa Pilgrim. Years later I would meet Mr Roger Steffens here on Guam and we would become friends as well. The first time I had him up at the radio station I work for here on Guam (POWER98FM The Island Stylin' Reggae Show. now going on my 21st yr. on air,) I had a copy of either the 1st or the 2nd printing of the Beat Magazine and he could not believe that I still had that copy. I've alway's saved them, as up to this day, I still use them as reference material for my show. One Love, One Heart & may Jah look upon his children over the years that have made this great magazine possible with blessings, love and guidance.
Respect;
nyahjoe

From Ever Rey D, Ragga/Reggae Vibes Magazine, France

2009-12-27T13:40:00.000-08:00

Big up any time !
I started to read The Beat in the late 80's and always looked forward to its new issues. It had become increasingly tough to find it in France, so I lost touch gradually but will always have fond memories of writings like Jamaican Obsession, Mr Marlon's stint on dancehall, Brian Dring's Other Caribbean an many other works about certain music genres i wasn't always so versed in, which also enabled me to look beyond my own "Jamaican obsession" !
I will always have fond memories of knowledgeable writers who more often than not had style and a serious sense of humour, who also didn't feel compelled to follow any hype. My main gripe will always remain "too much Marley stuff", but hey, all the rest always more than made up for it ! Also thanks for allowing me to contribute to a dancehall issue.
All the best for your future ventures.
PS : Not too sure we'll manage to get so much in-depth stuff in the so far mostly disappointing (imho) world of the reggae web. The Beat was never about hypes, a rare thing these days.

Ever Rey D,
Ragga / Reggae Vibes magazine, France
Keeping the reggae press alive against all odds.

How The Beat was born, part 1 (as published in The Beat's 15th anniversary issue, Vol. 15 #4, 1996)

2009-12-25T13:51:00.000-08:00

In the beginning, there were no computers. No laser jet printers, no fax machines, certainly no such thing as the Internet.

Fifteen years ago, the first issue of The Beat, then called Reggae Beat, was a single 14" piece of paper, with one photo and four ads sold for $20 each. It cost $80 to print on one of those little instant-press offset machines that were more common than copiers in 1982. I typed up the copy on my IBM Selectric and reduced it on the copy machine: It consisted of a little "Forward," a report on the UCLA Reggae Cultural Festival, Hank Holmes' "I&I Works," Roger Steffens' first "Ras Rojah's Reggae Ramblings," a listing of local reggae radio programs and record stores, and Bob Steinhilber's "Collector's Corner." Bob was the initial art director and introduced me to my first halftone. He also designed the highly rootical original logo.

The newsletter, as it was then known, arose from Roger and Hank's "Reggae Beat" radio program on KCRW-FM in Santa Monica, where I answered the telephones and prepared the calendar of concerts, clubs and events, taking on the role of "Minister of Information." Roger had come up with the idea of starting a mailing list for the show, putting out the call on the air one Sunday for people to send in their names on postcards. The next week, we had 200 names.

"Roger," I exclaimed, "what should we send them?"

Prophetically, he replied, "Oh, you'll think of something."

The second issue, dated July 1982, took on booklet form, with the three sheets of 14" paper folded in half, giving us 12 pages. Bob drew the Mutabaruka cover, and we'd also acquired a staff: Maidah Bey had come aboard to sell ads, and Brock Adler volunteered his Kroy type machine to set headlines. Over the next few months, every time we'd publish an issue, a great team of folks would stop by the radio station during the show to collate, fold, staple, stamp and address the newsletter.

Production had also become a collective effort, as a bunch of us, by now under the art direction and patient guidance of Donna Tarzian, would gather at someone's apartment after work to cut, paste, and set up the pages for printing. It wasn't until a year later that we discovered typesetting, but by the summer of 1983, we had evolved to full magazine size, with a color cover (Lee Perry, cartooned by A. West), and a cover price: $1.00. The masthead's burgeoning list of participants now numbered about two dozen; Nick Wolf was now in charge of ad sales, Annie Evans was the assistant editor, and we were all learning what it took to put out a magazine. The brave new world of computer dawned in 1986. We moved into our first office, finally getting the business out of my apartment, in 1990.

(Continued in next posting. A picture of the first issue is reproduced below in Bob Steinhilber's post.)

Cartoon, below, by Jah Bizarre, "Dread Lion Looks at the Team on Reggae Beat" published in Reggae Beat #5, Nov. 1982, depicts Roger Steffens on air at KCRW-FM (center), CC Smith at lower left, board op Jim Milne and DJ Hank Holmes lower right. At top right is a vignette showing volunteers collating and stapling the newsletter at the radio station.

How The Beat was born, part 2 (as published in The Beat's 15th anniversary issue, Vol. 15 #4, 1996)

2009-12-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

The first and foremost purpose of this publication has always been to provide information: Who are these musicians, where does that music come from, sound like? When was it made, what does it mean? How does it make you feel? The music we deal with is mostly obscure, non-commercial, even underground, but has immense heart and soul, and comes from the deepest expressions, feelings, hopes and dreams of an artist, a culture, a people, and can communicate this universally despite language, or temporal or geographical barriers.

It doesn't really seem like 15 years have passed--even when I look at those early Beats, it seems like only yesterday. I've often said in moments of cynicism: If I knew then--15 years ago--what I know now, this magazine would never have been. It certainly is not the career I had planned for myself. Having started, and too far gone to turn back, it sometimes has only been dogged persistence that kept me going. That and the feeling that this was not just about me, merely a job, a way to make a living, but something that almost immediately took on a life of its own, forcing itself into existence, and I could do little else but become its handmaiden.

So here's to our writers, the best in the business, who selflessly share their expertise and enthusiasm, the photographers, whose hard-won shots enliven our pages, our hard-working staff, who tolerate my tantrums and anxieties, and our readers, always supportive and hungry for more: You are the greatest. Give thanks and praises, everyone, for 15 years of The Beat--it belongs to all of you, and with your continued love and support, will continue for many more years.

Jah Guidance,

CC Smith

Minister of Information

From Kaati, Reggae Festival Guide

2009-12-24T11:06:00.001-08:00

Good bye and blessings to our old friend The Beat Magazine. CC and Carol and crew set the standard for top notch editorial coverage and state-of-the-art design/layout in the reggae industry. There are those of us who love the feeling of a magazine in our hand, but unfortunately, the rest of the world wants all their reading, education and entertainment to come from the computer. I will cherish my back copies of The Beat as the information is timeless. This is a blow to the industry.
Respectfully,
Kaati
Reggae Festival Guide

From Bob Steinhilber, first art director for The Reggae Beat newsletter

2009-12-24T09:36:00.000-08:00

CC, you have left us a musical-literary-journalistic legacy. The BEAT is musical history writ large in our lives - a touchstone and a watchword for intelligent, inspirational writing about some of the most significant sounds to vibrate our musical palettes over the course of three decades.

I still have a fat envelope full of snippets and paper leavings from pasting up the first several issues. I loved every issue, and I loved contributing to the magazine, each and every time I was so honoured.

The BEAT was something we could hold in our hands to turn on our hearts and our minds- now we will hold it in our hearts and minds and turn our hands to the next chapter. Thanks to your noble efforts, the BEAT goes on in eternity, never to be subject to deadlines. Forward ever, backward never.

-Bob Steinhilber

From Bill Bragin, Director, Public Programming, Lincoln Center, NYC

2009-12-23T15:58:00.000-08:00

Thanks so much for your leadership for so many years. The Beat was a major source of discovery for me for so many artists. It must have been a hugely difficult decision. Best of luck with new ventures wherever they take you.
All the best,

Bill Bragin

From Gihan Salem, formerly of Elektra Records

2009-12-23T15:54:00.000-08:00

Dear CC – you may not remember me, but I worked at Elektra Records for over 13 years – we always recd The Beat at the Elektra office. I just wanted to say how sorry I am to see this e mail. You did an amazing job with the magazine; my heart goes out to you. Thank you for providing readers with fantastic interviews, photos, info etc you will be missed.

Wishing you the very best

Gihan Salem

From Tom "Papa" Ray, Vintage Vinyl, St. Louis

2009-12-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

CC, all the very best in your future---'The Reggae Beat' was the first national publication I placed in our store in St. Louis, and through the years your dedication speaks for itself. I was hoping some talented young-blood music fanatics would sweep in and assist in getting this publication on-line, and the current conditions for any music publication is a barrel of butcher-knives to be sure...but praise and respect to The Beat, and all my respect for your efforts.

From Jah Son, Reggae Ambassadors Worldwide, contributor and reggae supporter

2009-12-22T10:22:00.000-08:00

Sad news indeed. First started reading The Beat back in the late 80s, while living in NYC. Missed a couple years while I taught in Liberia, but started my subscription when I moved to Istanbul. It was a great source for Reggae-related retailers when I added a shop to a club I ran there in the early 90s. Loved reading the playlists for Roger and Hank's show. First saw Papa Pilgrim's call for Reggae Ambassadors in the advertising section, which had such am impact on my life in later years. And a few years later, after moving to Guam, I actually co-wrote a column until the mag went glossy. I've saved every issue I've ever received and ordered back issues of ones I didn't. Have made a lot of wonderful friends directly and indirectly through The Beat, and although the magazine will end, those friendships will not. Give thanks for everything over the years. Much love! Forward....Jah Son inna Guam

From Ted Boothroyd, reviewer, reader and fan

2009-12-21T19:59:00.000-08:00

Listening this afternoon to the beautiful music of Orchestra Baobab, I tried to estimate how much my musical education has owed, over many years, to one small and unassuming magazine. Not that The Beat was the only influence on my tastes and buying habits; there were other periodicals here and there, along with radio and books. But The Beat was the constant; it led the way and provided the primary buying guide for Pirates Choice and a multitude of other extraordinary albums that now surround my cd player.

My utter trust in what I read in The Beat arose both from the authority exhibited by the magazine as a whole, and from the credibility and intelligence of the editor and individual writers. Those elements are not going to be easily replaced. When I read on the Web somewhere that "This album is fuckin’ awesome," well, I’m not persuaded, to put it mildly. There’s no guidance, no information, no wit, no nothing.

So, in this age of democratization of everything, when we’re constantly being told "your opinion matters," regardless of whether we have any knowledge of the subject, perhaps being authoritative is unexcusably passé. But I for one respect and require it, which means I’ll now simply have to expand my awareness of sources of truly authoritative opinions on world music.

In the meantime, I know that although music journalism is faltering, good music will continue to be made. The Beat is dead. Long live the beat.

- Ted Boothroyd

From Tom Asher Hammang, radio DJ, longtime reader and supporter

2009-12-21T17:25:00.000-08:00

Greetings CC
Sorry to hear of the end of the Beat, however as you said "when one door closes another opens." Also nothing stays the same, change is inevitable.
I and I know countless others give thanks for the many years of fine articles and information. The Beat was the source. Give thanks to all who made it possible.
I know that it was essential as a resource for the "Irie Feeling Show" on WPKN 89.5 out of Bridgeport CT which has been on air since the 70s and of which I was a part for 20 years. We will miss you. I wish you the best in your new beginnings where ever they may lead you. May JAH Guide Bless and Protect.

My Best
Tom Asher Hammang

From Gary Stewart, African music historian, longtime reader and contributor

2009-12-21T17:17:00.000-08:00

The BEAT goes off. These words are hard to type even though those of us associated with the magazine or its heroic editor, CC Smith, knew the end was near. Like so many print publications that have been cozy-robe-and-slippers for all these many years, The BEAT couldn't survive the economic downturn that killed or wounded its base of advertisers. It's the usual scenario: the many suffer from the carelessness and greed of a few.
I first heard of the magazine when listening to founding editor Roger Steffens on his syndicated "Reggae Beat" radio program, back in the days of Cliff and Marley and the Maytals. Roger sent me digging for treasure in the vinyl bins of southeastern Michigan where I once lived (surprisingly, there was much to be found there).
While Roger got me reading The BEAT, CC Smith hooked me as a writer. I had gotten my writing start with West Africa magazine, but thanks to CC I found a nurturing home at The BEAT. She was all an editor should be: creative, supportive, and exacting. With her encouragement I was able to write about so much that interested me without regard to the constraints of mainstream journalism. If there had been no BEAT magazine my books would likely have lingered as ideas unfulfilled in the back of an otherwise unfocused mind. Several of the chapters of Breakout found a first home as articles in The BEAT. It was partly a result of CC's persistent encouragement that Rumba on the River came to fruition; in fact, a late-night conversation with her led me to the title.
Writing for The BEAT was almost as much fun as reading it. The look of the printed magazine was dazzling, thanks to Donna Tarzian and later Jose Legaspi. And the writers were terrific, both knowledgeable and enthusiastic. So many wonderful people contributed over the magazine's nearly 30 years. I hope I can single out a few of my favorites—Roger Steffens (of course), Bob Tarte, Michael Turner, Martin Sinnock, Doug Wendt, Tom Cheyney, Jimi Hori, Gene Scaramuzzo, Ron Sakolsky—without it taking away from all the others who made The BEAT such an enjoyable, worthwhile read.
Yes, I guess I saw the end coming, but that doesn't make it any easier to say goodbye. I'll miss you CC and Roger and the beautiful, tactile, informative printed pages that you produced and I curled up with for so many years. I'm grateful for all you did to enrich my intellectual life.
Thanks and farewell and best wishes for whatever lies ahead.
Gary Stewart

From Kurt Mahoney, reggae artist, photographer, faithful reader

2009-12-21T17:02:00.000-08:00

Man, what sad news, though I suppose we all knew it was coming. I could spend pages ranting about the current state of print media, reggae, the downfall of humanity, and the evils of the internet...BUT I'd rather give thanks and praise for the years of joy, information, culture, and more that this fantastic publication has brought us all-and how it has brought so many of us together all over the world!
I'm proud to say that even when I let go of probably a ton of 'stuff' on my last move, no way was I going to let go of the Reggae Beat! I have every issue from the first 'paper' issue--missed some in the 90s, and back again for the last few years.
I'm also humbled that occasionally a photo or two of mine would appear, and I managed to get a couple of my records reviewed favorably, for which I'm eternally grateful.
The research, writing, photography--essentially everything about the Beat was stellar. When I picked up each issue I knew I'd learn something, and I knew I'd read about way too many releases I just had to have..
Of course the annual Marley issue was always a favorite--couldn't wait to see what Roj had come up with each year to top himself!
The Beat will be sorely missed by all of us all over the world who've cherished it these past decades, and the rest of the world sadly will never know what they've missed.
Bless you all in your new endeavors.
Peace, one love, one heart always,
Kurt

From Carol Haile Selassie, Beat advertising and circulation director and wearer of many hats.

2009-12-21T16:59:00.000-08:00

CC:
I give thanks for the honor and pleasure of working with you, Roger, all the contributors, subscribers and advertisers along the way. The Beat has opened my heart and mind to the power of the music we cover--the passion, consciousness and positive spirit will stay with me for a lifetime. I will miss every moment, all the worldwide friends I've made through the years, our occasional differences and all the laughter we've shared. Keeping the magazine going for 28 years plus keeping what's left of your sanity is a major feat. If I wore a hat, I'd take it off to you!

From Brian Dring, columnist, "The Other Caribbean" 1998-2009

2009-12-21T09:44:00.000-08:00

I have really enjoyed writing for the BEAT, meeting and interviewing great artists, and especially reading what other contributors have to say.

As a subscriber going back to 1988, I would look forward to reading such past columnists as Gage Averill (Haitian Fascination) and Gene Scaramuzzo (original Other Caribbean writer). As a writer I continued to enjoy reading other regulars like Martin Sinnock, Bob Tarte, Dave Hucker, and many others. The BEAT was always unique in its perspective and thorough in its coverage. It was to most music trade magazines as college radio is to commercial radio.

I have to echo the sentiments expressed by CC Smith about reggae that even "other Caribbean" styles like soca and zouk were changing...in this case becoming heavily influenced by r&b and dancehall. As someone inspired by the early sound, it was becoming harder to write meaningful and even fair music reviews when I was not really moved by many of the new releases I heard. Still, with a little help from the Cape Verdean or South American scene, I managed to sneak enough good new releases in a two-month span to fill a page or two :)

Finally, I'd like to wish all the BEAT staff and writers best of luck with future plans and....nice working with you!

Brian Dring

"The Other Caribbean" columnist 1998-2009

From Diane "Livonn" Adam, concert photojournalist

2009-12-20T16:36:00.000-08:00

Greetings CC,

Such Sad News :-( Unfortunately, I felt it coming awhile back. Though I am not that surprised, especially in light of these difficult economic times, I am still greatly saddened by the announcement as The Beat has been so instrumental in my initiation into Jamaican culture and specifically my similar love and respect for Reggae Music.

You could not have expressed yourself any better as many of your words have echoed in my heart too, especially your statement that: "The music, reggae in particular, has changed so much since the early days when it was new, fun, inspiring and creative, and there is so much less to say about it now." How true!!! Though I can always hope that the future of reggae will offer something closer to the roots of its past.

I feel blessed to have been a part of The Beat family and will miss you CC and also Carol for all the dedication, hard work, support and love you have instilled into the magazine. I wish you only the best in all your future endeavors and always know that if you need me, I am only a phone call or email away.

Jah guide and protect you always.

One Love,

Diane "Livonn" Adam
Photojournalist
Adam Photography & Media Relations

From 20-year subscriber Carl Meier

2009-12-20T16:15:00.000-08:00

Hi Carol -

Many thanks for letting me know. I'm sorry too. It leaves a significant cultural gap, and I just don't think that's a good thing. Where else does one find writers like the ones that contribute here? I won't even mention the reggae coverage. Who else does one find a writer who has almost every Congolese record available, or one who has produced great, innovative Latin records and knows Cuban music as if it were part of his family, which, of course, it is. And where else would I find somebody listing an album from Brazil's marvelous Luiz Melodia as their number one album? (You'd have to go to Sao Paolo to find out about the material Weiss and Beto cover.)

Not to speak of the long time regulars, nor of the only consistent coverage anywhere of the rest of the Caribbean - at least that I can find in English. And where else does one find an African supergroup giving such affectionate acknowledgement in an album's notes to a magazine's editor ('Mama Kekele' is it?)?

I could really understand it if C.C. wanted to take about a 20 year vacation. But if not, and at the expense of being an armchair speculator, other mags have gone to websites. No Depression, a magazine with, I'd suspect, some credibilty in its genre, comes to mind. They've also asked for contributions. Others have ties - and links - to advertisers. But I'm sure you know all this. If you ever go that way, you've got at least one 'subscriber'.

Best to you all.

Carl Meier

From Sid Whelan, "African Beat" 2003-2005

2009-12-20T16:09:00.000-08:00

CC: As you say, the surprise is that it (and you) lasted so long. The magazine certainly enriched many lives and helped musicians and music fans gain a deeper understanding of our amazingly diverse world.

I wish I could have been a part of it longer than I was. I got so busy with real estate that my ability to properly cover the music suffered and I had to bow out. Barry did a much more thorough job than I ever could have.

The Beat Goes Off

2009-12-17T17:13:00.000-08:00

Yes, The Beat is closing down. Hardly news in today's world where print publications are dying right and left. But it is harder to take when it is your very own magazine and your life's work for 28 years. Here's the official announcement:

BYE-BYE BEAT

Dear readers, friends, fans, contributors, colleagues, business associates, and to all it may concern in the reggae and world music world:

It is with a heavy heart that I make the official announcement that many of you have anticipated: The Beat magazine has ceased publication. The precipitous decline in the music business, publishing business and the economy has finally caught up with us after 28 years of existence.

The Beat began as a handmade fanzine, a true labor of love, run on a shoestring and blessed by the good will and volunteer contributions by many many people over the years, among them our devoted, highly talented writers, photographers, artists and graphic designers. It was kept alive and strong by subscribers, advertisers, music fans and musicians, and a valiant network of grassroots distributors, independent record stores and bookshops, as well as our mainstream distributor RCS and our wonderful printer American Web.

The Beat was unique, and it is really a miracle it survived as long as it did. In fact, each issue was a little miracle. Within its lifespan, we went from typewriters and typesetting, rubylith color separations, xacto knives and wax to the digital age. I learned, and loved, the editorial process and was always excited as the next issue's columns, reviews and features began to arrive, privileged to be the first to read the insights and opinions of our experts and basking in their company. Even though I have never personally met some of our far-flung contributors, many have become cherished, beloved friends who have taught me so much, enriching my life with humor, intelligence, and above all in sharing our common appreciation of the music.

Many people have suggested taking The Beat online to save it, but the advertising support is just not there, nor are other resources necessary to make it a successful transition. And to tell the truth, my heart is just not in it. The music, reggae in particular, has changed so much since the early days when it was new, fun, inspiring and creative, and there is so much less to say about it now.

There is one piece of news that will keep The Beat as we knew it alive for the future. An information resource company called Proquest that provides databases of periodicals to libraries and research institutions will include the entire print edition of The Beat in the International Index to Music Periodicals and Ethnic NewsWatch databases in 2010. The Beat's back issues will then be available to the public online at any library that subscribes to these services.

http://www.proquest.com/en-US/catalogs/databases/detail/iimp_ft.shtml

http://www.proquest.com/en-US/catalogs/databases/detail/ethnic_newswatch.shtml

Meanwhile, I have opened a Web log so we can say farewell to our readers-- and they to us-- at ByeByeBeat.blogspot.com. Perhaps that will evolve into an online community of music fans, and an open forum for more people to share their passion for world music as our writers have done for the past 28 years. Also you can post comments on Myspace at http://myspace.com/getthebeat and there is a discussion board on "The Beat Magazine" page on Facebook. We won't be taking any more subscriptions, obviously, but back issues will be available for a little while longer at getthebeat.com .

To the hundreds of people who helped make The Beat the amazing preeminent international world music magazine that it was: Thank you from the bottom of my heart. There are too many to thank individually here, but I must give my deepest gratitude and love to Roger Steffens, who was the genesis of the whole thing half a lifetime ago on "The Reggae Beat" radio program, and my intrepid assistant Carol Haile Selassie, whose extraordinary, determined efforts over the last 15 years kept The Beat--and me--going.

As for me, I will be putting my house/office up for sale and leaving California where I have lived for 30 years. An African proverb says "When one door close, another one go open." I'm looking forward to seeing where my next path will take me. Stay tuned, and keep checking the ByeByeBeat blog for updates.

CC Smith

Minister of Information

Glendale CA

Dec. 20, 2009